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Larvae (Inspired by Larva)

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Inspired by @Omega_93 's clonefic, this is my own take on the genre.

Taylor isn't Khepri. Mia isn't who she was either. The two clone sisters will make their own way, make their ways into being the heroes their former selves should have been. Whether that's as part of a team or on their own, they will do what they must. Of course, some might just say that's the aspirations of some ambitious six-year-olds, but who's going to tell them that?
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Grub 1.1
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    • Ellf

    Ellf

    Apprentice Wizard
    Location
    Virginia

    Grub 1.1


    The bugs here were different than the ones we had back home. I could feel their differences as we walked through the city, but I had to be careful to keep them under control. One false step, one wayward thought, and people would think that she was back, and that was something that couldn't happen. The stares were enough. While most people didn't know what had happened there at the end, not really, enough did that I noticed them staring. They looked at me and wondered. Was I going to be just like her? I wasn't her, but I could be. I was her spitting image, after all.

    There were far too many different bugs here too. Each one a pinprick of light, a jolt of awareness that made me think too much. The bugs had moved into the people's houses, bugs that would have naturally been driven away by humanity, but they just hadn't had time yet. Back home, there were less of them. Enough for my comfort, but not too much that it was overwhelming. Both my parents had insisted on that safeguard for me. I appreciated that. They really cared about my well-being and that of my… sister's.

    Which was one reason we were in the city rather than back home.

    Dad's warm hand, his still biological one, closed around my shoulder as we walked, protectively guiding me along the sidewalk, ready to pick me up if the need arose. He smiled down at me. "If you aren't up for this today, we can see if Jessica is willing to reschedule. I know that a few of your friends might want to see you instead."

    "Her friends," I said, frowning. Yes, I had memories of them, but they were from another perspective. Occasionally, I'd get flashes of memory of other times, but most of my memories had them as my friends.

    "I know you don't think that Taylor," Dad said. "You still think of them as yours. You don't need to distance yourself in that manner."

    "They look at me and see her, not me," I said. "But the ones at group see me, not her. You don't tell Mia to reach out to that family."

    "Mia also doesn't do group, Taylor," Dad said patiently. We'd probably had this discussion a million times already. My sister didn't do group because Mrs. Yamada thought she would better benefit from some one-on-one stuff, and honestly, from what I knew about her older self, that was probably a good thing. Both of us wanted to avoid dealing with Mia's older self if we could. "But I know that Lisa sees you. Rachel does too, and so do the rest."

    "Is there a reason you're focusing on them today, Dad?" I asked, and while his initial reaction to me calling him that was warming, another tell of his showed up. "We're supposed to go to group."

    "I know what you're trying to do. Jessica told your mother and me," he said. "And we worry."

    "That stuff's supposed to be private," I said, frowning.

    "She didn't go into detail, just broad strokes," he said. He glanced around and lowered his voice some. "We know you and Mia both have your powers, and the desire to use them exists. We just don't want you stepping into things too fast. You have us as a lifeline. Your friends too."

    I shook my head. It was more than that. "I know, Dad. I just… It's not only me here."

    He nodded, and without warning, he scooped me up into his arms. It was disorienting, a little, to be so small compared to him. I mean, Dad was always a tall man to begin with, but the dissonance between my memories and my current form were significant. Sometimes I had to remind myself that I wasn't her for my own benefit. That it was okay to act my age. It was worse when I was younger, but I was still young. Ten years younger than when I started… when she started that first night.

    I did like being held by him. Nobody could hurt me when I was in my dad's arms. Mom had her benefits too, and the biggest thing was that they were my parents. Mine and Mia's. Not hers. And definitely not hers. That was something that Mrs. Yamada was able to help with.

    "She mentioned that she's bringing a visitor for this session," Dad said. "And… she did give me a fair warning that the visitor does know your older self."

    "Knows her how?" I asked.

    "The email didn't go into too much detail," Dad said. "And then I had some other things to worry about for work."

    I nodded. Still, the knowledge that it was someone who knew her meant that at the least, it wasn't someone who had been affected by the end. Mrs. Yamada wouldn't have felt the need to warn Dad about that part.

    "I'm not sure if the person is there to talk you out of the course of action or if they'll be there to just offer their perspective," Dad said. "Jessica did say the reason that it couldn't be me or your mother is that we would unfairly bias too many members of your group. I did argue that you're much more stubborn than she gives you credit for."

    "Dad," I said. I said. Not whined. Said. I was not a little girl. "I listen to you two."

    "And then you do what you think is right," he said. "As long as you and your sister keep us in the loop, we can help you."

    I nodded as he put me down outside the building that group took place in. It was one of those quickly manufactured buildings that so fully made up the city. It was amazing what a group of determined tinkers and architects could do when they worked together. Mayor Wynne even consulted with the Wardens on city planning too. Both my parents helped, and I got to offer a little bit of input. Which was probably ignored, but it was the thought that counted.

    "Do you want me to walk you inside, Taylor?" Dad asked. "I know you know the way, but…"

    "You're busy, Dad, and I'm not a little girl," I said, placing my hands on my hips as I looked up at him. The effect might have been ruined by my height, or lack thereof, and the braided pigtails I had my hair in today. Mom thought it looked cute.

    "No, you're more mature than someone your age should be," he said. "But you are my little girl. You and your sister both."

    My heart warmed at that declaration, and I felt my cheeks warming too. "But I can make it in…"

    He nodded. "I'll be back with a car to pick you up in an hour and a half. I know you might want some time with your other friends."

    I ran up to him and hugged him before scampering off inside. I knew both parents had been good for me, and so had the therapy that they'd insisted I get. Initially, Mrs. Yamada had me doing one-on-one sessions with her, to help me discover who I was as a person. Yeah, I was Taylor, but I wasn't that Taylor. I needed to be my own person, separate from who she had been, especially at the end. And living with my parents and sister helped with that. It helped that I didn't really have any memory of her parents, other than vague memories of a flute and hair similar to my own.

    Eventually, Mrs. Yamada had me moved into group therapy. It was something that I had worried about initially. Would they see me as me? Would they see me as her? Just an extension of the previous me that I had been?

    To my surprise, it had gone well. Mostly. We'd become closer, trusting each other enough that we had made a decision as a group. Yeah, the older ones wanted to protect the younger ones of us, but we all wanted the same thing. We wanted to be heroes. In my last life, in my memories, I'd never really gotten the chance to. I made a decision in the moment to be a villain to save a little girl's life, and while my intentions had been heroic, I certainly hadn't been.

    Hell, one only needed to look at her at the end and we could see how that went. Memories. Flashes of what she felt at the end scared me sometimes. But I wasn't her. I was me. I would neve become her so long as I had people here.

    Familiar voices reached my ears as I approached the doorway. Most of the others probably were already there. Dad and I had been running a little late, but I was rarely the last one to arrive. Excitement was building within me. It had been a week since I'd seen some of them, and I was really looking forward to it. I actually missed them, and I missed what we were going to be doing.

    I practically skipped toward the door, but a familiar feminine hand placed itself on the handle before I could get to it.

    "It seems that you are truly running late today, little sister," Ashley said. Her long white hair hung loose to the small of her back, and her black dress looked specifically picked out for today with its straps arranged in an almost spiderweb-like pattern. Of course, like most of her dresses, there were still damage marks from when she'd used her power. She couldn't help that. "I almost managed to catch a glimpse of your caretaker before he left."

    "Dad had work to do," I said, frowning. I didn't like it when she indicated otherwise with him. Yeah, there was the filial relationship between the two of us, but just because Dad didn't adopt her too didn't mean he wasn't my dad. Besides, he helped her with her arms sometimes. "Any idea what's going to happen today?"

    "Probably some sort of attempt at dissuasion from our decision," Ashley said. "Mrs. Yamada doesn't think that we are ready."

    "If we're not ready now…" I shook my head.

    "Exactly," she said as she opened the door and ushered me in.

    As we made our way inside, I caught a glimpse at the person Dad had warned me about, the attempt that Mrs. Yamada would make to change our minds. It was a strangely familiar teenage girl, standing among the rest of our group, talking with a few of them with familiarity. I had been a little caught up in my indignation about Dad and Ashley before it came to me where I knew her from.

    The flowing blonde hair, blue eyes, athletic body, and that height that just wasn't fair was a start, but the white dress she wore, with an all-too-familiar skyline printed on one side of the chest and text that identified it as Brockton Bay, just drove the point home. This was…

    "Glory Girl?" I asked. My voice might have been a little small there, but it carried.

    All the conversation in the room ceased as she looked at me. Victoria Dallon stared at me, her eyes widening as recognition came. She paused, silence overtaking her. Maybe she was deciding how she should react, or she was nervous, thinking that I was her, and that something could be done.

    Capes tended to react weird around me when they realized just who I had come from. If Dad was around, they tended to react better, but most reactions were either fear or anger. I suppose my age made me lucky enough that they would often pause and revaluate their reactions before continuing, but those stares were still unnerving. Like I was her, and I was going to do something to them. I wasn't. I wouldn't. I wasn't her. No more than anyone else was. Yeah, we had the same origin, but I wasn't. I wasn't.

    "You… know each other?" Rain asked.

    "Sort of," I said softly, placing Ashley between me and her. Glory Girl had been a hero, and I doubted she'd do anything here that would change that image.

    Sveta gave me a look that was almost apologetic and maybe a little uncomfortable. She'd mentioned that she had some friends when she was in the Asylum, and… Oh. Right. I knew more about Glory Girl than I wanted to.

    "Yeah, you could say that," Glory Girl said.

    "It's okay!" Kenzie said, ever the peacemaker. She was wiggling in her seat some, legs swaying back and forth. She was giving me a slight look of concern too, but she turned back toward Victoria. "Taylor's cool! I mean, when I found out who she was, I was a little nervous at first, but she's really awesome. She's one of my top favorite people."

    "Thanks, Kenz," I said.

    Chris snorted. "Yeah. Let's rip off this band-aid. Taylor. Victoria. Victoria. Taylor. Murderkid, meet hero."

    "Hey!" Kenzie said in response. "You know that she's not like that."

    "Chris," Mrs. Yamada said. "That's enough. You aren't being fair to Taylor."

    "And she was so fair to everyone else?"

    Ashley placed her hand on my head, helping me to tune out the discussion Chris and Kenzie had and focus on Victoria without delving into my bugs too much. I stared at the hero from my position at Ashley's leg. She then took the hand off after a second, careful to not leave it too long.

    Ashley looked at Victoria. "She isn't the older one."

    Victoria raised a hand placatingly. "Obviously. And you are?"

    "Ashley," she said. "And that's all you'll get for now, Glory Girl."

    "Victoria," she said. "Please."

    "We can clear this up," I said.

    "Good morning, Taylor," said Mrs. Yamada, addressing me for the first time. "You know that you don't have to say or do anything you aren't comfortable with. Ashley, Taylor, if the two of you would take some seats, we can get started, and I can bring you whatever you need."

    I shook my head. "This will ruin the whole thing if it keeps going. Ask what you want… Victoria."

    Saying her name was awkward. But maybe I could dissociate her from the Glory Girl thing the way I did with myself and… her. I just needed to.

    Victoria smiled awkwardly at me, and she nodded. "Yeah, if you're okay with this. I don't want to make things too uncomfortable for you. This is your space. I can leave if you want me to."

    "Up to Taylor," Ashley said, looking down at me.

    I glanced at the others. Tristan and Sveta clearly wanted her to stay. Rain might have been curious. Kenzie definitely wanted her to stay, and Chris… was Chris. Ashley was ambivalent, but she was being protective of me. I was her little sister, after all. For someone who claimed her reasons for wanting to be a hero was to learn how to be a better villain, she already had some heroic inclinations.

    "No, you can stay. Ask your questions," I said.

    "A simple one, I suppose is… you're a clone, I assume, right?"

    I nodded.

    "Not of Khepri." I winced, and she noticed, but she continued. "Weaver? Or Skitter? And you got aged down?"

    The rest of our group was silent, watching us. The reminder of what she had done, what had gone on to be, was… not helpful for me. But I took a couple deep breaths, and I squeezed onto Ashley's leg a little. She was good like that.

    "Skitter," I said, frowning some more. My voice was quiet. "And… obviously?"

    Chris snickered in the background, and for the briefest moment, I debated swarming him, but it really wouldn't be worth it.

    "Sorry, sorry," Victoria said, holding up her hands some more. "Could you explain a little bit more? I don't really know what minefields I'm walking here, and I don't want to upset you."

    "We got attacked by Bonesaw when the Nine were in Brockton Bay, and she got my DNA then. She cloned me using that DNA, and somehow, I don't know, through my passenger or by her design or something, I remember up to when Bonesaw was cutting into my skull with a circular saw and then the next moment, I woke up in a lab. Her lab, I guess, but…"

    Dad and Mom found my sister and I, but we were much younger than they'd been expecting.

    "You don't have to share more if you don't want to," Mrs. Yamada said. "I don't want you to get any more uncomfortable, Taylor.

    "I'm okay," I said. I could share this with Victoria Dallon. I didn't want to have her associate me with her. Any more than just noting that we had the same powers. "I'm not her. I'm me. I'm not Skitter, Warlord of Brockton Bay. I'm not Weaver the Ward. I'm not fucking Khepri."

    "Oh, Taylor said fuck!" Chris said with a laugh. "You know she's serious there."

    "Chris, respectfully?" Tristan said. "Shut up. You know how hard this is for her."

    "I have bug powers, sure, but everything she did? It wasn't me! It was her. That crazy bull toward the end was her. I wasn't even out of my pod at that point. I'm a different person than her, and I want to be treated that way. I'm not her. I'm really not."

    Victoria nodded. "Okay. I can do that. Sorry, it's just… a little surprising."

    I gave Mrs. Yamada a look. "Yeah. You're not the only one surprised. I would have liked to know someone who knew me… well, her, was going to be here. I only found out we'd have a guest today."

    "In fairness, I did try to warn your father," Mrs. Yamada said. "But I know he's busy."

    "Next time, tell Mom," I said. "She'd have made sure I knew. And…" It was a really good thing Mia wasn't here. For her and for Victoria. It wouldn't have been fair to either of them.

    Mrs. Yamada nodded. "I'll be sure to do that. I apologize for the abruptness of the situation." She glanced at Victoria. "As you well know, the privacy of my patients is paramount to my practice. And I'm sure Taylor understands when I say that her presence here requires even more discretion than most." She gave a steady gaze at Victoria. "Please do your best to keep this confidential, for now. Without the permission of her adoptive parents and her own, her status isn't something that should be shared."

    "I can do that," Victoria said, and she turned toward me, her body finally seeming to relax some. "I really am sorry for how I reacted."

    "It's…"

    "Don't you dare," Ashley said. "It's not fine, but your apology is accepted, Victoria. Treat her with respect."

    "I will," she said. "Jessica invited me here so that I could give you all some perspective on what it means to be a part of a hero team. As I mentioned earlier, I can leave if you aren't comfortable with me here."

    Mrs. Yamada's invitation of her certainly was to try and dissuade us from our decided course of action, but it didn't seem like Victoria intended it to be that way. She seemed to be genuinely trying to give her point of view, her experiences here, and from what I remembered about her as Glory Girl, she was someone who did have some experience.

    "You can stay," I said. I did want to hear what she had to say. Somehow, I thought she wouldn't be exactly what Mrs. Yamada thought she would be. Actually, given how she'd reacted here, and the stories Mia had told me, I almost certainly knew she'd surprise us. I needed to know her stuff.

    "Yay!" Kenzie said excitedly, though no smile actually reached her face. She fidgeted even more as she looked at me, clearly wondering if that outburst meant something.

    I just smiled at her and nodded.

    "Thank you," she said, and she moved over to the circle of chairs, definitely much more composed than she'd been a few minutes ago. "I suppose I should properly introduce myself since we're all here. Yeah, some of you might know who I am. I'm Victoria Dallon, formerly Glory Girl. I'm not Glory Girl anymore, so please just call me Victoria."

    "I'm Taylor Wallis," I said, and I let Ashley help me up into a chair. "I don't have a cape name yet, and I don't want to use any of hers. It's good to meet you for real."

    "Likewise," Victoria said, offering a smile.

    Damn. I could see why my sister had her crush. That just wasn't fair.
     
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    • TheOmnimercurial said:
    Oh I like this! ^_^

    I'm guessing from the clues that Mia is an Amy/Panpan Clone?

    Will be fun to see Dragon Mom too!

    Kind of sad there will not be a Cyborg Danny however, that could have been interesting.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...


    Well, Danny is with the alive Taylor on Earth Aleph. Yes. Mia is exactly who you think. (Please don't quote the full chapter next time)
     
    Grub 1.2
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    • Grub 1.2



    Some of my most vivid memories from before waking were times when she had gotten into some sort of fight. The showdown at the bank with the Brockton Bay Wards was no different. I might not have remembered specifics, but I remembered feelings. I remembered emotions that I'd felt. The guilt that I had over holding people hostage, the exhilaration at fighting the Wards…

    And the raw, unadulterated fear I felt when Glory Girl burst in, aura at what felt like maximum output, stuck out in my mind. I couldn't move. It pinned me down while she threw Tattletale at me with the ease of a discarded toy.

    I almost wanted to scoot closer to Ashley at that moment. Sure, Victoria wasn't here as an opponent, not really, anyway. Mrs. Yamada had contacted her because she wanted to dissuade us from what we wanted to do. I knew she didn't like the idea of us going out and attempting to be heroes, especially me. Just because I looked maybe five or six didn't mean that I was five or six. Mia and I still remembered being older. We had memories of the people we had been, even if those people became very different people than we wanted to be.

    I didn't like thinking about those memories much, and Victoria's presence here didn't help. Or rather, it did, just not in the way that I thought she or Mrs. Yamada would have wanted. Victoria crystalized those memories, made them more real to me. I felt a lot more like Taylor Hebert at the moment than I wanted, even if I knew consciously that she was a different person. She had made other choices informed by the situations she had been in. They weren't always the right choices, but that didn't mean I couldn't learn from her mistakes.

    I'd have to give Victoria some benefit of the doubt. I didn't really know what to think of her, of her own reasons for being here, but it was possible that she could help me define who I was. Between my sister and my parents, I was in a better situation than I had been before, and this time, my sister wouldn't betray me. I knew that for a fact. Mia wasn't Emma.

    As for Mrs. Yamada's choice to bring her here, I understood it on some level. As a group, we had major baggage, me included. We'd aired a lot of it in group, but even more Mrs. Yamada probably knew from our one-on-one sessions. Ashley connected a lot more with who her predecessor had been than either Mia or I did, and I had some suspicions about a couple of the other members. The only ones I was completely certain were what they appeared were Sveta and Kenzie, and even Kenzie had her demons. We all did. We just were in a much better place than when we had started, and I knew, knew, we could do well as a group in a city that so desperately needed heroes.

    Yes, the villains weren't all nearly as bad as some of what I'd faced when we were in Brockton Bay, but some of those very villains were still out there. The city was a powder keg waiting for a spark, and it needed all the heroes it could get.

    Could what Victoria had to say change our minds? Probably not. But it was possible that she could provide some information, some thing we were lacking in our decisions. There might be something we hadn't considered yet, and I couldn't deny that she had some experience from a side that I hadn't.

    I couldn't help but wonder what she would say. What could she say that Mrs. Yamada was so confident would change how we felt about it? The curiosity bubbled below the surface, and I'd probably be squirming in my seat if I didn't have my swarm to help. As it was, some of the crickets outside chirped louder.

    I forced them back to a normal volume as Victoria began to speak.

    "It's not my intent to change your minds," Victoria said, looking at each of us. Her gaze lingered a little longer on me than anyone else, but I knew that some of the others doubted her intent. I didn't. Not really. My parents would have been the ones she brought in if she wanted to bring in the big guns. Hell, she was already keeping them in the loop on that decision. "I'm here to give you another perspective, and maybe to equip you guys with knowledge. If you change your minds because of that – and really, I think Mrs. Yamada might be hoping for that, then that's fine. If not, then I'd hope that you're going into this with your eyes open about what you're doing."

    Mrs. Yamada looked like she was going to say something, but I interrupted first. There was a burning question that came to mind, given what I knew about Victoria, and the concerns Mrs. Yamada had expressed before were trodden well enough at this point. Especially when she'd taken me aside to talk. She didn't think I was ready. That I had the right mentality or maturity for it. It had hurt when she mentioned that. I didn't want to dwell on it, though.

    "How long has it been since you did active hero work?" I really hoped I hadn't come across as an annoying kid there.

    Sveta gave me a sharp look. "You're not trying to downplay her, are you, Taylor? You know she's got experience."

    "In Brockton Bay," I said. I wasn't sure she had anything here. "Which, certainly, had its issues."

    "Issues that you helped cause," Chris said, and I pondered what it would be like to literally give him ants in his pants. It would certainly be cathartic. I did have memories of doing that, but it had been for good reasons.

    "Which had its issues," I insisted again. "But the city's a whole different ball game. It's very different."

    "It is," Victoria agreed. "But, to answer that question, I've only gotten back into proper hero work recently. Before that, I was working with the Patrol. I don't suppose you've heard of them?"

    I nodded. "Dad says they do good work, but I've also heard that they're kind of a mix of old PRT and a neighborhood watch. Some of them being young high school kids who needed a job with some of the old guard giving them training."

    "That's… huh," Tristan gave me a look. "It's always weird hearing you talk about people older than you as kids, Tay. Still, sounds pretty cool, and if your dad says they do good work, that's a positive mark. I'd heard about them but not that much. Were you one of the squaddies, Victoria?"

    "A consultant, honestly," she said. "I didn't do a lot of field work, but there were times I got involved."

    I nodded, ignoring Tristan's comment about my age. He didn't mean anything bad by it. He was rarely malicious in his comments, unlike Chris.

    "But what you need to understand is that I grew up in cape culture," Victoria said. "I lived it, breathed it for most of my life, even before I triggered. It took up my whole life. I had extensive notes, files, and commentary on everything we'd encountered. I managed to recover a lot of them from the ruins of my old home, and I've been doing what I can to help out wherever possible."

    I nodded. That matched up with what Mia had described her as. Damn. It really was hard to dislike her, now that I was finding out more about her in person. It was much easier to dislike her when she was on the other side, when I could reduce her down to something stupid like "Collateral Damage Barbie" or "Glory Hole" as Lisa'd called her. But between Mia's descriptions, and what I remembered had become of her… The one good thing she did was get Victoria the help she needed. It was just a pity that Mia couldn't have been the one to do the helping instead, to undo what had been done.

    Mia needed that closure, but it wouldn't be fair to her or Victoria to do it before either was ready.

    "How did you end up in the patrol?" Tristan asked, preempting my question.

    "Happenstance, really. I was out with my cousin, and I managed to stumble upon a group of trainees being quizzed by their Patrol leader on cape stuff. I couldn't help but butt in on the conversation, and the leader was impressed enough with my knowledge that she gave me some of the contact information for one of her colleagues. I called the number and after a little while, I was helping to train the new recruits on the theoretical side of things."

    Well, that certainly was lucky.

    "It was," Victoria said with a wry smile. Wait. I'd said that out loud? I needed to control myself a little better.

    "That still doesn't completely answer Taylor's question," Ashley said. "I'm certainly curious about your experience."

    "She spoke a little bit about it before you two got in here," Tristan said. "She was involved in that thing with Fume Hood about a week ago."

    Oh. That. I remembered Dad and Mom mentioning something about that incident in passing, and when I was over at Lisa's while my parents were doing some work for the Wardens, I remembered reading something before Lisa put it away. Maybe there was something she'd been paid to do. Officially, there were things I couldn't share with the Undersiders that my parents were doing and vice-versa. They wanted to see me… well, I suppose they wanted to see her, at least the older ones. Aidan liked seeing me, and so did the Heartbroken. They didn't treat me Mia or me like we were our older selves, just that we were ourselves.

    Aidan really helped with that. Even if he had a very silly cape name. I was not going to let the Chicken pick out my new cape name. (Mia wasn't either.)

    "Yeah, sorry," Victoria said. "Like I said, I've only started doing some proper hero work again about a week ago, and I've been working my way back into the cape scene again. I've interviewed with some teams, been spending some time trying to find my footing again. Sadly, none of the interviews panned out, but eventually, I'm sure one will." Her gaze lingered on me again for some reason as she paused, seeming to try and find the right words. "However, I still want to emphasize that I do know a lot about what it means to be a part of a hero team, especially an independent one without too much official support. The setting might be different, but the basic principles are the same. As I said before, cape stuff is basically my bread and butter. I'm more than experienced enough to give you some solid advice."

    "I definitely think you can," Kenzie said. "You seem really cool. Taylor's just a worrywart sometimes. But doesn't she seem experienced enough, Taylor?"

    Chris made a sound that was almost making fun of Kenzie's speech, and the next time his mouth was open, I had a gnat make a suicide run.

    He started coughing. Overly dramatically, I might add, while pointing at me. "You… bitch…"

    "Taylor!" Mrs. Yamada scolded. "You shouldn't be using your power like that on members of this group."

    "He shouldn't be making fun of Kenzie," I said, crossing my arms.

    "It's okay," Kenzie said. "Really, Taylor. I know he only does it because he likes me."

    "You're an idiot," Chris said, clearing his throat. He walked over to the water and poured himself a glass. After drinking the water, his cough seemed to clear up. "And you see what I mean by our little murderkid, right, Victoria? Just like—"

    "Christopher, you will be quiet," said Ashley, wrapping an arm around me protectively. She gave him an impassive look. "Taylor…"

    I nodded. "Sorry for the gnat."

    Chris glared at me for a second, but he scoffed. "Wasn't like it did anything big. I didn't suffocate or anything."

    I winced.

    "Chris, please stop trying to antagonize Taylor," Mrs. Yamada said. "Taylor, I would ask that you give Victoria a chance. She's not exaggerating when she says she has extensive knowledge when it comes to parahuman studies or hero work. If it makes you feel better, I can offer my glowing recommendation. She'll even talk your ear off about it if you let her."

    I snorted. We weren't short on people who would do that. Even I sometimes would do that.

    "I'm giving her a chance. She's got all the chances in the world," I said. "I just… I wanted to know. Sorry."

    "It's fine, Taylor. Wanting to know, asking questions is fine, but I want to make sure that all of you are approaching this with an open mind. I'm sure Victoria can provide some valuable insight to all of you."

    I leaned into Ashley's arm a little bit more. When she gave me a little squeeze, I took comfort in that.

    "I get that," I said. "I just wanted to make it clear, before we go further. We all did make our decision already, and we gave it a lot of thought. I don't think you can change our minds, no matter what you say."

    Both Tristan and Sveta nodded in agreement, and Rain gave a much more subtle nod. Kenzie was bouncing in her seat, but she didn't really show much on her face, as if she were deeper in thought. But she was like that sometimes. Ashley gave me another squeeze, indicating her own agreement.

    "That's fine," Victoria said. "Like I said, I'm not going to try and change your minds, no matter what Mrs. Yamada called me here for. I'm just going to give you some perspective and insight."

    "We do appreciate it, Victoria," Sveta said, giving her a smile. The two had been talking some when we came in, and as I recalled earlier… they had been friends. Sveta had mentioned a friend in the Asylum, and Mia had spoken about what had been done with Victoria… It wasn't right.

    Maybe I shouldn't have asked that question. I wasn't thinking about that. Did I hurt her?

    Victoria eyed me again with what seemed like curiosity, but she started talking again. "I suppose before we begin, I'd like to get a little bit of context. Why you're set on doing this, deciding to be heroes at all, let alone forming a team together."

    That made sense. The others gave their reasons.

    Sveta had a desire for independence.

    Ashley wanted to see how heroes worked so she could be a better villain, something that her current protective arm around me kinda had me wondering how true that was.

    Chris… he wanted to be involved with big events, meeting powerful capes.

    Rain needed his redemption, and a team backing him up in case his cluster decided to come after him would only make things better.

    Kenzie wanted to be close to the people who had come to accept her.

    Tristan… His need to return to being a hero overrode everything else, one thing that made him feel alive. I still wondered how Byron felt about that.

    The attention that Victoria gave me as each person spoke, as if she was watching my reaction, rubbed me a little wrong. I felt like I was the odd one out.

    "As long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a hero," I said. "Even after I ended up joining the Undersiders, everything I did was with the intent of helping people."

    Victoria kept her eyes level, but she nodded. "I heard some of that story."

    I shook my head. "It was… an escape. I'd had a pretty shitty life, all things considered."

    "Pretty sure all parahumans do, little sister," Ashley said.

    "It felt like mine was pretty bad," I said. "But… I wanted to be a hero. To help people, make things better in my city. I wanted to get away from the shit I'd had to deal with in my everyday life at the same time as that. So many things happened. I made some choices that maybe I shouldn't have, had some bad luck and bad circumstances, and then I found myself in a situation where I could make more of a difference, more of a helpful difference in the city as a villain than by being a hero."

    Chris snorted. "Yeah, right up to the murdering. Tell yourself whatever you want, half-pint."

    "Chris," Mrs. Yamada said. "Please don't interrupt her."

    I closed my eyes, swallowing. I wasn't her. I wasn't. Even if right now I was going with some memories I'd had from her. I didn't make those decisions after that. She did. It was easier to dissociate myself from those memories because they were less clear. More flashes.

    "I want to be better. Better than she was. Better than I was. I want to try again," I said after a second, closing and opening my fists. "I want to be a real hero this time, like my parents."

    "Who… who are your parents, Taylor?" Victoria asked. "I'm assuming they're your parents, not… whoever Skitter's parents were."

    I nodded, and I smiled proudly. This was group, and it wasn't like either of my parents were truly hiding their civilian names much these days. "My dad is Colin Wallis, and my mom is Theresa Richter, but you might know them better as Defiant and Dragon."

    Victoria let out a low whistle, clearly impressed. Everyone else knew this already, of course, but I was very happy with who my parents were. They were good to me, even if my first reaction to Dad was distrust. They'd both been good for Mia and me.

    "I think I'd heard that Dragon and Defiant had adopted two girls," Victoria mused. "Is the other one also a clone?"

    I nodded. "She's not ready to do group sessions. Mrs. Yamada meets with her personally. She's not… another Taylor though."

    Victoria nodded, and then she held up a hand. "You don't really need to tell me more about her, if she's not going to be directly involved in the heroing."

    "She's not in the group, and she wants to make her own way," I said. "But… maybe I should tell you more about her, later."

    "Only after you get Mia's permission, Taylor," Mrs. Yamada said. "Remember all the privacy is paramount here."

    I nodded.

    "However, in the interest of disclosure," Victoria said. "I should probably share something with you. I'm not sure how this will make you feel, but… it's something relevant to you. I was reached out to on PHO recently by someone who knew you in school. She was someone who was involved. I don't want to expose things in front of others without either yours or her permission, but I thought you should know she reached out. I can tell you some more later, if you want."

    Immediately, I shook my head. Three people came to mind almost instantly when she brought that up. I almost wished she hadn't. They were some of the clearest memories of my time before my trigger event. They'd made my school life hell, and even led to the actual trigger event itself. Madison, Sophia, and Emma. Sophia had been a catalyst for Emma's betrayal, but Madison had simply been a hanger-on, basking in the popularity she got from joining in on the tormenting.

    I didn't care which of them it was that reached out to her. It didn't matter the reason why. There really was no reason to forgive them. I had no obligations one way or the other.

    "It might or might not make you feel better to hear this, but she's trying to be a better person now," Victoria said. "To make up for some of what she did. She recognizes that she did some bad shit, and that's a part of why she contacted me. She wanted to find out what happened to you, though I can't exactly say why. Maybe she wanted to apologize, but—"

    "I'm not the one she should be apologizing to," I said, cutting her off. Yeah, I remembered all the shit that this person did. I remembered everything as if it did happen to me, but I wasn't her. "I'm under no obligations to forgive her for anything. None of what she did was okay. If she wants to be a better person, good for her, but I don't care if she wants to apologize."

    The room grew quiet at that. Looks came my way from everyone, ranging from pity, to shock, to… well, that was disgust from Chris, but I really didn't care about that one. The only look I cared for was Victoria's. She was focused on me, her eyes slightly wide. She didn't seem to know how to take what I just said, trying to find words.

    "I shouldn't be forced to forgive someone because they're trying to be better," I said, crossing my arms. "I'm under no obligations to forgive anyone."

    Victoria nodded soberly at that. Briefly, Mia came to mind. But she was the opposite side of the coin. She shouldn't be forced to apologize for something she didn't do. I couldn't expect Victoria to know that about her, or to make that decision either.

    "I get that. I just thought you should know before we proceeded," Victoria said. "It wouldn't feel right to be keeping something like that from you."

    I shook my head, but I sat back down. I wasn't sure when I'd stood up exactly, but I had. As I sat, Ashley let me snuggle back into her.

    Victoria let out a sigh. "Perhaps we should shift our discussion back to Brockton Bay, which is where most of my experience happened." She gave me a look. "And, it's a place that, if you'll excuse me, I disagree that things are entirely different."

    "How so?" Sveta asked.

    "Well, as you know, I was in a team in Brockton Bay," Victoria said. "New Wave."

    "A family team," I said.

    "Right," she said. "Obviously, that part's not the same here, even if… there are some similarities. But one major similarity is that we were a team that was independent from the Protectorate. We coordinated with the police, Protectorate, and PRT where we needed to, which is what I assume the kind of setup you all are intending on."

    "That's the basic idea," Tristan said.

    "There are some major issues that can pop up with that," Victoria said. "It isn't all just beating up bad guys, getting your picture taken, and giving autographs to adoring fans."

    "I'm well aware," Tristan said. "I was a member of a corporate team before Gold Morning." He gave a slight glance to me, but he shook his head.

    "Oh? Which one?"

    "Reach," Tristan said.

    "I've heard of them," Victoria said. "Mostly good things, but I don't know a whole lot of details."

    Tristan grinned, but he gestured for her to continue.

    "This will mostly be for the benefit of the rest of you then," Victoria said, her voice taking on a note of seriousness. "I think the first major question comes down to financing. Where is your funding coming from? One source? Many? Is it institutional? What sort of budget are you looking at? You'll need to buy equipment, maybe rent a headquarters, pay for any medical bills that pop up… Someone always gets hurt. There are always injuries that need treatment."

    There was a beat, and a couple eyes turned my way at the injuries comment. A couple of the others knew who Mia had been, and how much she was capable of. Not all of them knew though.

    "I can't be sure, but I think that we might be able to get some good funding," I said. "My parents might be willing to provide some funding, if Mrs. Yamada can get to an okay state for it. And… injuries… won't necessarily be as bad an issue as you might think."

    "Injuries are always a problem, even if you have access to someone who can heal them," Victoria said. "None of you have any sort of healing powers, do you?"

    We shook our heads.

    "There's always the chance that a healer could get hurt, and most of them can't heal themselves," Victoria said. "And… there's the risk that the healer might burn themselves out, overwork themselves to the point of exhaustion. Thus, leaving them vulnerable to making mistakes."

    "Sounds like you're speaking from experience," Chris said.

    Victoria gave a grim look.

    "I know some first aid, and my parents have access to excellent medical facilities," I said, changing the subject. "And if we really need more funding, I can always use my bugs to weave costumes. Spider silk and such. It makes for a pretty tough material, with the right bugs and weave."

    Victoria blinked. "The costume you had back in Brockton Bay?"

    "I made it myself," I said.

    "Very nice," she said.

    A bit of warmth developed in my chest at the compliment. She was a pretty cool hero, after all, even if we'd been on opposite sides.

    "And yeah, if it works out with your parents, that could sort out the funding situation. Which is a good thing. One of the largest issues new hero teams have, in general terms, is money. Generally speaking, heroics don't really pay all that well unless you're willing to go the sponsorship route. That… could go very well or very poorly, depending on the sponsor, but it's really just something you should be wary of."

    "That's something we dealt with in Reach," Tristan said. "Bad sponsors are part and parcel of the whole situation, but they're not the end of the world. I'm pretty sure we can handle it, if need be. We can figure things out, if we need to."

    I nodded.

    "Okay," Victoria said. "So long as you know where your funding is coming from, maybe we'll move on to the next step. But… really, from the discussions we've had here, I think objectives are a thing that might be a bit more complex. You all told me why you wanted to do this, but what exactly you're hoping to do as a team is important too. How do each of you see the team?"

    "Well, I was thinking that we could do some sort of recon type team, investigating and getting information on the villains," Tristan said. "Kenzie and Taylor both have powers that are almost designed for that sort of thing, and the rest of us could be a sort of strike force that goes in and takes out the villains they get the information on."

    Victoria grimaced, and I did too, likely for different reasons. It wasn't that I objected to being in an information gathering role, but even with the experience we had, neither Kenzie nor I would really feel that good sticking to the back lines. Yes, she was a tinker, and I was a master, but… we needed to be involved.

    "I'm not sure that's really a good idea," Victoria said, and when Kenzie looked like she was going to reply, she continued. "Not just you and Taylor, but really the strike force thing. That takes some very specialized skills that requires a lot of training. Elite teams train for years to get to that point, and they have that and oversight in spades. It requires a lot of experience."

    "We have that," I said, needing to defend my friends.

    "Sure," Victoria said. "Individually you do, but not as a team. Not together. Sure, Tristan and Reach worked together with that support system, Kenzie had the Wards, the PRT and the Youth Guard watching over her, Sveta had the Asylum staff, then the Irregulars, Ashley…" She looked to the girl holding onto me, wincing for a second. "She was in the Slaughterhouse Nine."

    Ashley, for her part, simply nodded, waiting for Victoria to continue her point. I wondered if I was the reason she wasn't lashing out. Or maybe Kenzie. Maybe both of us.

    "I don't really know much about Chris or Rain, but I'm assuming that both of them are inexperienced," Victoria said.

    "I'm experienced," Chris said, crossing his arms.

    She gave him a highly skeptical look, only to be met by him repeating himself.

    "Fine, but my point stands with Rain, right? Based on what you were saying earlier?"

    Rain nodded. "I haven't even been in a fight before."

    Which was a part of why he wanted help from us. His cluster was coming for him, and we needed to make sure he was ready.

    "And you, Taylor, were in the Undersiders, which had a very infamous and powerful thinker calling the shots."

    There was a brief moment that I thought of Coil, but she hadn't been there when the other me... when she brought him down. There was only one person she could be referring to. I let out a sharp laugh. "Oh, no. Tattletale wasn't the leader. Believe me."

    Victoria blinked, surprise evident on her face. "Wait. Really? Who was the leader then?"

    "Well, when I first joined, Grue was, but we were employed by a villain named Coil. Apparently she took over some time after the Slaughterhouse Nine left Brockton Bay, before…" I shook my head. "But no, Tattletale isn't leader material. Information gathering, support? Sure. But she doesn't have the right personality or power to do any sort of leading."

    "You're still in contact with her and the Undersiders?" Victoria asked.

    "Sometimes," I said. "There's a deal with them and the Wardens, and when Dad and Mom have to be away, sometimes Mia and I go over to their place to have a safe place to hang out."

    "That's…" Victoria paused with a frown. "You know how that could be a problem, since you're trying to be a hero, right?"

    "They're not villains," I said. I doubted it would be effective in changing her mind.

    "They're active in New Brockton Bay. I've heard about it," Victoria said. "Sure, they're not the Teeth, or the Empire, but the Undersiders definitely aren't anything you could call heroes."

    "I never said they were heroes, just not villains anymore," I said. "Tattletale's controlling the criminal element, to try and keep them from getting too far out of hand. There's always going to be drugs and prostitution, but isn't it better if someone at least tries to keep people from being hurt?"

    Victoria frowned. "Someone always gets hurt."

    "Tattletale talks with my dad and mom regularly, and they're willing to trust her with my sister and me," I said. Sure, she saw her, mostly, but… she was still something of a friend. "Doesn't that say something?"

    "It might," she said. "But… even if they're not actively engaging in criminal activity, there's a potential conflict of interest with them connected to the team. Not to mention the PR issues."

    I frowned. There was a lot that I wanted to say. To defend the Undersiders, to defend my friends, from what I felt was an injustice. But it wasn't… It wouldn't be helpful, and I wasn't sure that I'd be able to convince Victoria. Not just from talking alone, anyway.

    Mrs. Yamada had spoken with me about something similar, back in Dracheheim. We'd been sitting down at a café, where we could have some privacy. She told me a little about Weaver's justifications. Things she'd condemn in others but if it was her or her friends doing it, it was okay. It wasn't right. I didn't want to be that person. Yes, I knew my friends were better than they had been in Brockton Bay, but that didn't negate what they had done. What we had done. We can only be better than the person we were yesterday, and I could only try to be better than she had been.

    Yes, Weaver had been a hero. Technically. But she also did one of the most unforgivable acts in the world in an effort to save it. It had worked, sure, but that didn't make it right. Might did not always make right.

    "They're better than you think they are," I said, defending my friends without going into detail. There might have been a bit of a pout to my voice, but I didn't want to start an argument. I needed to be better than that. I needed to prove to Mrs. Yamada that I was better than that.

    "That may be," Victoria said. "And maybe they've cut back on the number of crimes they've committed, but judging based on news reports and a little of what you said, that might not be the case. You have to see how this can be an obstacle to the group's legitimacy. Just like Ashley's former associates."

    I closed my eyes, and I let out a breath that I hadn't even realized I was holding. When I opened them, I glanced at the window. There was a build-up of bugs that there shouldn't have been. I forced them away.

    "You're…"

    "Not wrong," Ashley said, placing one of her hands on my head. She ruffled my hair a little. "It has come up in discussions before, regarding the both of us. But that doesn't change what we want to do. Nor does it affect our reasons for doing so."

    Victoria nodded. "Even so, that doesn't change the point I was trying to make. You may have been on teams before, but you haven't been with each other. You had support networks, administrative and otherwise, that you could lean on, along with leadership that took a lot of the guesswork out of it. As an independent team, you won't have that, and it'll be something you'll need to figure out. Everything that does go wrong, and things will go wrong, will fall not on the support network's shoulders but your own. It's not easy to run your own team."

    "Nothing worth doing is ever easy," Tristan said. "We can handle it. We'll have to."

    One by one, we all nodded in agreement. Even Chris.

    Victoria frowned as she looked us over, but she nodded. "I'm not going to lie. I do have concerns."

    "Victoria—" Sveta started to speak, but she was cut off by a raised hand.

    "I have some very serious concerns," she continued. "But no matter what I or Jessica say, I get the feeling that you'll do it anyway. Your minds were made up before today's session one way or the other. You let me know at the start of this. I respect your determination to walk this path, but that doesn't mean that there won't be things you might stumble over. I just don't really think that there's anything more we can do in this sort of setting. We'd just end up going around in circles."

    "I just want to make sure we're all included," Kenzie said. "Taylor, Chris and me. We don't get left behind."

    "We're not going to leave you behind," said Tristan.

    "No, we won't get left behind, Kenz," I said. "You definitely won't."

    Kenzie nodded at me. She turned toward Victoria. "Whatever happens, we're doing this together."

    "And I'm sure we'll make sure of that," Victoria said.

    "We?" Sveta asked, looking at her friend.

    "Like I said, you guys are bound and determined to do this. I'm not really trying to step on your toes or insinuate anything…" Victoria met my eyes after a second. "But I was thinking that maybe I could help out, at least in a way to ease Jessica's conscience a bit."

    "What, you want to be a part of the team now?" Chris asked.

    "I was more thinking of a mentor or coach role, if you'll have me," Victoria said. "That way we can have this kind of discussion in a less…controlled environment. Something maybe a bit more loosely supervised and managed. Maybe we look for a shallower pool to dive into to help you guys get your footing. And I'm mixing metaphors here."

    "You're volunteering?" Tristan asked.

    "If Mrs. Yamada is okay with the idea, and Dragon and Defiant are okay with Taylor here doing things," Victoria said. "Maybe this can be a sort of trial period."

    "A trial period," Mrs. Yamada said, tasting the words. "I do think that you being there could alleviate some of my concerns, Victoria. And I suspect it might alleviate some of Taylor's parents' as well."

    "They'll be okay," I said. "They're going to worry no matter what, but they'll be okay with it, if I have a good team."

    "So, you're basically babysitting us?" Rain asked.

    Victoria shook her head. "Coaching, mostly. I'll give you directions if you need them, someone to turn to for advice on resolving a dispute. I can't promise you full time hours, as it'll mostly be a secondary thing for me, but I think this might be the best way to handle this."

    "I'm in," Kenzie said. "I want to hear more about your heroing stuff."

    "I don't object," Ashley said.

    "If you're willing to," I said.

    "And that shallow end thing?" Tristan asked.

    "I've got a couple places in mind," she said. "We could put some feelers out in one of the places that's easy enough for everyone to get to. There's some small populations of B-listers that could be a good way to have everyone learn the ropes."

    That actually sounded like fun.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    As group was ending, Mrs. Yamada called out to me. "Taylor, could you hang back a second?"

    I waved off the others, giving a hug to Kenzie and Ashley while Sveta went to talk with her friend some more. Victoria had given me her number, and I'd put it in the phone that my parents had me carry around, right at the bottom of the list. Well, to be fair, the phone just alphabetized, and most of my friends had names that began with letters earlier than V.

    When the rest of the group had left, Mrs. Yamada took a seat in one of the chairs, and she gestured to one of the ones near her. I took my seat there, letting my legs hang over the edge so I could swing them back and forth.

    "Taylor," Mrs. Yamada began. "You know that you don't have to do this. Going out, being a hero in this way I'm not sure it will make you happy the way you think it will."

    "I need to do this," I said. "Ever since I was… well… ever since I can remember, I wanted to be a hero, Mrs. Yamada. I used to pretend to be Alexandria when I played with my best friend. And Mia… she supports this too."

    "You don't have to take everything on yourself," Mrs. Yamada said. "Despite your memories, you are still physically six years old. Mia is as well."

    I crossed my arms. We'd had this discussion before. Both Bonesa—Riley and Mom had explained some of this to me. My brain was physically the age I was, and the memories came from a mix of my connection to my passenger and whatever Riley had done. My body and mind were trying to find some sort of equilibrium between the two, and it helped to just act how I felt. "Just because I'm six doesn't mean I'm six."

    "You have limitations, Taylor," Mrs. Yamada said. "I just don't want to see you get yourself hurt because you tried to ignore them. None of your friends or family do."

    I nodded. "I'm not her, Mrs. Yamada."

    "I know that," she said. "But we've discussed Weaver before. Whether she's alive or not is irrelevant, of course. If you want to differentiate yourself from her, make sure you pay attention to those limits that you have. We just want you to be happy and healthy."

    I nodded. "I have a question though."

    "Hmm?"

    "How do we tell Victoria about Mia?" I asked. "I don't want to spring her on her, given what happened."

    "That is something that I will be discussing with your sister during our next session," Mrs. Yamada said. "Along with your parents. For now, it's best that we avoid having the two of them in the same room, for both of them."

    "Mia isn't the one who hurt Victoria," I said. "She'd never do something like that to anyone. She has nightmares about what that bitch did to her."

    "I know," Mrs. Yamada said. "But it's a delicate situation. And Amelia Lavere-Dallon is… a complicated person."

    I shook my head as my phone started to ring. Mia's name was prominent on the screen. I chose to answer the phone.

    "Taylor!" My sister's voice was exuberant, completely unlike anything I'd ever heard from the so-called complicated person. She'd taken the age argument more to heart than I had. "Are you done with Mrs. Yamada yet?"

    "Almost," I said.

    "Good," she said. "Dad and Mom want to take us to dinner before we head home. We'll be outside the building in about five minutes."

    "Where are we going?" I asked.

    "A Brockton Bay staple," she said.

    Oh God. "Don't tell me that they actually started another Fugly Bob's."

    "No way," she said with a laugh. "Georgio's, it survived the apocalypse. Mom wants us to try it before we invite them to franchise at Dracheheim. God, could you imagine?"

    "At least it's lots of calories for your work," I said.

    "Gross," she said. "See you soon, Taylor."

    "Bye," I said, hanging up and then I looked at Mrs. Yamada's smiling face. "What?"

    "Perhaps I shouldn't need to worry as much about you," she said. "I'll talk with your parents later, Taylor. Just please, don't push yourself too hard. You don't need to."

    "I'm not her," I reiterated. "I'm me. I'll do what I need to."

    That was all I could promise.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Ooooh i just finished larva a few days ago and now this pops up, i like your taylor good balance of newborn and progenitor, also amusing that shes avoiding taylors name internally like vicky is amys
     
    Grub 1.3
  • Threadmarks

    • Grub 1.3


    Home for my sister and I now was a place that our parents called Dracheheim, or the Home of the Dragon. Technically, it wasn't even really in the city or even on the same continent, but through the magic of portals, trains, and multiple Earth travel, the trip into the city took a couple of hours rather than the half a day flight it would take the old way.

    The four of us had a private car on the train, so that Dad and Mom could be themselves without being approached by people who either knew too much or too little. Mia and I had our leftover meals boxed up and placed in a refrigeration unit that Mom had set up previously. She was occupied with a small bit of organic matter she had in a box, while I watched the city pass as we went. Dad was supervising Mia, making sure she didn't push herself too hard.

    Mom's civilian platform sat down next to me on the train, and she ran a hand through my hair. "So, Taylor, how was group today?"

    I leaned into her hand which was warm and nearly organic. She'd gotten much better at tinkering up more human-looking platforms for her to travel around in thanks to the research my… err, Riley did. "It was fine." I lowered my voice so that Mia wouldn't hear. "The guest Mrs. Yamada brought to… try and change our minds… was Victoria Dallon. She's offered to help out the team, mentor and coach with the experience that she has."

    "She does have quite a bit of experience when it comes to being on an independent team," Mom said. "There was a point where New Wave was considered for a Guild sponsorship."

    "I hadn't heard about that…" I frowned.

    "It was before you were active," she said. "A little before Glory Girl was too, honestly. During the Boston Games, they had a fairly good showing, and Narwhal had me run a dossier on them, given my interest in Brockton Bay. I determined that they likely wouldn't accept such a sponsorship for the same reason why they only wanted an affiliate status with the Protectorate."

    I snorted. There was someone who came to mind that would probably end up rejecting that outright, based on Mia's stories. "Carol Dallon?"

    "Not just her," Mom said. "Her sister, Sarah, was a proud woman with her own foibles, and given what happened with Fleur and Lightstar, it just didn't seem to be a good fit. So, my suggestion was that we keep them under observation but wait and see with the next generation."

    "And then… many things happened all at once," I said.

    Mom nodded. A concerned look came to her face. "Jessica did send an email to me after the session completed, about one of the agreed-upon bits that she is allowed to share with us. She said that you intentionally used your power on one of the members of your group?"

    I blinked. I hadn't even tried to do anything too bad to him. I stood up. "He was making fun of Kenzie! Of how she is. And then…"

    Mom shook her head. "She gave me the context, Taylor. Not everything that was said, but she plans on having a talk with your groupmate about boundaries. It's good to want to defend your friends, honorable even."

    "But she did stuff like that," I said, crossing my arms. "She tried to justify everything, was able to justify everything she did."

    "You know that your father and I were friends with her, at the end," Mom said. "You're not entirely wrong about that, but…"

    My face was heating up. "I'm not her."

    "No, you aren't," Mom said. "Not any more than your sister is her progenitor. But not everything she did was bad, and I can see those good traits in you, Taylor."

    "Ashley sees herself as the same as her progenitor," I said.

    Mom shrugged. "I never knew Damsel of Distress personally before she joined the Slaughterhouse Nine, and I can't say how much like her previous self she is like. But, little hatchling, you are you."

    I smiled as she brought a thumb to my cheek and wiped away a tear behind my glasses.

    "Yeah, Tay," Mia said, holding up her box that now had an intricate flower in it, one that definitely didn't exist this morning. It probably couldn't breed and produce new flowers, one of the rules Dad had for playtime creations, but it was very pretty. "You don't have to worry about being like Weaver. You've got us to come to, and you have your teammates. You're going to be a team, right?"

    Mia's mousy brown hair hung loose at her shoulder, and the cherub grin she had matched the brightness of the yellow blouse and overall combination she wore.

    I nodded. "I'd ask you to come, but…"

    She shook her head. "Mrs. Yamada doesn't think I'm ready for group therapy yet. There's a lot of stuff to go through. I know I'm not, you know, but…"

    I nodded. If my nightmares were about the worst that I could become, in many ways, Mia's were worse. Hers were far more personal.

    "You both have a place with the Wardens when you want it," Dad said. "Though, given your ages… I would prefer that you hold off as long as humanly possible."

    "I'm going to be on a team," I said. "My team, and we're going to be heroes."

    All three of my family members smiled at that.

    "And do you plan on leading that team, Taylor?" Dad asked.

    I frowned, but I shook my head. "Either Ashley or Tristan might work better. They're older looking, at least, and—"

    "You don't want to repeat mistakes?" Mia asked.

    I nodded. Sometime after I remembered, Skitter had taken over the Undersiders, but I didn't want to treat the group like they were my old friends. They were my new ones, after all.

    "That's mature of you," Dad said.

    "Just because I'm six doesn't mean I'm six," I repeated for the second time that day.

    Dad rubbed his hand on my head. "You'll do well, Taylor."

    I couldn't help but lean into the rubbing a little. I don't think that was something that she liked. Physical contact of any sort was something she tended to avoid, but I liked it. Idly I wondered if that was something my bi—Bonesaw had put into us to make us better little sisters for her, or if that was something that I liked because of my parents.

    Ultimately, it was something to maybe be conscious of, but I liked having the physical contact. I liked being close with my parents. She had lost a mother, and though I heard she reconnected with her father, what I remembered of him wasn't exactly flattering. But it was possible that the two of them just needed to talk, and maybe I wouldn't even exist if that were the case. Maybe not though.

    My phone chimed with an alert, and then it double chimed indicating that the alert was from Kenzie. It wasn't odd for her to be up later, but for her to specifically set up the alert to react in that fashion when I knew I had disabled that feature the last time meant that she considered it important. I'd end up getting repeat alerts until I took a look at my phone.

    My family just smiled at me. None of them had met Kenzie before, but all three knew how eager she was. I knew her situation, and… if it weren't for Ashley and my parents…

    I shook my head and pulled out my phone. Whatever this was, it needed to be important.

    K: Taylor!​
    ​
    K: More talks w/Victoria after we left but u cldnt come. Know ur parents usly pick you up from group. how was dinner?​

    I blinked. This didn't really seem all that important, at least not directly, but knowing Kenzie, she had a lot more to say.

    "Oh, the chatterbox has a bunch to say about a new person," Mia said, placing a hand over her mouth. "Shocker."

    "I didn't even say who it was," I said. "But you shouldn't make fun of her."

    "Tay, I'm not," Mia said. "She's a good friend for you, but you can't deny that she talks a lot, or messages a lot. She might not talk a lot in person."

    I snorted. "She talks about as much in person, but she's not bad to listen to."

    Mia nodded, and she looked over my shoulder at the text before I could stop her. "V-victoria?" Mia frowned. "You didn't mention…"

    "I was going to," I said. "Yes, she's that Victoria. I didn't mention you to her yet. Mrs. Yamada said she wanted to talk with you first before that was done."

    She nodded, and Dad scooped her up into his arms.

    "Mia, you don't have to meet with her unless you and she agree," Dad said. "And you did nothing wrong, even if…"

    "Even if she fucking did," Mia said. "Amelia Lavere-Dallon isn't me; I know. No more than Taylor Hebert is Tay. Who we came from isn't who we are."

    "Victoria offered to help our team out," I said. "Coaching, mentoring, to help Mrs. Yamada be more okay with it."

    Mia nodded. "She would do that. If she's anything like the Victoria I remember, she's definitely good. Tay, tell me…"

    "She's normal," I said. "Well, normal-ish. She looks maybe younger than she should, but she's…two arms, two legs, one torso, one head."

    Mia smiled.

    "Sveta's a friend of hers," I said. "They made friends when they were both in the Asylum. But… I'm not going to go into more detail 'cause… y'know."

    She nodded. "Maybe you should text your friend back then."

    I nodded.

    Me: Dinner was pretty good. I think we might want to get a branch of it closer to home.​

    Kenzie responded almost instantly.

    K: That's good. we told Victoria that ur parents pick you up. She waited w/ us 4 us getting picked up. R got picked up by his lady friend, and she gave me a ride.​

    I couldn't help but smile at that. Rain deserved a little bit of happiness, given what he was trying to do. His cluster was trying to kill him, sure, but everyone needed a bit of a break from paranoia every now and again. I remembered meeting Erin once when she dropped Rain off at group. She was pretty cool as far as normal people went, and she was much prettier than I had been. Maybe there was something there for Rain. Maybe there wasn't.

    Me: That's good. Ashley had other appointments, right?​
    ​
    K: Yup. She did. What you think of 2 day?​
    ​
    Me: Chris was a jerk. :anger:​
    ​
    K: Ur still 1 of my fave ppl. Think Victoria might be 1 soon too. Dled some videos of her.​
    ​
    Me: Careful with those. ​

    I yawned. If I was getting tired, Kenzie had to be getting tired too. Mom scooped me up into her arms, sitting down next to Dad and Mia.

    Me: Don't stay up all night, K.​
    ​
    K: I won't, but want to look into Victoria more. She's cool!​
    ​
    Me: Good night, K.​

    I put my phone in my bag, and I leaned against Mom. A glance over to my sister showed her already starting to sleep, and I was comfortable enough to start drifting off into dreamland myself. I closed my eyes and curled up in Mom's arms as she started stroking my hair with a free hand.

    It…

    didn't…​
    ​
    take…​
    ​
    long…​

    Explosions. A name being called out. Bright, powerful energy. Endbringer. Behemoth. A bomb. A plan. I could take the bomb, created by a tinker, and use it on the Endbringer. I would do it, but I needed to find the right moment. I would find the right moment. I bring the bomb to the right area, to use it. ​
    ​
    "Regent deceased", the area is garbled. The energy is interfering with the wristband, but that stands out. A friend murdered, ended by the Endbringer.​
    ​
    I toss the bomb, and in a flash, I see Behemoth, made of nothing but a frame. A false skeleton. False skin. The core untouched. Then a flash of golden light. ​
    ​
    Scion.​
    ​
    He stares right at me.​
    ​
    He stares right at her.​
    ​
    A flash of golden light.​

    I screamed as I jerked awake. I scrambled away from the edge of a bed, curling up against the wall. I kept blinking my eyes, looking around. Where was I? Was I at a fight? I felt out with my bugs. So many bugs outside the room, and a small swarm under my bed and in terrariums nearby. How did I know they were in terrariums? The bugs had eyes, and I could see through them.

    Dad was in the room almost instantly, and he made his way to my side. "Taylor… it's okay. You're at home."

    Except he wasn't Dad, was he? He was Defiant. But Defiant was Dad, and Dragon was Mom, but they weren't her dad and mom.

    "D—" I shuddered. "Regent died…"

    He wrapped his arms around me. "Oh, Taylor…"

    I buried my head in his shoulders. "He died, and… I couldn't stop it. I couldn't do anything. And then Scion showed up…"

    "It wasn't your fault. Yours… or hers, for that matter," Dad said, softly. "Regent made his choice to fight the Endbringer, a valiant choice."

    "He didn't even care about much," I said, sobbing. "He just…"

    "He cared about Imp," Dad said. "And Skitter. And the other Undersiders. That was enough for him."

    "But then…" I shuddered. "Scion…"

    "Scion killed Behemoth that day. It wasn't until two and a half years later that…" Dad shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Taylor. You're here. Your sister is here. We're home right now."

    "What time is it?" I dried my tears a little on Dad's shirt.

    Dad didn't even bother looking at a clock or a watch. I suppose he probably had one inbuilt into his eyes. "Not too late in the morning yet."

    I nodded. Dad's presence here… my dad's presence here was comforting. Mom would have been too, but she might have had things she was working on that she couldn't interrupt. Neither of my parents really slept. Mom didn't need to, and Dad only did for about six minutes per day. But both Mia and I did sleep, the normal amount of time for our age.

    We were growing girls, after all.

    "Did I wake Mia up?" I asked.

    "She was still asleep in her room when I passed it," Dad said. "Do you want to be up now?"

    I nodded, and Dad gave me a hug.

    "Do you need me in here still?" he asked.

    I shook my head. I didn't want to keep him from doing whatever he needed to get done. He and Mom were often very busy, but they made time for the two of us. I knew that if I could occupy myself for now, he could work on whatever he was working on, and then I could check it out later. Win-win.

    "I'll see you in a little while, Taylor," Dad said. "I'll be in the workshop if you need me."

    "Thanks, Dad," I said, smiling at him. My mouth might be a little wide, but my smile was genuine.

    As he left the room, I scooted off my bed and went to get dressed. I put on a pair of jeans and a blue blouse, taking one of my grey zip-up hoodies out and putting it on overtop of the blouse. Who knew what I would need to get up to today, and I could hide a few important bugs in the hood of my hoodie if I absolutely needed to.

    My phone chimed from the bag on my dresser, the double chime of Kenzie, and I went to check it.

    K: OMG Taylor! Victoria did something cool!​

    I was about to respond to Kenzie and ask what had happened, but then I noticed that there was another notification, a message from the number I'd put into my phone as Victoria's. Looking close, it was actually two messages.

    V: Taylor, when you get the chance, please call me.​
    V: It's about Tattletale.​

    The messages had been sent about an hour ago, but I doubted that Victoria would want to be waiting long for any sort of information. She seemed to be more patient than the girl I had met at the bank now, but that didn't mean that she would wait forever.

    I called the number. The time difference meant that over in the city it was about five hours earlier than it was here, but given it was almost midday here, that didn't mean much.

    She answered on the second ring. "Hello, this is Victoria."

    "Hey," I said, my voice maybe a little squeakier than needed. I didn't know why she needed to talk to me about Tattletale, but I needed to find out. "It's Taylor. I got your texts."

    "Yeah, sorry to be contacting you so early," she said. "But this is something that shouldn't wait if we can avoid it."

    "What's going on?"

    Victoria informed me about what she'd been doing instead of sleeping last night. She'd been flying around the city, looking for a place where the team would be able to stretch its legs. She'd been by several places that at first glance, seemed promising, but then at second glance weren't quite good enough for us, by her estimation. Then she came across a place called Cedar Point, a part of the city that had a clear villain presence but low patrolling.

    "And as I flew in, they got information on me, coming from your friend, of all people," Victoria said.

    I frowned. "How do you know it was her?"

    "The note used a familiar insult from her," she said. "She told me to turn around and fly home, then used a variant of my old cape name that I don't feel comfortable saying to you."

    "I only look six," I said.

    "Uh huh," Victoria said, and I couldn't tell if she believed me or not. "Still, you might remember it, but it was distinct enough that it was definitely her. Tattletale is involved in Cedar Point, and I'd like to find out how much. If possible, I'd like to talk with her."

    Damnit, Lisa. What were the odds that the very first thing my team was going to end up dealing with was you? Were you also involved with that Fume Hood thing a week ago? I didn't want to assume the worst about my friend, but she was a busy woman, attempting to keep crime under control in New Brockton. Yes, she worked with the Wardens on occasion to help mitigate things, but I knew she liked to have even more information and resources available to her.

    "I don't know if she'd want to talk with you," I said. "But I can contact her, see if I can arrange something for you."

    "That would be great," Victoria said. "I'd thought of a few alternate routes just in case you weren't up for it, but I think you would end up saving some time."

    "I've got two conditions," I said. "And these are my conditions for this."

    "Okay," Victoria said. "What are they?"

    "One, you don't try to hurt Tattletale when you're getting the information from her," I said. "She'll tell you what she's willing to, and… it might hurt a little bit, but she's not a bad person."

    "I wasn't planning on hurting her," Victoria said. "Maybe be a little stern in talking with her, but nothing that bad. As for whether she's a bad person or not, that's debatable."

    She wasn't. I was sure Lisa had her reasons for whatever this was. They might not have been the right reasons, but they were still her reasons. That didn't mean she was a bad person. She wasn't exactly a good person most of the time either, but she wasn't bad.

    "Good," I said. "Don't forget, she does know a lot more about you already, and she'll probably be using her power."

    "I know," Victoria said. "Her power is something like super intuition, right?"

    "Yeah," I said. "Something like that. It isn't perfect, but she uses it to the best of her ability."

    "What's your other condition, Taylor?" Victoria asked. "You're spending so much time on this one. I'm not going to hurt her."

    "I'm coming with you," I said.

    "What?" Victoria asked. "No. Absolutely not. You should sit with Kenzie or something while she records the meeting, but I'm not putting you in danger over some information."

    "Victoria, I'll be in no danger in New Brockton Bay," I said. "This isn't negotiable. I'm arranging the meeting, and I'm coming with you."

    Victoria paused on the other end of the line, clearly going over some things in her head. Regardless of how they saw me, the Undersiders were still my friends. I remembered becoming friends with each of them. Well, I remembered becoming friends with Rachel, Lisa and Aisha. Lily and Sabah now were better friends to me than she had been to them. Frankly, I was pretty sure Lily was an outright hero still, even if she had been a villain.

    Victoria let out a sigh. "You did say that they watch you and your sister sometimes. But this could earn you some enmity with them."

    "If we're fighting villains that get their info from Tattletale anyway, I'm sure we can handle it," I said. "There's things we can do."

    I could practically hear the smile on Victoria's end. "I suppose. Fine, if you want to come along, you can."

    Maybe I could play mediator between two capes who really didn't like each other that much. Who knows? If I was lucky enough, it was possible that the two could end up friends. Lisa needed more friends and less people who were just relying on her thinker ability. As fun as Rachel could be, she was still Rachel, and Aiden was…

    Right.

    "I'll get things set up, but we'll probably have to walk into New Brockton," I said. "But maybe you can carry me on the way."

    "Maybe," Victoria said. "Will your parents be okay with this?"

    "I think so," I said. It wasn't like going to meet with Tattletale would be unsafe. For me, anyway. And it would be good to see her in a professional capacity again for the first time. I just wondered what her reasons were for this thing.

    I doubted she'd tell me anything too bad. I hoped she wouldn't.
     
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    • Grub 1.4
  • Threadmarks

    • Grub 1.4



    This wasn't the first time I'd been to New Brockton Bay, and I doubted it would be the last. The city within the City was one of the first areas settled on Earth Gimel, and as such, it had been one of the first to get any sort of industry running. Unfortunately, Brockton Bay's port was not as large as ones like those of Boston, mere hours away, and as the City expanded, industry moved. The greater megalopolis depended on industrial goods that came from elsewhere, but even with that, the industry within Brockton Bay still chugged along.

    The factories and tall buildings still worked, and the bay had several ships taking in goods and bringing in resources. One thing that my parents and Lisa wanted me learning as we went along was the actual logistics of how things worked. Apparently, my territory had been a drain on Coil's resources. Which, given it was Coil, that wasn't entirely a bad thing, but knowing how things worked and how resources were managed meant that if I were to be in a similar situation in the future, I could handle it without bankrupting the people I was responsible for. She hadn't had the territory long enough to have to deal with the fallout from that.

    I walked alongside Victoria, looking at the art that lined almost every wall that wasn't taken up by the reflective glass of a skyscraper. There were murals everywhere, leaving little space for gang signs or racist graffiti that had been a part of downtown. Animals and symbols of humanity decorated residential areas, and the industrial areas were, almost ironically, covered in more natural symbols like green trees, branches, and beautiful, lush mountains. Some of the murals looked almost professionally done, and others looked like unskilled works. It always made me happy to see them when I came to town.

    Of course, where we were meeting Lisa wasn't anywhere close to the normal place. She'd given me a convoluted route to pass onto Victoria, clearly trying to show off parts of the city. New Brockton Bay was laid out much like I remembered the older city. There was still a Lord Street. There were the Towers, Downtown, and other areas matched up with my memory. I couldn't really read how Victoria was taking it, but I felt like she might not have liked it.

    Her memory of home probably was better than mine. Maybe the differences stood out to her more. Rachel and Aisha both mentioned it wasn't quite the same, even if things were similar. Some things were better. No dog fights, for one. But others were just… different enough to be unsettling to some. It felt like home to Aiden. It didn't for me, but that was because home was where my family was.

    As we walked, I made sure to gather a swarm. It wasn't something I would truly need but pulling bugs out of people's apartments and places where they were a nuisance was something that I could do for the people of the city that used to be mine. Lisa wouldn't hurt me, and I was sure she wouldn't do anything to Victoria. We'd be able to talk, to find out the information that Victoria was curious about, and we'd figure things out.

    Lisa was trustworthy, after all.

    Victoria didn't believe that though. Her impression of Tattletale likely came from the bank, among other things, and the way she was eying me every so often as we walked, while also glancing araound surreptitiously, was an indication of either distrust of me or worry for me. Sometimes those looks could be confused for the other.

    The first hint to the path became obvious when we got to the mural. We were to Go the way the wolf and his cubs are looking. The mural had a wolf and three cubs made of white smoke painted on a concrete wall. While their bodies were facing one way, the wolves themselves were looking back, the opposite way.

    "She just had to give a complicated path," Victoria said as we walked toward the next location. "She does know you're coming, right?"

    I gave her a look as we came across a small children's park with swings, a slide, a sandbox, and a basketball court. There was an arch there that had a rabbit painted on, and we were supposed to go underneath it. "I'm not stupid."

    "Never said you were," Victoria said. "But surprising the thinker with an extra person she wasn't expecting doesn't seem like the right move. This whole path we're taking seems… elaborate, and you said she was your friend, right?"

    "She is," I said. "But right now, you aren't hers. I know her power, and she knows both of ours. Even if I hadn't told her that I was coming, I guarantee she'd know. If she hadn't known on the phone, she does by now."

    I'd tagged seven different individuals who had been keeping an eye on us, and even with that, I noted that two of the same birds had been following us from above since we had arrived in New Brockton. Those were the obvious tails. I wasn't going to alert Victoria to Chicken Little's tails because Aiden deserved to have his own debut whenever he chose to do it. But in the meantime, I was sure he was at least on a radio with Lisa, keeping an eye on… probably me. I hoped it was me and not Victoria.

    The next instruction was to Follow the Snake. I'd seen this mural before, and given its size, if I hadn't known it was a snake before, I'm not sure I would have been able to guess. It was laid out on multiple sources, a massive coiling snake skeleton that took up multiple segments, its vertebrae even painted to be part of a crosswalk and along apartment buildings.

    "Taylor, why did you want to come with me?" Victoria asked as we walked along. "I'm sorry for asking, but I don't want to ruin friendships."

    I shook my head. "I'm sure Tattletale has her reasons for what you saw at Cedar Point, and while I could have asked about them on my own over the phone, you saw what you did."

    We passed a couple store fronts before reaching one of the larger apartment complexes. The mural cut through the plaza inside it, where there could easily fit over two hundred people. Of course, only six were there, two I recognized as members of the Heartbroken. Chastity and Candy Vasil were sitting at a table in the center of the plaza, eating on one of the tables with a third person I didn't recognize. Briefly, I locked eyes with Candy, and she smiled at me while Victoria and I moved on.

    The Heartbroken were… Okay, they were all a bit messed up, but I couldn't blame them. Some of the younger ones were okay to hang around with. Candy was fun. Her older sister Chastity didn't do anything to mess with me or Aiden, but I knew that she did mess with others.

    "Know anyone?" Victoria asked.

    "Just some people I've seen before when in town," I said. "They probably recognize me from when I'm with some of my friends."

    Victoria nodded. I didn't lie exactly, but I wasn't going to outright say who they were. They weren't relevant to the matter at hand, nor was whoever they were with. Even if they were giving a heads up to Lisa…

    We followed the snake some more, into a tunnel that led through the body of one of the apartment buildings, following from the plaza to a parking lot. There was a cat mural painted along the walls and roof of the tunnel, with its back twisting and arching. Its paws stuck down along the footpath, firmly pressing down on the snake's neck.

    I took a look at that, and then I shook my head. I had gotten the story of how they finally stopped Coil when I managed to ask about it, but Lisa had played coy. I knew she had been involved, but that was one thing I really couldn't fault her for. Coil needed to die, but the cat was obviously supposed to be Lisa, punishing Coil for what he'd done to her. No matter what she said.

    "So, this is the place?" Victoria asked as she pulled out her phone to check it.

    I nodded. "She'll meet us here."

    "How long will she make us wait?" Victoria asked, putting her phone away.

    I shrugged. It really depended on how Lisa was feeling. I wasn't sure if she was wanting to make Victoria squirm or if she was going to just come and make things easier for us. It was weird not doing this sort of thing in costume though. Sure, mine wasn't done yet (I needed some more dyes and to run some things by the group first), but we were acting in a cape capacity. Of course, Victoria wasn't wearing one either. She was dressed in jeans and a jacket.

    "Since we're going to wait, anyway, would you mind if I got to know you some more? I missed the chance to talk with you after the group meeting."

    I shrugged. "My parents usually pick me up from group. People don't really like to see a six-year-old take the bus."

    She nodded. "So, you are six."

    "Physically. Chronologically? Probably like three and a half," I said. "Mentally? Depends on who you ask."

    "You seem very mature for a six-year-old," Victoria said. "Is that the memories?"

    I shrugged. "Memories, my parents, my passenger, whatever Bonesaw did when she made us…"

    "You did mention a sister," Victoria said. "Is she… also a clone of Skitter?"

    I shook my head. "I can't say who she's a clone of, but she is a clone. Just like Ashley is."

    Victoria nodded. "Okay. Where do you guys live?"

    "Dracheheim," I said. "It's… not in the city. It takes about two hours by train to get anywhere, and we have to go through two portals. What about you?"

    "I'm staying with my cousin," Victoria said. "She lives in the Bridgeport span."

    Ah, so she lived close to Ashley and Sveta. That was useful. I knew Kenzie was in Norwalk Station, Chris and Tristan lived close to where therapy was done. Rain… As far as I knew, he lived in bumfuck nowhere, somewhere north of Greenwich in some sort of camp. I hadn't been to visit him, but then, I really hadn't been to visit anyone but Ashley.

    "You don't have your own place?" I asked.

    "I did, but… after that thing with Fume Hood, I had to leave my job," Victoria said. "It's a reason I'm looking to get in with a team now."

    "Oh, so the Patrol is actually enforcing what the PRT didn't," I said. "That's stupid. You shouldn't lose your job because you're parahuman."

    Victoria snorted. "I understood their reasons. I always saw the Patrol as temporary, anyway. Eventually I was planning on heading to grad school or something."

    I nodded.

    "Speaking of, are you in school?" she asked. "I know Kenzie's on the morning track."

    I shook my head. "Mom and Dad have my sister and I doing some home study work, but we're both too advanced for kids our physical age. I probably could pass a GED equivalent already."

    Two more people came to the plaza, got some food, and sat down at one of the tables. I didn't recognize this pair, which meant they probably just lived in one of the nearby buildings. A car pulled up in the parking lot, and the moment the door opened, I was sure it was Tattletale. I'd gotten a good look with a few nearby bugs with better eyes. Aiden was sitting in the back seat of the car, dressed in his costume, which fit his name, but still.

    I did try to convince him to change it, but he was stubborn. Plus, the "Nobody hurts the chicken" line wouldn't work well with any other name.

    "Heads up," I said, alerting Victoria as I nodded toward the parking lot. She turned, paying attention.

    Tattletale approached. She'd updated her costume since the one she'd worn in Brockton Bay. She'd reversed the colors from black on lavender to a more royal purple on black. Frankly, it looked better on her. It had the same pattern of lines as the other one, a horizontal line across the chest, with a vertical line slashing down to create a "T". Another pair of lines was further down to create a smaller "t" nestled under the larger one. Most people probably missed the double t on her costume, given how subtle it was. Her hair had seen better days, looking like it had gotten a bit tousled in the wind, and she hadn't had the opportunity to brush it.

    A flurry of birds followed her into the alleyway, Chicken Little's work. They settled on the street-side exit to the alleyway, and a bodyguard also followed in. I recognized Snuff, the burly cape who wore a cloth hood with eyeholes cut out, with a frowny face in stitched "x"s. He seemed tired, but he stood with his hands clasped behind him.

    One of the people who had been eating in the plaza was now at the other end of the tunnel. He was clean-cut, wearing a white T-shirt, black slacks, and black shoes. I found what might have been a gun on his person with a fly. Slowly, but surely, I decided to sneak a pair of spiders up his pants toward it.

    "I know you said you were coming, kiddo, but coming with her?" Tattletale shook her head. "Fifteen minutes, Vicky."

    "You can't afford more time for your friend?" Victoria asked, gesturing to me. "I'm sure we have a bit to talk about."

    "I'm a busy woman," Tattletale said. "And this was supposed to be a meet-up between us. The kiddo and I have plenty of time to talk when you're gone."

    "You're not taking her with you afterward," Victoria said.

    "I wouldn't dream of taking Taylor anywhere she didn't want to be taken," Tattletale said. "I'd recommend you think about it the same way. Don't just stand there and moralize at me. If that's all you came to do, I'm gone. I have much better things to worry about."

    "Tattletale," I said. "You sent a note to her when she went to Cedar Point. You wanted to talk."

    "I wanted to do a number of things, kiddo. Warning your new friend was one of them," Tattletale said.

    "Calling me 'Glory Hole' did seem unnecessarily antagonistic," Victoria said.

    I snorted. Yeah, I'd known she probably used that insult, but it was funny.

    Tattletale smirked at me. "I'm unnecessarily antagonistic. But it served its purpose. It let you know the letter was from me, definitively, and it would have pushed you off-balance if you were in any sort of position to be put off-balance. It also would have made a point to the messenger in case they were stupid enough to ignore my instructions. Cleat managed to not need to learn the lesson inherent."

    "You mean that he didn't say it, and I didn't respond with violence," Victoria said. "But you wanting to talk to me wasn't one of those reasons?"

    Tattletale shook her head. "Hollow Point gets three asks from me at a discount."

    "So, this was a trial run for them," I said. "See how they responded, what they asked. If they asked the right question."

    Tattletale nodded. "And they got information about Vicky, possibly letting me open a dialogue with her. It did surprise me that you reached out to Taylor, Vicky. That wasn't one of the ways I thought the dialogue would open. You still respected the rules that were relayed by her too, and you followed the directions."

    "They seemed longer than you should have made Taylor walk."

    "She's got stamina," Tattletale said.

    I shook my head. "There's a lot of villains settling in Cedar Point, people like Cleat. Intimidating a lot of people."

    "I asked around," Victoria said.

    "I know. Kiddo, Vicky, you don't want to be there. It's…" Tattletale looked at me, and then she frowned, looking between me and Victoria. "Taylor, no. You really don't want to be there. I have my reputation as well. Hollow Point has two more asks, and I will give them relevant information."

    "Hypothetically, where would you recommend then?" Victoria asked.

    "Nowhere," Tattletale said, and then she went off on this rant about how people were getting established over the past few years. She never truly included herself on either side, but she did say she was a major player overall. She gave information to my parents, who passed it on to the Wardens, but she also probably did the same with some villains. This was why she was overworked. This was why Lisa had too much on her plate, and this was why she needed someone on her level. I couldn't be that for her. I wasn't a villain, not anymore. Not ever, if I ignored her memories.

    "You know that heroes can't let Cedar Point slide," I said.

    "I know that they will let Hollow Point slide," Tattletale said. "They have far bigger fish to fry, and frankly, so do most of the other organized villain groups. That's why they reached out to me in the first place, so that if anyone comes poking around, they can be prepared, at least. I don't want to see you become one of the ones they get prepared for, Taylor."

    "So don't tell them about me," I said. Or my team.

    Lisa frowned again, and this time it was definitely Lisa, not Tattletale from the worry on her face. "You're not… Fuck, Taylor. You should listen to your therapist. Your group isn't ready. As you repeatedly say, you aren't her. I know you don't have the same reasons she did. You don't need to try and form a hero team with a murderer like that one. And Vicky, you should have talked her out of it."

    "It wasn't just my decision," I said.

    "You don't know, do you?" Tattletale asked, and she actually sounded a little frustrated. "He wouldn't share that in group."

    "What are you talking about, Tattletale?" Victoria asked. She was smart enough to not ask how Tattletale knew about who my group therapy members were. I suspected she'd hacked Mrs. Yamada's digital records somehow and pieced everything together from what coded notes she used. "And if you knew something that might change Taylor's mind, why wouldn't you have shared it earlier?"

    She shook her head. "I believe his name is Rain o'Fire Frazier. Care to take a guess of why he has such a fire and brimstone name?"

    "Religious family," Victoria said, and then she frowned.

    "Very religious," Tattletale said. "But that part Mathers little compared to what he did."

    "What did he do?" I asked.

    She told us. She told us he was unrepentant for it.

    "You're wrong," I said. He might have done what he did, but that hardly made him unique among all of us. We all had deaths or major tragedies on our consciences. Yes, Rain had never spoke about the specifics surrounding his trigger, nor did he talk directly about exactly where he was from. However, the deep regret that he had, and the way he acted with all of us showed a different person than what Lisa was suggesting. Yes, what Rain did was wrong, criminal even. He didn't deserve to die for it, no matter what his cluster felt.

    "I'm not, kiddo," Tattletale said. "I don't want you getting hurt because you trusted the wrong person."

    I crossed my arms.

    "I think she'd be hurt if you did the same," Victoria said. "Maybe you should follow your own advice."

    "Maybe we should end this interaction," Tattletale said. "That was almost you trying to get a jab in, which is a sign that this conversation has run its course. I'll wish you luck, Vicky, whether you join a big team or make those sandwiches. Just make sure of two things. Stay out of my way and keep her safe if she's with you."

    "I don't need protection," I said.

    "Taylor, you're a master," Tattletale said. "And on your first night out, you fought Lung. Listen to your parents. Listen to Vicky. And listen to me. I want you safe. They want you safe. You're six, and no matter how mature a six you are—"

    "Out of curiosity," Victoria said, interrupting Tattletale. She temporarily glared at Victoria, but she waited. "Do you regret your part in what happened with my sister?"

    "Do you?" she asked, responding quickly.

    "Absolutely," Victoria said with no hesitation. Maybe she'd actually be good with Mia, if… we could get the two of them in the same room together safely.

    "Taylor, the next time I see you, I hope it's without Glory Hole," Tattletale said, giving Victoria a smirk. Victoria, for her part, was impassive. "Victoria, call before entering my neighborhood again. You two and your friend, have a safe flight home."

    I blinked. Right. She must have spotted something to indicate Kenzie's drone.

    Once she and her crew left, including Aiden's birds, we walked out of the alley. After asking for my permission, she scooped me up into her arms, and we took off into the air. There's nothing in the world quite like flying. While I had an urge to suggest that Victoria's new cape name be Atlas II, it didn't seem relevant to what was going on.

    We paused mid-air over New Brockton Bay, and it was an impressive sight. She fished out her phone, holding me with one hand, and she started typing on it.

    Kenzie's drone faded in nearby, and a synthesizer-mixed version of her voice came out of it. "Recorded it all."

    "Did you get the sound too?" Victoria asked.

    "Of course," she said. "Can I listen to it?"

    "I'd rather you wait to listen till the rest of the group does," Victoria said. "Taylor and I have a long flight back. I'd like to listen to it first and see if anything needs to be redacted. I'm concerned that Tattletale might have said something that affects one of you, and she touched on some things that I'm not comfortable sharing. Some things I'm not sure Taylor is comfortable with too."

    "She's not wrong, Kenz," I said.

    "I thought Tattletale was your friend, Taylor," Kenzie said.

    "Doesn't mean that there aren't things that she could say," I said. "Maybe I can listen too and make suggestions."

    Victoria nodded.

    "Okay," Kenzie said. "I'll set it up."

    The camera joined our flight back, but each of us slipped in an earbud, and the sound came out the speaker as we moved.

    "We're redacting the part about Rain," Victoria said as we flew. "You seemed surprised about it and… the other comment she made about him."

    "He's a good person," I said. "But it makes things make more sense about him."

    "How so?"

    "He seems more downtrodden than he should," I said. "And… he triggered after Gold Morning, successfully. I wondered part of what could have led to it."

    "I suppose," Victoria said. "But whatever it is, it's his story to share. Not ours."

    We talked about other redactions as they came up, but overall, it was kind of a nice flight to where my parents were going to meet us. This was going to be interesting to go over tomorrow.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • This is brilliant, why didn't I get alerts on SB or QQ? Regardless I want more and I want it now!
     
    Grub 1.c (Colin)
  • Threadmarks

    • Grub 1.c (Colin)


    GM+1W

    Defiant moved some rubble away from the entrance. The damage to this area clearly wasn't from an attack by Scion, more of a leftover effect from the use of Endbringers against it. Still, the lab appeared to be mostly intact. Defiant made sure to seal any exposed skin and hair follicles before he reached out to the reactivated Dragon. When she pinged a response, he sent the images.

    "This is approximately where Riley Davis said it would be," Defiant said. "While I doubt any further members of the Slaughterhouse clones are going to be there…"

    "It won't hurt to use caution," Dragon finished. "While she has been cooperative, she didn't share all the specifics of this lab's contents."

    It had been a Bonesaw lab, after all, and there was every chance that the Slaughterhouse Nine member had trapped it heavily. Still, Defiant was confident that he'd be able to handle most, if not all situations that he could have run into.

    "Opening the doors now," Defiant said. "How soon can you get here?"

    "I'll have a suit to you shortly, Colin," Dragon said. "But I am already with you."

    He nodded, and he initiated the sequence to open the lab's door. The vault-like door pulled itself apart like a spider unmaking a web, and it opened completely. Lights slowly came on within, revealing a number of empty cloning vats. Bonesaw's work, clearly, with the help of Blasto. Defiant stepped inside, looking through the room. Any technology that could be useful was something to be collected, to be brought to Gimel to aid with the city creation efforts, and any biological samples were to be identified prior to their potential destruction.

    As he walked past each cloning vat, he shook his head. What Bonesaw had done wasn't right, but it fit well within Jack Slash's plans. Creating an army of cannon fodder to hold off those who knew he was the one to initiate the end of the world. Of course, none of the Protectorate or the Guild knew exactly what the real threat was. Nobody knew that Scion would do what he did.

    Except possibly Alexandria and Eidolon.

    Defiant couldn't blame Weaver for what she'd done there. Not anymore than she blamed herself, anyway. But her focus had always been on what came next. Even as Khepri, her focus, at least initially, had been on stopping Scion. Then it became protecting herself as her control spread.

    She had lost herself there at the end, made herself into something else.

    Defiant frowned as his scans located some biological matter. Human.

    "Dragon, there appears to be two cloning vats still active here," Defiant said as he walked toward the back of the lab. He looked through each vat, trying to locate precisely where the signals were coming from. While they grew stronger as he continued further into the lab, he only found empty vats.

    "Colin, I see the signal you're following, but…" Dragon trailed off. "The lab looks like it might be bigger than what we're seeing."

    Defiant nodded, and he jammed his halberd into a small gap in the wall. Its wireless interface found a mechanism within that, when activated, swung the wall open to reveal two cloning vats, both full with the liquid. Each had someone inside. Each had a child inside. The children certainly weren't older than toddler age. The one on the right had some curly brown hair that floated in the water around her, maybe six inches. She had freckles covering her face, from forehead to chin.

    The occupant of the other vat had a remarkably familiar face, just… much younger. Her hair was black and curly, waving around her in the liquid of the vat much like the other clone. Both were suspended with wires and had breathing apparatuses hooked up to their faces, along with nutrient tubes plugged into their veins. When Defiant stepped closer, the girl in the left vat opened her eyes.

    Defiant froze, his visor calculating the distance between him and the vat. The precise distance was three meters, well within any sort of control radius, and his body still appeared to be his own.

    Bubbles came from the girl's mouth, and she slammed her hand against the glass.

    "Dragon, it appears that there are clones of Weaver and Panacea here in the lab," Defiant said. "I'm draining the fluid."

    The Weaver clone blinked, and she looked over at the other clone vat as Defiant walked up to the vats, pressing the button that was clearly marked purge. Fluid drained from both vats, and the girls slowly lowered to the ground within them. The Panacea clone appeared to be opening her eyes at that moment. She looked around, and when she saw Defiant, she backed up into the corner of the tube.

    "Do the two of you understand me?" Defiant asked.

    Both girls nodded. The Weaver clone looked down at her hands before looking back up at him. She started pulling at the tubes connected to her.

    "Wait!" Defiant said. "I'm going to get you both out of there, but you'll have to let me handle removing the connections."

    The Panacea clone looked over at Weaver, meeting her eyes. Weaver nodded, and that made Defiant smile a little.

    Defiant looked over the control panel that had had the purge button on it. The combination of Bonesaw and Blasto's work was curious, but this part was even more so. Why would she have created clones of Weaver and Panacea? When would she have had the opportunity to get their DNA, and why clone them at the age they were?

    Something felt off here, and only Riley Davis had the answers.

    But first, he needed to get them out. A few presses of buttons managed to get the glass tubes lowered, but the girls were still attached to the breathing apparatus and the tubes.

    Defiant retracted his faceplate so the girls could see his beard and mouth. He needed to reassure them. He walked over to Panacea's clone first, and he knelt down on one knee. "Panacea, I'm going to remove these tubes from you, and if you have your power, I'd like you to be ready for when I do the same from her."

    The little girl nodded, and he carefully, slowly removed each connection from the girl. Then he pulled from one of the compartments on his belt, a space blanket, which he tore in half. Half, he gave to the Panacea clone.

    "Armsmaster?" Panacea asked, her voice small and very very young. "Where are we?"

    "Let me get Weaver free first," he said.

    The young Ward's eyes widened as she locked onto Defiant. If he didn't know better, he would have said she was quaking with fear, but it wouldn't be the first time that Weaver had fooled him.

    "Weaver," Defiant said softly. And then even softer, he said, "Taylor. Things are going to be okay."

    "Who is Weaver?" Panacea asked. She looked over at the girl next to her.

    Defiant ignored the question for the moment as he approached the young Weaver clone. "Taylor, I can remove those from you, if you let me."

    The small clone looked up at him, some defiance in her gaze. He didn't know what she last remembered, but he knew that one way or another, he needed to get her free too. He slowly, carefully disconnected her from each of the tubes holding her in place. Then he helped remove the breathing tube, to allow her to breathe normally.

    She coughed a few times, looking up at him. "Armsmaster? How do you know my name?"

    He wrapped the other half of the space blanket around her. "It's Defiant now, actually. What's the last thing each of you remembers?"

    Panacea spoke up. "Bonesaw… Mark… something to do with Vicky…"

    Weaver… no, Taylor. Skitter, maybe. She turned to look at Panacea. She crossed her arms and then looked back up at Defiant. "I don't feel like saying. Not with…"

    Panacea looked at Taylor, frowning. "You're hurt. Can I help you?"

    Taylor shook her head. "I don't know…"

    "Do you have your powers?" Defiant asked.

    "I think so," Panacea said. "I felt something when you touched me."

    "Taylor?" Defiant asked.

    A fly he hadn't noticed buzzed past his face.

    "Holy fuck, you're Skitter!" Panacea yelled.

    "Fuck you!" Taylor responded.

    Defiant grimaced, and he did the only thing he could think of in that moment. He sedated them both. Yes, killing them might have been a better choice, but they were so young. It didn't matter if they were clones. He couldn't just let them die. Instead, he brought them out of the lab, and he brought them to Dracheheim as they established the settlement.

    ****************************************

    GM+3 Months



    Dragon had insisted that he wear a smaller armor frame today, one that could blend in a little with the populace as he brought Taylor and Amy with him. It had quickly become clear to the both of them that the little ones were dealing with a lot. Memory bleed happened every night, and he and Dragon had spent so much time just sitting with the girls. Sure, it took away from his tinkering time, but ensuring that Taylor and Amy slept safely or ate safely was enough for him.

    He hummed a little as he prepared breakfast. Perfectly efficient pancakes. It took skill to get them precisely circular without the aid of outside tools, and making breakfast was one of the few skills he knew he had without any sort of power-related influence. Sure, he probably could tinker up some sort of miniaturized automation for cooking pancakes, but the joy of it would be lost, and seeing the faces of Taylor and Amy when he served them the pancakes just made him happy in the morning.

    When Dragon was in her biological frame, she enjoyed them as well.

    "So, how many pancakes today?" Colin asked, smiling at the girls.

    "Four," Amy said.

    "Five," Taylor said in response, glancing at Amy.

    "You can't finish five," Amy said.

    "Can too." Taylor looked over at Colin. "I really can. If you cook them."

    "We'll see," Colin said diplomatically. As he was flipping the first batch of pancakes, he asked, "Have the two of you given any thought about Dragon's suggestion?"

    "You mean someone taking us in?" Taylor asked.

    "Someone not you?" Amy asked. "But… they'd treat us differently. Maybe treat me like…"

    "You're not her," Taylor insisted. "And I'm not… I'm not."

    "I know that!" Amy insisted. "But she's still here. Yours isn't. If someone else… what if?"

    Taylor wrapped her arms around Amy. She looked up at Colin. "Do you really not want us? I… we weren't the best of…"

    Colin plated the first of the pancakes, and then he knelt down on a knee so he could be at eye level with the girls. "Taylor, Amy, both Dragon and I have dangerous jobs, and—"

    "Would you trust someone not a cape to take care of us? Would you trust a cape to take care of us?"

    "Big si—" Amy frowned. "No, she'd be bad too, wouldn't she?"

    "It isn't that we don't want you two," Colin said. "But… you know there's a chance something could happen."

    "You're Dragon and Defiant," Taylor said. "You wouldn't let it."

    He smiled.

    "Colin's not wrong," Dragon's voice echoed over the speakers in the kitchen. "We really just want the two of you safe. But…"

    "You both know how dangerous the life of a cape can be," Colin said. Which was true, but he wasn't sure the girls consciously understood it. As mature as they could act, cognitive testing showed them to be much closer to their physical age than they thought. "Ultimately, the choice is yours. We aren't trying to get rid of you."

    "We just want you to be the ones to choose," Dragon said.

    "You've taken care of us," Taylor said. "After what… she did. After I… she… after…"

    Colin placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder and squeezed lightly. "Her choices aren't your choices. You'll make your own, Taylor. You too, Amy."

    "Mia," said the girl in Taylor's arms.

    "Hmm?" Dragon asked.

    "I'm not Amy," said the girl. "Amy Dallon hurt her sister. I wouldn't hurt mine."

    Taylor hugged her tighter.

    "Mia it is, then," Colin said. "Do you want to change your name too, Taylor?"

    She shook her head. "She's not here. I am. And… I'm Taylor. Not Skitter. Not Weaver. Not Khepri. Taylor."

    Colin nodded. "Okay, Taylor. Mia. You're welcome to stay here with us, as long as you want."

    They smiled at him, and he felt pride over something outside of being a hero. Seeing those two little girls smile… his two little girls smile sparked joy within him. The only thing even more joyous was the first time that each of them called him Dad, nearly six months later.

    It became true on paper once Gimel's legal system started to come into place. Taylor and Mia Wallis were legally the children of Colin Wallis and Theresa Richter, and while it wasn't easy raising two superpowered young children with the memories of young adults, it was highly rewarding. He cherished every bit of time he got to spend with his family.

    ************************
    "I'm glad that the two of you agreed to meet with me here," Jessica Yamada said as she sat across the table from Colin and Tess, both in their civilian clothes. He wore a pair of jeans with a plaid shirt, and she wore a green sundress that mimicked the Galahad suit in its coloration. If one wasn't looking too closely, they easily could be mistaken as just some people with prosthetics.

    "Well, you are our daughters' therapist, Jessica," Tess said. "Of course, we'd make time for you."

    "It's making time for our daughters as well," Colin added.

    Jessica nodded. "And from our sessions, I know that both Taylor and Mia highly appreciate that. Under your care, they really are developing to be clever girls." She sighed, glancing down. "And both are making strides in the issues that they're dealing with. Mia's not ready for group therapy yet, but I think given a little more time, she will be."

    "And Taylor's already in group," Tess said.

    "They do both still have nightmares," Colin said. "Of course, I'm not sure if that's a psychological thing or… power-related. Given who they are clones of…"

    Jessica nodded. "Given my experience with other clones, there are power-induced dreams that share things between them. I'm not too certain how much gets shared with the original person, but…"

    "Neither of us interact much with Amy Dallon," Colin said. "We avoid it, for Mia's sake. But you didn't really call us specifically about that."

    "No, I didn't," Jessica said. "It's Taylor."

    "What about her?" Tess asked. "She really seems to enjoy going to group. She speaks fondly about most of the people there."

    "Most," Colin said. "She doesn't go into specifics, but there's one member that rubs her the wrong way."

    Jessica nodded. "I do my best to mediate between them, and there are times when they get along. But it's not really about that. Has Taylor expressed any thoughts to you two about what she plans on doing in the future?"

    "Some," Tess said. "She wants to be better than her original, a better person. She doesn't want to make what she deems as the same mistakes."

    Jessica nodded.

    "She wants to be a hero," Colin said. "And, I know when she's ready, she'll be a very good one."

    "What if she wasn't ready?" Jessica asked. "Hypothetically, if Taylor were to go out before she was ready and start acting as a hero again, what would you do?"

    "Without telling us?" Tess asked. "Or with?"

    "Let's start with the former," Jessica said.

    "If she didn't tell us, I suspect there would be a reason for it," Colin said. "Wanting to stand up on her own, prove herself before she tells us. It was one reason why the original didn't go for the Wards when I offered it to her initially."

    "Not the only, clearly," Tess said. "But I would hope she wouldn't feel the need to keep it a secret from us. That she would tell us before she went out the first time."

    "I don't think it would be a good idea to try and stop her directly. If she's convinced it's the right thing to do, she'd end up doing it, anyway," Colin said. He frowned. "Taylor's discussed this with you… Perhaps in the group?"

    "I didn't say that," Jessica said. "Of course, as her parents and legal guardians, if Taylor were about to do anything to endanger her life, I would be obligated to share it with you, even if it meant violating doctor-patient confidentiality."

    "But as she's not actively doing anything, you can't share it," Tess said. "She's about to, maybe with the rest of the group as teammates." Tess held up a hand. "I'm not keeping track of who's coming and going into your building, but I can take a guess as to who the rest of the group members are."

    "So, you would be okay if your six-year-old daughter were to act as a cape?" Jessica asked. "Purely hypothetically, of course."

    "If Taylor were a normal six-year-old, no," Colin said. "But she does have the memories of an older girl, and I do think that she is mature for her age. Given the proper precautions and the right support, I would be okay with her acting. She would resent us if we tried to actively stop her."

    "We could try to convince her to hold off at home," Tess said. "But both she and Mia are free to use their powers how they choose. Preferably on the heroic side, of course."

    Jessica nodded.

    "If, hypothetically, your group is speaking about acting as a group of heroes," Tess said. "It might not be a bad idea to bring someone in to talk with them. Answer questions they have, and perhaps speak about the worst case scenarios. If the other members of the group are like Taylor, they'll do what they think is right, and it'll be up to whoever you bring in to convince them to perhaps change their minds."

    "But given who is in the group, it…"

    "Don't worry, it won't be you," Jessica said. "Not just because of Taylor. I do have someone in mind, but I will need to speak with them first. There may be a slight conflict, but I trust them. I'll send you an e-mail so you can be prepared."

    "Thank you," Colin said.

    Jessica nodded and pulled some currency out of her purse to pay for her meal. "Thanks again for meeting with me."

    "It was no trouble," Tess said.

    Jessica stood and walked out of the café then, giving a brief smile. After she was gone, Tess matched the currency with some of the other kind in case the café had a preference. She smiled at Colin afterward, and said, "So, even if Jessica convinces her to not do it this time, our daughter's going to be a hero at some point."

    "We expected it," Colin said. "I just thought we'd have a little bit more time before she started. Before either of them did."

    "And how many designs do you have done for each of them?" Tess asked. "What was it… seventy-two for Taylor and one-thirty for Mia?"

    "You already knew the answer," Colin said. "And I know you have some of your own."

    "Mm-hmm," Tess said. "I suppose that's something we'll have to talk with the two of them about."

    If their daughters were going out as heroes, they would be the best-prepared heroes out there.

    After all, their parents were Dragon and Defiant. There was no way they should expect anything less.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • Changed the Yamada scene to the following:

    "I'm glad that the two of you agreed to meet with me here," Jessica Yamada said as she sat across the table from Colin and Tess, both in their civilian clothes. He wore a pair of jeans with a plaid shirt, and she wore a green sundress that mimicked the Galahad suit in its coloration. If one wasn't looking too closely, they easily could be mistaken as just some people with prosthetics.

    "Well, you are our daughters' therapist, Jessica," Tess said. "Of course, we'd make time for you."

    "It's making time for our daughters as well," Colin added.

    Jessica nodded. "And from our sessions, I know that both Taylor and Mia highly appreciate that. Under your care, they really are developing to be clever girls." She sighed, glancing down. "And both are making strides in the issues that they're dealing with. Mia's not ready for group therapy yet, but I think given a little more time, she will be."

    "And Taylor's already in group," Tess said.

    "They do both still have nightmares," Colin said. "Of course, I'm not sure if that's a psychological thing or… power-related. Given who they are clones of…"

    Jessica nodded. "Given my experience with other clones, there are power-induced dreams that share things between them. I'm not too certain how much gets shared with the original person, but…"

    "Neither of us interact much with Amy Dallon," Colin said. "We avoid it, for Mia's sake. But you didn't really call us specifically about that."

    "No, I didn't," Jessica said. "It's Taylor."

    "What about her?" Tess asked. "She really seems to enjoy going to group. She speaks fondly about most of the people there."

    "Most," Colin said. "She doesn't go into specifics, but there's one member that rubs her the wrong way."

    Jessica nodded. "I do my best to mediate between them, and there are times when they get along. But it's not really about that. Has Taylor expressed any thoughts to you two about what she plans on doing in the future?"

    "Some," Tess said. "She wants to be better than her original, a better person. She doesn't want to make what she deems as the same mistakes."

    Jessica nodded.

    "She wants to be a hero," Colin said. "And, I know when she's ready, she'll be a very good one."

    "What if she wasn't ready?" Jessica asked. "Hypothetically, if Taylor were to go out before she was ready and start acting as a hero again, what would you do?"

    "Without telling us?" Tess asked. "Or with?"

    "Let's start with the former," Jessica said.

    "If she didn't tell us, I suspect there would be a reason for it," Colin said. "Wanting to stand up on her own, prove herself before she tells us. It was one reason why the original didn't go for the Wards when I offered it to her initially."

    "Not the only, clearly," Tess said. "But I would hope she wouldn't feel the need to keep it a secret from us. That she would tell us before she went out the first time."

    "I don't think it would be a good idea to try and stop her directly. If she's convinced it's the right thing to do, she'd end up doing it, anyway," Colin said. He frowned. "Taylor's discussed this with you… Perhaps in the group?"

    "I didn't say that," Jessica said. "Of course, as her parents and legal guardians, if Taylor were about to do anything to endanger her life, I would be obligated to share it with you, even if it meant violating doctor-patient confidentiality."

    "But as she's not actively doing anything, you can't share it," Tess said. "She's about to, maybe with the rest of the group as teammates." Tess held up a hand. "I'm not keeping track of who's coming and going into your building, but I can take a guess as to who the rest of the group members are."

    "So, you would be okay if your six-year-old daughter were to act as a cape?" Jessica asked. "Purely hypothetically, of course."

    "If Taylor were a normal six-year-old, no," Colin said. "But she does have the memories of an older girl, and I do think that she is mature for her age. Given the proper precautions and the right support, I would be okay with her acting. She would resent us if we tried to actively stop her."

    "We could try to convince her to hold off at home," Tess said. "But both she and Mia are free to use their powers how they choose. Preferably on the heroic side, of course."

    Jessica nodded.

    "If, hypothetically, your group is speaking about acting as a group of heroes," Tess said. "It might not be a bad idea to bring someone in to talk with them. Answer questions they have, and perhaps speak about the worst case scenarios. If the other members of the group are like Taylor, they'll do what they think is right, and it'll be up to whoever you bring in to convince them to perhaps change their minds."

    "But given who is in the group, it…"

    "Don't worry, it won't be you," Jessica said. "Not just because of Taylor. I do have someone in mind, but I will need to speak with them first. There may be a slight conflict, but I trust them. I'll send you an e-mail so you can be prepared."

    "Thank you," Colin said.

    Jessica nodded and pulled some currency out of her purse to pay for her meal. "Thanks again for meeting with me."

    "It was no trouble," Tess said.

    Jessica stood and walked out of the café then, giving a brief smile. After she was gone, Tess matched the currency with some of the other kind in case the café had a preference. She smiled at Colin afterward, and said, "So, even if Jessica convinces her to not do it this time, our daughter's going to be a hero at some point."

    "We expected it," Colin said. "I just thought we'd have a little bit more time before she started. Before either of them did."

    "And how many designs do you have done for each of them?" Tess asked. "What was it… seventy-two for Taylor and one-thirty for Mia?"

    "You already knew the answer," Colin said. "And I know you have some of your own."

    "Mm-hmm," Tess said. "I suppose that's something we'll have to talk with the two of them about."

    If their daughters were going out as heroes, they would be the best-prepared heroes out there.

    After all, their parents were Dragon and Defiant. There was no way they should expect anything less.
     
    Nymph 2.1
  • Threadmarks

    • Nymph 2.1



    Sharing the redacted recording of our conversation with Lisa… with Tattletale was something that I felt strange about doing. On the one hand, Lisa had been a good friend, both to me, and to the me I remembered being before Dad woke my sister and me up in Bonesaw's lab. She'd even been a good friend to her even at the end, when she had left the Undersiders behind. On the other hand, Tattletale was doing something shady in Cedar Point. She might not have been acting directly as a villain, but she was feeding them information.

    That said, she gave us information as well without compromising her situation with Cedar Point. I refused to call it Hollow Point, after all.

    When Kenzie's voice rang out on the recording again, mentioning a redaction, this time on one of the things that I hadn't fully been paying attention to when Lisa said them, but I recognized the context. Especially when Tattletale mentioned being one of the major players. Some of the redaction had to do with me, and some had to do with some of the small talk in general. It led into the Rain redaction as well before finishing up the conversation.

    Victoria ended the recording here, looking at everyone else. "Stop. The redactions here are… mostly smalltalk, some things about Taylor and some things meant to get a rise out of both of us. Everything afterward was mostly just how we wrapped up the conversation, some threats, other things. That's Tattletale for you. It's how she sees the world. I do believe her when she says that there's no real good way to break into this scene. They're the people who have established themselves, and they're the kind of people who would call Tattletale for backup."

    I waggled my hand.

    "You think different, Taylor?" Victoria asked.

    "Not completely," I said. "Tattletale is doing a lot, sure. She's providing information to those who ask, and there's other things."

    "But that doesn't stop the people from calling in worse backup," Ashley said, rubbing my back. "There are far worse villains out there than your old friend."

    I nodded.

    "Exactly," Victoria said. "There's people out there who can and will casually destroy you."

    Victoria fixed me with a look as she said that. There was no way she missed the Lung comment, given how it was redacted from the conversation. Sure, the rest of the group didn't exactly know who Lung was, but Victoria was from Brockton Bay.

    "No matter what we do though," Sveta said. "However we do it. We'll end up running into trouble. So either we do nothing at all, or we go ahead and work out a plan for it."

    "We plan for it," Tristan said. "This is basically what Ashley and I were talking about. We can find something that'll fit our niche and give some key members of our team what they're looking for."

    He gave Kenzie a look as Ashley squeezed my shoulder.

    "So you do have a plan," Victoria said.

    "The start of one," he said. "Maybe."

    "Something like what we discussed?" I asked. Ashley and Sveta were our powerhouses. Sure, Tristan was no slouch, but Kenzie and I were definitely more suited toward surveillance, especially given our relative sizes.

    "Yeah," Tristan said. "You and Kenz tag things, and given the surroundings with Hollow Point, Ashley might be very useful here."

    "Tattletale knows about the group as a whole," I said. "She doesn't know everyone that's in our group, but she knows... some things."

    "That's not unexpected," Chris said. "Did you tell her?"

    "No," I said.

    A chime announced Rain's contribution. We all glanced to the laptop screen, since he wasn't able to get here yet. Who does she know about?

    "She only mentioned one member other than Taylor," Victoria said. "And she's inclined to keep Taylor safe."

    "Because she feels guilt over the older one, probably," Chris said, rolling his eyes.

    "Because we're friends," I said. "And she's not a complete ass. Maybe you should try that sometime."

    "I'm not a complete ass," Chris said. "Look, we're not wrong to be a little uneasy having a kid your age on the team. Yeah, I know you're more mature, but look at Kenzie."

    "What do you mean?" Kenzie asked.

    I shook my head.

    "Who is the other member she mentioned?" Sveta asked.

    "I'll tell them when we get some alone time," I said. "It'll be up to them what they share with the group. Just like if Mrs. Yamada was here."

    Everyone eyed me and Victoria. Well, Ashley and Kenzie didn't. But Chris, Sveta, and Tristan were clearly wondering if it had been them. Given that my… sort of older sister was more or less an open book, and Kenzie was Kenzie, they had nothing to worry about. Well, Kenzie had two things to worry about, but ultimately until she asked for help, they were her problems.

    It wasn't fair for Mia and me to hog the good parents.

    Tristan had a history with his brother that… I knew he wasn't fully open about. I didn't think it'd change my opinion of him in the end, anyway. It wasn't like finding out Regent was Hijack changed a lot of my opinion about him, just recontextualized it. Sveta was a Case 53, and I knew she carried a lot of guilt. I doubted that what she felt was her secrets that Lisa could have shared were really as bad as they could have been.

    Chris… I had dreams that Chris appeared in, at times. He wasn't an unattractive boy, but his personality left a lot to be desired, and his braces took a bit away from it. Plus, he was at least seven years older than me. Or a couple years younger than me. I… really didn't know. But I knew he had his secrets. How his powers worked were strange for a changer, but that didn't mean that they were bad. Just weird.

    "Do any of you have costume stuff with you?" Victoria asked, when a lull in the conversation happened. "Those of you who have it to bring?"

    Tristan, Chris and Ashley nodded.

    "My stuff's not ready yet," I said.

    "I do have spare basic masks," Victoria said. "I also have the start of an outline written up on my laptop. What do you guys say to going out and helping me fill in the team outline by showing off your powers a little in an area where we're not likely to do damage? And then we can talk together more a bout what you have in mind."

    A grin came to our faces collectively. She might as well have opened a candy shop with those words. Getting to use our powers, stretching them, was always fun. Figuring out how we could work well together.

    Ashley stood up and then picked me up.

    "I can walk," I said, definitely not huffing. I was more mature than that.

    "Yes, but this way we'll reach our destination faster," she said. "Unless you prefer someone else to carry you."

    I didn't miss the not-so-subtle glance at Victoria, but Kenzie was in the middle of asking her a question, so I wasn't sure if she missed it. And while yes, the flight with Victoria was… a lot more fun than I was expecting, I didn't want to beg the girl for that.

    Victoria turned toward Kenzie slightly, and I finally caught what they were speaking about. "—totaled the last car I picked up."

    "I can believe that," I said. "Cars weren't made to stand up to super strength."

    Victoria nodded.

    "I thought Chris might be able to lift my stuff or Tristan could, Taylor," Kenzie said. "But Tristan doesn't think he's strong enough, and you know Chris."

    "I keep telling you girls, it's a limited duration," Chris said. "I don't want to waste it on carrying things."

    I snorted. "Maybe my dad can help when he shows up."

    "It might take too long," Kenzie said. "My dad has some places he needs to be, sadly. Do you think you could help, Victoria?"

    "I guess I can take a look," Victoria said. "Where is it?"

    "At the street. Black van. I can show you," Kenzie said.

    "That'll help," Victoria said. "I'll probably have some questions."

    This time I held in my laughter as best I could. Frankly, the first time I saw Kenzie's stuff, I had questions too.

    Victoria turned to the rest of us and pointed at the tree line. "If the rest of you want to head over that way, stop near that rocky outcropping on the hill, we'll meet you over there."

    Ashley nodded, but she turned to Kenzie. "Your dad took you here?"

    Kenzie nodded.

    Ashley let out a breath, but she nodded again. "Give him our best. Victoria, you can probably help."

    At that, Victoria headed off with Kenzie while the rest of the group, including me, headed over to the area Victoria had indicated.

    As we walked, Tristan spoke up. "Taylor, I hate to ask this sort of question, especially when we're not in group…"

    "And I hate that sort of preface to a question," I said. "Ask whatever, Tristan."

    "You and Victoria both came from Brockton Bay," Tristan said.

    "You mean Victoria came from Brockton Bay, and Taylor's memories come from there," Chris said. "As our little murderkinder is so often fond of saying, she's not who she was."

    Dipping into German, now, Chris?

    "Regardless," Tristan said. "You knew Victoria then. But you were on opposite sides."

    "Yeah," I said. "I knew her as Glory Girl, but… she's grown up a lot since then. If she were the same as she was in Brockton Bay, she'd have responded to Tatteltale's taunting in a much different fashion. Glory Girl had a temper that she didn't always keep control of when it came to villains."

    "How so?"

    "It's complicated, and some of this is third-hand knowledge, but there were rumors among the villain community on how she misjudged her strength at times. She was mostly careful not to cause too much collateral damage, and really, at the bank, the Wards caused much more than she did, but I remember hearing some things," I said. "The Victoria that we've met… doesn't quite match up with that, but a lot has happened to her since then. We've all gone through a lot."

    Sveta nodded. "She was always pretty smart, and she was fun to talk with when I knew her. But it's good to hear that she's found her voice again."

    I frowned. Idly, I wondered what would have happened if she had managed to find Victoria before Panacea had sent herself to the Birdcage. Would she have found a way to get her back to normal? Would she have taken care of Victoria the way Victoria was taking care of our team?

    I'd like to think that I would, but that wasn't what happened. Panacea had violated her sister. In many more ways than just her form. Those are not memories that a six year old should have, and I hated Amy Dallon for that. Because her memories haunted my sister at night. My sister who would never do something like that to me.

    Tristan nodded. "So between you and Sveta, do you think that having her consulting with us is a good thing?"

    "I do," I said. "She's got experience in working with a team, and her insights into Tattletale weren't completely off."

    "I'm surprised that you're willing to go against your friend," Chris said. "Wasn't she supposed to be a very good friend of yours?"

    "I'm still friends with Tattletale, and her contacts with the Wardens are still valid," I said. "That's… something I think we should consider when we approach Cedar Point."

    "So, the Wardens know about this place," Tristan mused. "But they're not doing anything."

    "They're stretched thin," Ashley said. "Your idea might work, and it would be a good starting point for us."

    "You can put me down," I said as we approached the rocky outcropping. As Ashley did, I glanced over to the road where Victoria was helping Kenzie get her stuff out of her dad's van. "Looks like Kenz brought the works."

    "Yes, her boxes," Chris said, shaking his head, and he took a seat. Tristan took another one, and so did Ashley and Sveta, leaving me as the only one standing.

    I chose to stay standing where I could keep an eye on the street. The glasses I had were good enough that I could make out Victoria strapping the larger of the boxes to her body and then flying up in the air. It was almost like she was a human wrecking ball crane with the black box hanging down below her. She approached us in the air, and it took her about a minute to fly to us from where she'd unloaded it.

    When Victoria got close, she lowered closer to the ground, clearly in an effort to not have the box land too hard, but it still made a rather large thumping noise when it hit the ground.

    I didn't jump. I think Tristan did though.

    "Wow," he said. "How heavy is it?"

    "I'd guess close to three-fifty pounds," Victoria said. "I don't know for certain."

    "I didn't realize they were that big," Tristan said. "No wonder she has issues carrying them around."

    "I think that's actually one of the smaller ones," I said.

    Chris nodded. "She said they actually start at that size and getting larger."

    "Her dad hasn't left yet, has he?" Sveta asked.

    I shook my head. "I can still see them." And the flies that I'd landed on their backs helped me track them a little better.

    "They were figuring out some logistics things," Victoria said. "I think her dad's going to pick up Rain from the train station before heading off. I'll be right back."

    She flew off again. I would have tagged her with a fly as well, but as long as she had that force field up, it would be hard for me to do so. Besides, it wasn't like I couldn't just watch her.

    As she went off to get Kenzie, Christ was pulling out his headphones, and the others were unpacking some of their costume stuff, getting themselves ready. I sighed.

    "What's wrong, Taylor?" Ashley asked.

    "I have ideas for a costume," I said. "But… it's not dyed yet, and I don't want it to end up like… hers. Either of hers."

    "Perhaps Victoria might have some ideas," Ashley said. "She has a passable fashion sense. Other than that, are you ready to do some showing off?"

    I nodded. I had more than enough bugs in my swarm to handle things.

    When Victoria landed with Kenzie, she immediately went over to the larger box and moved to activate it. Chris had some sort of complaint about it, but it didn't matter. I wasn't afraid to approach something that Kenzie said was safe.

    I knew my friend. If she thought it was safe, it likely was.

    Besides, both of my parents were tinkers. It wasn't like I had no experience with tinkertech.

    Plus, she was using this tinker camera to show Plump Rat King in hologram form, and I remembered the episode this still was from. It was the one where the titular character was trying to get some sort of prize from his subjects. The lengths he went to were so funny and—

    "You should probably turn that off so Taylor can pay more attention," Tristan said, drawing my attention away from the hologram.

    I crossed my arms and glared at him. "It's… a good hologram, Kenzie. Very well done."

    "Thanks, Taylor," Kenzie said. "I can probably show a full episode in hologram form, if you want."

    "Later," I said at the same time as Victoria.

    "What else is it good for?" Ashley asked, having fished a black mask out of the bag she brought. She'd yet to put it on. Her dress was similar to the one that she'd had on at our last meeting.

    "Lots of stuff," Kenzie said. "I'll show you more later." She then got to her boxes.

    Tristan started putting on his Capricorn armor, pulling it completely out of the bag he'd brought. Capricorn Red had segments framed with a goat's head and horns, and where it wasn't brushed metal, it was painted or tinted red. It was certainly very high quality.

    "So, Byron's the fish theme, then?" Victoria asked.

    "Water as much as fish, yeah," Tristan said. And then he demonstrated his power to Victoria. His power really was something to watch. A combination of matter creation, and a sort of blaster power. He could create a large number of material over time, and it had some very strong capabilities. Then, he asked Byron to step in.

    The maces that Tristan had created burst into water as blue light suffused the orange. Byron wasn't in his Capricorn Blue costume, but instead he was wearing a hoodie.

    "Hi Byron," Kenzie said, and I waved.

    Byron nodded initially to Kenzie, and he waved me over when Victoria introduced herself.

    "Victoria, Taylor, I just wanted to let both of you know that I think this is a terrible idea," Byron said.

    "You've said that before," I said. "Or Tristan's said you said that before."

    "Doesn't change the fact that it is," Byron said. "The team, the potential for disaster, Tattletale? Taylor, you know that you probably shouldn't be involved with her."

    "Byron, that's my business," I said.

    "Kid, you're six. This is going to blow up in all of your faces," Byron said. "And mine too because of Tristan."

    "I don't think that's fair," Sveta said. "To Victoria or Taylor."

    "It might be," Victoria said. "But I don't see anyone's mind changing anytime soon. Mrs. Yamada tried that."

    "I know," Byron said. "I was there for all the therapy sessions too. I might not have spoken up, but I was there. Don't worry, I'm not going to say more. But this is definitely a trainwreck waiting to happen."

    "So was my first night out," I said.

    "Memories or not, I don't want you getting hurt or worse on our watch, Taylor," Byron said. "And that's one thing I know Tristan agrees with me on. You and Kenzie both."

    "What about Chris?" Victoria asked.

    "I can take care of myself," Chris said with a harrumph. "But we get it, saying it over and over again doesn't change anything."

    "Be nice," Sveta chided. "There's a lot playing into his concerns."

    "If he's not going to participate in the group therapy, he shouldn't be surprised if the therapy moves without his input," Chris said. "Even Taylor participated, and as Byron said, she's six."

    "I'm not sure if I should say thanks there," I said.

    Byron shook his head and gave one last warning to us before showing off his power and swapping back with Tristan. After getting us all wet.

    Tristan immediately turned to me, after saying something to his brother and to Victoria. "Taylor, I know you're more mature than that. Byron would too if he interacted with you more."

    I waved a hand. I knew how I looked, but that didn't mean that it was worth pursuing. The rest of the group described how their powers worked or showed off their tinkertech. When it came to my turn, Victoria turned to me.

    "Are your powers that much different than hers?" Victoria asked. She seemed a little uncomfortable about asking the question, but she still asked it nonetheless.

    "They're closer to how hers were before," I said.

    "Approximately how far out does your control reach?"

    "On a bad day, maybe a couple blocks," I said. "On a good one, double that. I remember going up to triple that, but not right now."

    "And that includes…"

    "Every single bug within it," I said. "Individually."

    Victoria paled slightly, and then she looked past me to where Chris had come back to us.

    He had taken one of his more pleasant-looking forms, a form that stood twelve feet tall, with oversized legs, hands, and a middle. He had narrower shoulders, coarse hair over his body, a long neck, a normal sized head with tusks, and slightly longer hair than before.

    "Twenty minutes," Tristan said. "And then he'll change back. We should hurry."

    "What are we doing again?" I asked.

    "Capture the flag," Victoria said. "Who wants to be team captains?"

    Tristan and Ashley both raised their hands before me.

    "Ashley, you want to pick first?" Victoria asked.

    Ashley glanced between me and Kenzie, tapping her chin. "This is a tough decision. But… Kenzie, today."

    When Kenzie cheered, I didn't sulk. It wasn't like it mattered all that much that my older sister didn't pick me first.

    "Sveta, you were going to be my second pick, but Rain's not here," Tristan said. "Weld gang represent."

    "Taylor," Ashley said, slipping her mask on. She pulled one out of the bag and offered it to me as Kenzie put her own mask on.

    I smiled, walking over to Ashley and accepting the mask.

    Playing around with our powers as a form of training and showing off to Victoria… that was going to be fun.

    That said, I did worry about people mistaking me for her. There was little way that would go well for our team.

    Whatever we called ourselves.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Nymph 2.2
  • Threadmarks

    • Nymph 2.2


    While Ashley got the ground rules for this competition, Kenzie and I took the blue flag Victoria had given us to find a point to plant it. There were some inherent balance issues that I could see with this team setup. Tristan had both Sveta and Chris on his team, both people that could move quickly when needed and hit hard. Additionally, his projected material could alter the battlefield so long as he maintained it, and he had his extra strength.

    Our team had Ashley, whose power was not really safe to be used on any person, given the sheer destructive nature of it, Kenzie, and me. What Kenzie had on her was some sort of camera gun that could be blinding if it hit someone in the eyes, and I knew Chris was probably especially vulnerable to it, given the form he was in. I had all the bugs in the area under my control. That amounted to a little under a million different variants of insect, but not all of them would be useful here. Additionally, I doubted that the force necessary to inconvenience either Sveta or Chris would be acceptable.

    It wouldn't be acceptable to me, either. I wasn't her.

    "What do you think about here, Taylor?" Kenzie asked, gesturing to a hollowed-out tree. Termites had attacked the inside, given the hive I felt nearby, and that would probably be helpful in of itself.

    "Not a bad place to hide it," I said. "But it looks like they're putting theirs in the open."

    Kenzie shrugged. "Victoria didn't say we couldn't hide it."

    I nodded. That gave me an idea. The others might expect me to cover the flag in bugs to make it… a little disgusting to pick up. It wouldn't stop Sveta from trying, and I doubt it would stop Chris, but it would certainly give Tristan pause.

    Ashley approached while I considered my idea and Kenzie planted the flag inside the hollowed-out tree. She then made some adjustments with her remote control and nodded at me. "I think you're thinking what I am, Taylor."

    "Decoy flags?" Ashley asked.

    "Decoy flags," I agreed. "How many can you make?"

    "Enough," Kenzie said. "Can you make them more than projections?"

    I nodded. "I'll fill them with bugs. There's enough here. Ashley, why did you pick both of us?" And why did you pick Kenzie first? Is the question that I didn't ask. I wasn't… that upset about it. Kenzie was a cool kid, after all, and Ashley was close with both of us.

    "I wanted to give Tristan the chance to make the right choice," Ashley said, lightly rubbing my head in a sisterly fashion. "And give him the chance to have an advantage. But he did not make the correct choice first."

    "Do you think we can win against them?" Kenzie asked.

    Ashley nodded. "With you on my side, yes. If Victoria were participating, it might be different. The rules are no hurting the trees if we can avoid it, and nothing that won't heal in a day."

    I nodded. "I can keep track of everyone on the field, and I might… be able to get the flag away from their base without alerting them, assuming you can keep them distracted."

    "How? Do you intend to sneak in the base?" Ashley asked.

    I shook my head. "No need. Ants can carry a lot, and there are more than enough ants to carry the flag."

    "But ants aren't fast when carrying things," Kenzie said. "wouldn't the weight slow them down?"

    "Some," I said. "But I should be able to get enough there..."

    In reality, I was already slowly gathering a swarm of ants around their base, keeping them hidden by the blades of grass. I only really needed about three hundred to carry the flag, but some strategic placement of them with other, larger bugs, would allow me to push the flag along faster.

    "You can do that while keeping track of everything else on the battlefield?" Ashley asked. "Impressive."

    I smiled.

    Kenzie reached into her pocket and pulled out two earbud looking things, offering one to each of us. "So we can keep in contact with each other without yelling."

    "Radios?" I asked. "How does that fit with the camera thing?"

    "They record voices and play them back for us," she said. "They're linked in with my box, and if you relay things, Taylor, I think we can work together."

    "I really need to get you to meet my Dad," I said.

    "He's a tinker, right?" she asked. At my nod, she matched it excitedly. "Yus! I would love to. I want to see what we can both make. And I might have ideas on how to help you with your stuff too."

    I held up a hand. "Let's focus on this first."

    "So, the strategy then," Ashley said. "Can you join us on the offensive, Taylor? Or do you need to focus entirely on the flag?"

    "I won't be very effective against anyone but Tristan, but I can do stuff," I said. "I might be able to blind Chris, but I think Kenzie is better there. Both Chris and Sveta."

    "Kenzie, your job will be to blind them then, all three," Ashley said. "Taylor, back her up, harry them with your bugs. They will be reluctant to do anything to you."

    "Chris won't," I said.

    "He will," Kenzie said. "I know he can be mean sometimes, but I think he's just scared. Given, y'know…"

    "He knows I'm not her," I said. "I'm not."

    Ashley looked a little far off. "I know, Taylor." She glanced back to us. "If you're ready…"

    Kenzie nodded, and she pressed a button. Her cube, situated at the center of the field, lit up with a loud beep. Even from here, I could see the number countdown on its side, counting down from ten.

    I made sure a gnat was resting on the backs of each of the opposing team in a spot they probably wouldn't think to look. On Sveta, I slipped it in between the joints of her body. On Tristan, it was literally on top of his helmet. On Chris, I placed it on his shorts.

    At least if Kenzie misfired and hit me, I'd still be able to figure out roughly where everything and everyone was. It was a major benefit to having my power. My bugs' senses weren't the greatest, but there were a lot of them. Still, I needed to trust my teammates as we continued to set ourselves up at the tree line.

    The timer continued to count down. 3… 2… 1… Go!

    We ran.

    I sent a large part of my swarm from the trees at them. Tristan and Chris stood ready for us, with Sveta launching her suit's arm at one of the trees. Their side of the battlefield was uneven, with walls, crevices, and the occasional white stone spike with orange-red divots in some of them. Tristan had been busy. Orange motes formed roughly knee-high for Kenzie and Ashley, about waist-high for me. It wouldn't matter much for anyone but Kenzie.

    "Sveta's going for our flag," I said.

    "Keep at it, I'll handle Tristan," Ashley said. "Kenzie?"

    "Got her!" Kenzie swiveled around, firing her flash-gun at Sveta. The first shot missed entirely, but she adjusted her aim and caught Sveta with the second shot. The angle wasn't the greatest for the shot, as Sveta had been on higher ground, but maybe she'd gotten lucky.

    I sent a wave of flying insects at Chris, namely some wasps that I'd gathered from a nearby hive. While I couldn't just have them sting him, at the least, I could obscure his vision while Kenzie made her next move. Meanwhile, I also pulled four hundred ants from the hills on the field closest to where they'd planted their flag. It wasn't in the easiest position for me to just grab, but that was what the ants were useful for. It would take some time.

    "Kenzie, six o'clock!" I called over our radio.

    She spun around as Chris burst through the swarm, lumbering over toward her. A deep chuckle echoed out as he started to reach toward Kenzie. She shot him before he got within an arm's length, and she started backing away.

    A screaming sound echoed through the air as Ashley used her power.

    "Holy fuck!" Tristan yelled as he scrambled away from her.

    "Pay attention to who you're fighting!" Ashley ordered.

    "I am!" Tristan said, and more orange motes formed into a club in his hands. "Chris, switch!"

    "Taylor, focus on the flags," Ashley said over the radio.

    I glanced back toward our side of the field as I scurried along Tristan's field modifications. Sveta seemed to be getting some of her bearings back after Kenzie's shot, but then she ran into our other plan. Forty-eight different flags dotted the landscape, each one coated in bugs. It would take her forever to find the real one, and even then, would she think to look in the tree we hid it in?

    I slipped between two of the spikes Tristan had set up. I knew their flag was close. I could get to it. Then I froze. The gnat on Chris was moving quickly through the air, but not toward Ashley.

    "Taylor!" I heard Kenzie both through the radio and off.

    Chris landed with a rumbling thud in front of me. "Where do you think you're going?"

    I stayed silent. Instead, I took what I could from the swarm, pulling the flying insects close. I couldn't use all the bugs here, but I pulled in another two-thousand, swarming them around me, and then spreading them further.

    "I might not be able to see you, Taylor, but I can smell you," he said. "You are close…"

    Those hands were massive. I needed to be careful. Wait. If he could smell me…

    I pulled some stinkbugs out from the ground. They'd been introduced to the area from Bet when the Gimel portal had first opened and thrived. I grabbed every single one that I could and flew them at Chris's face. I didn't know how blind he was, but if I could keep him from smelling me too, that would help.

    Stinkbugs emit an odor from their abdomen as a defense mechanism normally used to prevent it from being eaten by predators. I had them emit all of it as they got close to Chris's face.

    My least favorite bug was my most useful here, since I didn't want to do something permanent.

    "Gah!" Chris's hands went over his face as he tried to swat at the bugs. Unfortunately for him, that would only make the smell worse if the bugs died.

    I continued pulling the flag out of their base. I'd managed to get it dislodged now, and my ants were carrying it toward an area that would be perfect for Ashley.

    I glanced up during this temporary breather, and I saw our coach watching us from up in the air. I wondered what Victoria thought of this and what she could see.

    A screaming wail announced Ashley's power use again as she slammed into Chris, shoulder first. He sprawled toward the ground out of my way, and she nodded at me, white eyes showing her approval.

    I might have smiled as I nodded back. While Chris was out of the way, I ran through the crevice. I found myself on the edge of a platform that overlooked their fort. Tristan really had spent some time building it up. It was impressive.

    "Tristan's got me cornered," Kenzie said, but she didn't sound too unhappy about it. "Taylor?"

    "Flag's two hundred feet to your eight, Ashley. I'm not sure I can get it completely out of their fort as it is," I said.

    "That's fine, I can get in," she said. "Help Kenzie."

    I nodded and adjusted how I was on the platform so I could see with my eyes where Kenzie was. I broke off a part of the swarm that had been harassing Chris to help with that. Mixing wasps with flies and other more annoying insects would help.

    Kenzie wasn't far from me, but Tristan had set up more stone walls around her. These went up to at least her waist, and orange motes were boxing her in, forming between her legs. I'd only have one real opportunity to do something here.

    I swarmed him, making sure to land as many of the bugs on him as possible. I had the wasps slip into his costume through the joints in the armor, burrowing and finding their way under to his clothing. Yes, I wasn't planning on stinging him, but for most people the feeling of individual creeping, crawling legs was enough to rattle them without doing anything harmful. I just needed my teammate free.

    The orange motes dissipated without solidifying as I disrupted Tristan's concentration. Kenzie used her grapple arm to pull herself toward me as she fired a shot at him.

    Ashley's power rang out again, and she landed on the platform next to Kenzie and me, blue fabric in hand.

    Then several of my bugs died on impact. In several different places at once. Sveta was making her move.

    "Now!" Chris yelled.

    Tristan blurred in my sight, and I swallowed, looking down. Oh.

    The stone platform all three of us stood on turned into a raging water, along with half the fort. Immediately, I was dunked under, followed by Kenzie and Ashley, and I found myself fighting the current going down the hill. There was enough water that it carried me down to the bottom of the slope toward the valley that was between the two halves of the field. The water kept going over my head. I could barely get a breath.

    A large hand reached into the water and wrapped around my waist, fishing me out of the water. The hand, completely encircling my waist held me above water, letting me breathe as he reached in and pulled Kenzie out as well.

    Chris laughed teasingly, and Kenzie reached out and hit his arm with hers.

    "You jerk! Taylor's all waterlogged!"

    "I'm…" I coughed. "I'll be fine."

    Another set of bugs died, and I frowned. She was remarkably close that time. I still didn't know if she knew exactly where the flag was, but she was doing something.

    Also, I couldn't feel the bugs that had been on Tristan. Something when he swapped with his brother and then back again didn't bring the bugs back. They'd just… disappeared. Or they'd died. I didn't know exactly.

    Tristan fished the flag out of Ashley's hands before she could recover, and then he formed a cage of something over the cube.

    "That's not going to work!" Kenzie called. Which, of course, it wasn't. She was a tinker, and tinker stuff never worked as expected. A part of the cube was illuminated, projecting the additional flags, where I'd placed the bugs.

    And then, in a jarring motion, I felt the real flag get taken.

    "Doesn't matter," Tristan said as he glanced up our side of the field. I couldn't see the look on his face through his helmet, but I could practically feel the grin in his voice.

    It took Sveta three moves to come from our base to theirs, carrying the flag in her hands, but Ashley had their flag in hand. She climbed up the slope as Sveta settled on one of the walls of their base, and Chris moved to a more reasonable position.

    "Game's not over yet," I said.

    "It's over," Chris said, and he coughed up something, spitting it rapidly in Ashley's direction. It looked like some combination of muck and sawdust.

    The world screamed as she shot it out of the sky with her power, tearing it to shreds.

    Unfortunately, it distracted her well enough for Sveta's arm to launch out at her and tug the flag out of her free hand.

    We'd lost.

    Tristan formed some stairs on the slope for Chris to ascend, holding Kenzie and me.

    "That was awesome," Kenzie said, nodding at me. "Taylor, you did great! That thing with the bugs and the flags was very smart! And Ashley was so cool!"

    Chris set the two of us down when we reached the platform the others were standing on, and he fist-bumped Tristan and Sveta.

    "That was creative," Sveta commented. "There were so many flags, and—"

    A screaming noise came from behind us as Ashley jumped up to the platform. She did not look happy, even when Kenzie ran over and hugged her. She lightly patted Kenzie on the head, but she clearly wasn't happy about the situation at all.

    Honestly, I couldn't blame her. Despite our efforts, we'd lost. We could have planned better for Sveta, but I wasn't even sure how I'd be able to affect her, given my current limitations.

    I was looking off toward the city from our perch on the platform, tuning most of Kenzie's cheerful excitement out. Had I had fun? Yes, but… it would have been more fun if I'd won. If we'd won.

    A hand-sized finger lightly pressed on my shoulder. I looked up, and Chris had approached.

    "What do you want?" I asked. It may have come out a bit more… upset sounding than I wanted it to.

    "You did good," Chris said in his form's deep voice. "You were limited heavily, but you still managed to find something to do. She would have gone for something stronger, knowing that I'd heal. You didn't, Taylor."

    I nodded.

    "Come on, we can make fun of Kenzie's tinker talk," Chris said, offering his hand to me.

    I kicked him in the oversized shin and turned back toward them. But I did grab onto a finger as we walked back over.

    Victoria had landed nearby, and when we approached, she smiled at me. "You all did a good job, given your team makeup. I almost wish I'd participated as more than a referee."

    "It was everything I'd hoped it would be!" Kenzie said, having taken off her mask. Her costume below was distorted with some image artifacts on it now. That was right, her mask helped project it. Dad would be interested in something like that. "Everyone was so cool, and Ashley, you were awesome!"

    "She was," I said, smiling at my older sister.

    A bit of light seemed to hit her eyes when I did that, but she still looked upset.

    "How'd you manage to find our flag?" Kenzie asked, looking at Sveta. But before she could get an answer, she held up a hand, pulling out her smartphone. "Waitwaitwait, I've got this covered!"

    Her projector made a sound, and images streaked across the hill, showing where we were in various points of the match.

    "I saved everything so we could look back and see how things played out or compare notes," Kenzie said. "Or so we could do this."

    The images blurred and shifted, pausing on Sveta perched on a branch with flag in hand. It blurred again after that, going backwards in time.

    Sveta removed one of her prosthetic hands, and tendrils snapped out of the hole, something like a hundred or so. Way too many for me to try to count individually. That… tracked with what I felt.

    "You grabbed every flag," Tristan said.

    "I grabbed at every flag," Sveta said. "Some of them multiple times, I'm sure, and it really didn't help that I couldn't see that well, thanks to Kenzie. Or that some of them felt more solid thanks to them being full of bugs…"

    Kenzie cackled, and I couldn't help but smirk. Chris lightly shoved me before smothering Kenzie's cackling with a giant hand. She fought against it, not very hard, but… I snickered a little at her predicament.

    Victoria held up a hand once Kenzie settled down. "Well, this will definitely help out here. If you all don't mind…"

    "Don't mind what?" Tristan asked.

    "As your coach," Victoria said. "I have notes."
     
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    • Nymph 2.v (Victoria)
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    • Nymph 2.v (Victoria)


    Before going through the recordings, Victoria took a look over the six assembled members of the team she'd decided to coach. She still had some doubts about them, but she'd witnessed their potential. Sveta had improved significantly since her time in the Asylum, and what she'd seen and noted down regarding her wasn't so much a need for improvement as it was just little things she could have done better in dealing with unknown situations.

    Tristan had leadership experience, and he'd taken natural command of his team, grasping the strengths and weaknesses of his teammates. Additionally, his use of his power to reinforce the base he had established for their flag worked. However, there appeared to be some unconscious bias affecting him… She'd address that when it came up.

    "Should we continue?" Kenzie asked. "I really want to see when Sveta got our flag."

    Victoria nodded. She liked Kenzie's attitude about this. She didn't seem too affected by the loss. She seemed more appreciative of the opportunity to get to show off her technology than the actual venue to do it in. It was easy to believe she had fun. "Go ahead."

    The scene following Sveta advanced, showing a repeat of her grasping at multiple flags.

    "All the flags I could see, and well, some I couldn't really… appeared to be fake," Sveta said. "Then I remembered Taylor was with you."

    "Oh?" Taylor looked up at her. Victoria could only guess what she was thinking in that moment, but Skitter had a reputation for a reason back in Brockton Bay. Sveta might have known this Taylor better, but there were certain things that seemed universal.

    "You can be sneaky when you want to be. So, I wondered if all the visible flags were diversions," Sveta said.

    "A plan we all came up with," Kenzie said. "Taylor just hid the flag."

    "I did have to look for it," Sveta said. "But after moving a few times, I think I ended up just lucking into it."

    "I should have had the bugs move the flag," Taylor muttered, but Ashley lightly placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing.

    "You could have done that?" Victoria asked. She'd heard that Skitter, later Weaver, had wide-reaching control over her bugs, but she'd not heard exactly how detailed. And with Taylor being a clone, there was the chance that the powers had expressed in a different fashion. "While you were doing what you did with the other flag?"

    Taylor nodded.

    "Out of curiosity, Taylor," Tristan said. "How many bugs do you have under control right now?"

    "Do you really want to know?" Taylor asked, the light gleaming off the glasses she'd replaced on her face. She had that look that somehow combined deviousness with innocence that only children could get, and not for the first time, Victoria wondered exactly how old Taylor really was.

    Yes, her physical age was obvious. The girl was the youngest of the team by a long shot. She was barely half Kenzie's age or slightly over it, easily. But as Victoria well knew, physical age was only part of the story. The girl had the memories of a Wards-age supervillain combined with whatever she was still getting from her power about Weaver and… Khepri. There were moments where she acted with maturity, but there were moments that she'd seen here where Victoria felt Taylor was closer to her physical age than she'd like to admit.

    "Tell me," Tristan said.

    "There are close to thirty billion insects within my range, right now," Taylor said. "I could give you an exact number, but only about sixty-five million are actually useful as anything more than filler."

    "Only, she says," Chris said. He had lost some of his height as his transformation started to wear off. He held onto his shorts with one hand and reached into a pocket with another. He pulled out his original outfit along with what appeared to be a pencil case. "What was that you hit me with?"

    "Stink bugs!"

    Kenzie cackled again and turned toward Taylor. She offered a fist to her, which was met with a fist bump. "Nice!"

    "Do we want to go through what Taylor did then?" Tristan asked. "Because I'd like to know."

    "You'd know more if you'd picked her on your team," Ashley said.

    "Wait, before we go further," Kenzie said. "Rain's here. I'll send a drone to show him the way."

    "You'll have to get him caught up," Victoria said, and she looked over at Taylor and Ashley.

    The two had gathered closer to each other while Kenzie was operating her camera drone. Victoria had noticed the closeness between them back in the therapy room and earlier that day. It was a curious thing to see them that close, given who Taylor's adoptive parents were, but given that both were clones made by Bonesaw, it was possible that they felt a kinship in that way.

    "Before Rain gets here, I want to ask… why stink bugs?" Victoria asked. "Why not something else?"

    "Well, the rules were nothing that couldn't be walked off the next day," Taylor said. "And I wasn't so sure about Chris's durability. I didn't want to chance he was allergic to something I had…"

    "I wouldn't have been," Chris said, now even smaller. He was a little over half the size he'd been before, but he smiled at Taylor. "But thanks for the thought, kid."

    "You're younger than I—" Taylor looked down at herself and frowned. "I mean…"

    "Yeah, I know," Chris said. "I guess I shouldn't have mentioned how I smelled you…"

    Taylor let out a sound that could almost have been described as a mix between a chuckle and a giggle. It was short, but the pride was there. "I don't even like stink bugs, but they worked."

    Chris nodded.

    Rain appeared at the bottom of the hill a few seconds later, escorted by Kenzie's camera drone.

    Victoria turned to address Taylor. "Given the limitations set, you did a pretty good job of using what you had."

    "I didn't want to hurt any of them," Taylor said. "Even Chris."

    "Feeling the love," Chris rumbled, now under half his size. He adjusted the shorts he'd been wearing to help cover his body more as he continued to shrink down. The smile on his face hadn't left.

    "Rainnn!" Kenzie called when Rain was about halfway up the slope to the group. Chris winced, and so did Taylor. "Did you bring tinker stuff?"

    "Yeah!" he replied.

    "Yusss," Kenzie said. "This is really the best day. We all did pretty awesome things."

    "You couldn't have waited twenty seconds?" Chris asked. "You could have asked when he got here."

    "Yeah, but I wanted to know now," Kenzie said. For a brief second, it looked like the two of them were about to do something, but two blue butterflies flew up and landed on their foreheads before anything more than moving closer together happened.

    "Taylor?" Chris asked. "Why?"

    "It might be funny, but there's stuff to do," Taylor said. "And Rain's almost here."

    "I wasn't going to do anything bad," Chris said with a grin. "I could show you."

    "Don't," Ashley said. "You and Kenzie are closer in size, but you dwarf Taylor significantly."

    "It's okay," Taylor said. "He wouldn't hurt me, not like this."

    "I like him like this," Kenzie said, nodding to Chris. The butterfly flew off her forehead. "I really do like you when you're like this."

    Chris snorted. "Too easy."

    "You know what I mean!" Kenzie said, as she fussed with her hair. "Happy. I like seeing you happy. Taylor too. I like it when you two get along."

    She sat back down on one of the Tristan-created benches as Rain walked up to join all of them.

    "Why do I get the feeling I walked in on something awkward?" Rain asked.

    "I like you a lot like this," Kenzie said, quieter.

    Taylor walked over to Kenzie and hopped on the bench next to her.

    "I mean, I still think you're both annoying as shit," Chris said.

    Sveta kicked him.

    "I know," Kenzie said. "But Taylor's not annoying."

    "I'm joking," Chris said. "You both did better than I thought you would."

    "We could have done more," Taylor said. "But…"

    "Yeah, you didn't want to hurt us," Chris said. "Can I just say thank you for not stinging me with bees?"

    "Me too," Tristan said.

    "You did pretty cool things, Taylor! I think our plan would have worked, but Tristan and Byron are strong, and Chris is flexible, and Sveta just was a major counter to everything we did. Not completely, but… enough. We should fill Rain in."

    "I'd appreciate that," said Rain. "So, Victoria didn't take part?"

    "Not this time," Victoria said, looking at Rain. It was hard to believe that this young man was what Tattletale said, but somehow she doubted that the thinker would lie to Taylor about this. If he was Fallen, what did that change? It depended on what his personal views were about it, and how they'd changed since his trigger. "I took notes, and I do have comments on everyone."

    "And I have a replay of the entire thing, but I want to see your arm before it's too late," Kenzie said.

    As they spoke about the arm, Kenzie gave the remote for her box to Tristan, and he messed with it, quickly cycling through the images. Sveta, Kenzie and Rain focused on the arm, while Ashley spoke up every so often as they prodded at her. Taylor moved a little further off on her own, sitting quietly as she watched the rest of the team with the arm, and Victoria spoke briefly with Chris about his form changing.

    After that, Victoria moved over to Taylor's bench and sat down with her. "Not too interested in tinker arms?"

    "Just because my parents are tinkers doesn't mean I have to be," said Taylor. "You said you had notes?"

    "Some," said Victoria. "Some for the group as a whole, some for each team, and some for each of you."

    "We were talking about me before," Taylor said. "You didn't bring it up."

    If it weren't for the voice, Taylor would almost sound like a young adult, but... she wasn't.

    "You were creative with your bugs, but… there were things that I almost expected that you didn't do," said Victoria.

    "What, like things she did?" Taylor asked. "I'm not. I'm not her. And the rules were no damage that can't be walked off the next day. Sure, bug bites and venomless stings are… technically within those rules, but Mom speaks about the spirit of rules versus the letter of them."

    "Dragon, right?" asked Victoria. "Not…"

    "Yeah," Taylor said. "I'm trying to be different. Better. I don't want people to look at me and see… her. But we lost."

    "Not because of that," said Victoria. "You almost won, but there were a couple of judgement calls and timing that could have been better. You're not as mobile as Ashley or even Kenzie. I'm not sure you should have even been close in at all. Could you have done the flag stealing from the base?"

    "Bug eyes aren't quite that good," said Taylor. "Yeah, I can see through them, but they're complex and don't always make sense. Nor are they always that clear."

    "So, if you had a better look at the other flag…"

    "I might have been able to do more," she said. Then she looked over at Ashley and frowned.

    "Something wrong?"

    "I just… feel like I failed her," Taylor said. "I should have done more. Been better. But I'm not her. Skitter would have used bug clones, would have found ways around the rules. Oh, if those bugs in Tristan's suit had bit him, the pain might have caused him to swap to Byron earlier, collapsing the platform earlier. Yeah, I'd have to have put the bugs in his suit even earlier, but that didn't mean… And Weaver… Weaver would have had everyone beaten up. She could have predicted Sveta, beaten Chris down… even at that size, and…"

    "You did the best you could, under the circumstances, Taylor," Victoria said, to try and reassure her. "And… you're you. You lost, but you did it as you."

    "Even if we were set up to fail," Ashley said, having made her way over. "We lost. But it had no bearing on how we actually would have done. If we hadn't been so restricted, we would have won easily, Taylor. No, you weren't the failure. I was. I was tested, and I failed. There was a trap, and I thought I could get you and Kenzie away before the water would have hit, but that was too much."

    "You still did some amazing things, Ashley," Victoria said. "Don't take this the wrong way, but even from where I floated, you seemed really intimidating to go against."

    "That's fine," she said. "That definitely was the intent."

    "I think we should see about watching your perspective next," said Victoria.

    "After Taylor's," Ashley said, wrapping an arm around the smaller girl. She let out a brief sigh. "I don't like losing, but it was not your fault, Taylor. Nor was it Kenzie's. If we, for whatever reason, do this again, remember that."

    "It might not be a bad idea to do another attempt with Rain here," Victoria said.

    "And perhaps one with you involved," said Ashley. "I know what your family is capable of, but I would like to test your mettle."

    "You might get the chance," Victoria said. "I know where and what we should see… I'm just curious if Kenzie managed to record everything Taylor was doing."

    "It's her specialty," Taylor said. "Well, a specialty. I'm pretty sure she can do it."

    "She can," Ashley said. "I've seen her do something similar."

    "Is that why you picked her first?" Taylor asked.

    "I told you, I wanted to give Tristan a chance to make the right choice," Ashley said. "Yes, he won, but it wasn't because you were the wrong choice."

    "I don't think that she likes Kenzie more than you," Victoria said.

    Taylor shook her head. "I just… Sorry. It's stupid." She crossed her arms. "I'm not sure that a game was the best way for us to show off."

    "Different exercises have different goals," Victoria said. "I'll be working with all of you, to try and figure out what you need to work on. You all have different levels of experience, and today was your first time working as a team for any reason. Let's head back to the others."

    Ashley nodded, looking over toward the group.

    "I guess," said Taylor. "We might be able to prevent—"

    Water suddenly splashed over Kenzie's head as Tristan swapped with Byron and then swapped back.

    Chris started laughing raucously before yelping as the three girls made it to the others.

    Everyone looked from him to Taylor, who had a small smile on her face. "It wasn't that funny."

    "What's going on?" Victoria asked.

    "Tristan couldn't figure out how to work the projector," Rain said. "And he and Kenzie got in a small argument which ended with her getting soaked."

    "And you're supposed to be our leader?" Taylor asked.

    "I warned her," Tristan said.

    "He did, but he was still being a dummy," Kenzie said, fiddling with the remote in her hand. Orange lights started forming above her head, but they faded when Victoria, Ashley, and Taylor looked at Tristan. "Where do we want to start?"

    "Taylor's perspective, please," Ashley said. "I want to see how her carrying the flag was going."

    Kenzie nodded and pressed some buttons on her remote, and the scene shifted to inside Tristan's team's base. A small swarm of ants were advancing on the flag. Kenzie mentioned something about space versus time, which probably would have made more sense if Victoria had paid attention to the original argument, but instead, she saw where Ashley was going with this.

    "How fast can ants move?" Victoria asked.

    "It depends," Taylor said. "The fastest ants are the Saharan silver ant, which, well, aren't native to here, but the ones I was using here can move about two centimeters per second when unencumbered. About half that when carrying something."

    "So, if we were able to keep the others distracted longer," Ashley mused. "How long do you think it might have taken to get the flag out of the base completely?"

    "Probably about eight minutes," Kenzie said. "At that speed. If she could have gotten the flag to a good pickup point…"

    Ashley nodded.

    "How about we look at something Ashley was doing next?" Victoria asked. "The fight with Tristan?"

    The scene jumped to when Tristan was trying to deal with her.

    "Not going to lie, your blasts are scary as shit," Tristan said. "Every time you used one, even if you were five feet away and not aiming at me, I flinched. I saw what it did to my powerstuff, and I definitely did not want the same thing happening to my body stuff."

    "I have more control than that," Ashley said.

    "I saw that," Victoria said. "In no way would I want to have to fight you for real. Your power is easily one of the most destructive here. That you kept it under such tight control was highly impressive."

    "It wasn't enough to win though," Ashley said, but then she looked at Taylor. She breathed out a sigh. "We should have won. I had the best team, and if we weren't so limited by the rules, we would have. There were traps, and I arrogantly thought I could deal with them."

    "I should have thought of it too," Taylor said. "Realized the platform was made by Tristan. That Chris gave up too easily."

    "Taylor, you're…" Ashley shook her head. "I should have noticed. I failed. But the rules made it easy for us to fail. If I'd been going all out, I could have easily annihilated any of them. If you had, you could have used some of the more dangerous bugs to keep them off of me while I did what I needed to. If Kenzie had… This was a game."

    "It was a way to test teamwork," Sveta said. "It wasn't a test of any individual."

    Ashley stood up and took a breath. "I could have killed any one of you, and I would have done it with a song in my heart."

    "Ashley," Victoria said, and the woman whirled on her.

    "Victoria," she said. "Ashley's a fabrication of paperwork. A name they insisted on putting down because the therapists needed something to call me that wasn't the name I'd used for the longest time. I'm Damsel of Distress."

    "Okay, I think—" Victoria said.

    Ashley continued to get worked up and spoke over her. She spoke of her time with the Slaughterhouse Nine, of her memories, of her death and resurrection. What she remembered, what she knew. Victoria floated into the air, ready to intervene if only to get the younger members away from her.

    "Count back from ten," Rain said.

    "What?" Ashley asked.

    "It's what Mrs. Yamada always asks," Rain said. "When you're wound up."

    Ashley closed her eyes, and she started counting. When she opened them again, Taylor stood in front of her.

    "If you're Damsel, what does that make me?" Taylor asked quietly. So quietly, in fact that Victoria wasn't sure she was meant to hear it. "What does that make Mia?"

    Ashley frowned, but she scooped Taylor up in her arms. The tension visible in her muscles relaxed somewhat. "We'll go over there for now. You guys… discuss whatever."

    "You sure?" Rain asked. "You could count down from one hundred if it's not better."

    "Rain, I get what you're trying to do," Ashley said. "But let me handle it myself. I'll do my thing. You do yours."

    "Yours involves Taylor?" Victoria asked.

    "She needs it as much as I do," Ashley said as she walked off to the side.

    It wasn't long after that Kenzie joined them, and Victoria spoke with the others regarding their thoughts on things. Their thoughts on both Ashley and Taylor. Both of them had different expressions of their agent, different views on who they had been, but the two clearly felt a kinship. And Kenzie liked them both.

    "As much as she tries to deny it, Taylor is a kid," Sveta said. "She's always happy when her parents are with her, and she likes being with her sister. I'm not sure how much of that is her agent or just the person behind the power."

    "I think it's easier for her to deny her older self over Ashley," Tristan said. "They both have their agents filling in blanks for them, but Ashley's roughly the same age as when she was killed and has memories up until then. They're good for each other."

    "They're both safe with her then?" Victoria asked, glancing to the trio. Kenzie had curled up next to Taylor and Ashley, somehow producing a three-string headphone for them to share music with. Ashley lightly ran a hand through Taylor's hair, and Victoria couldn't help but flinch for the kid.

    "Safe as they can be," Rain said, drawing back her attention. "I don't think we'll be able to get another exercise in today. We should let them be. Maybe you guys can walk me through how things went."

    "Fair enough," Victoria said. And they started, a slight pit in her stomach formed as a question came to her that she hadn't quite gotten an answer to. Who was Taylor's sister, exactly? She'd asked before, but they'd stonewalled her.

    Why? What could be worse than Skitter? Or Rain's origins?
     
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    • Nymph 2.3
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    • Nymph 2.3


    Ashley sat with me while Victoria helped load Kenzie's box back into her father's van. Both of us watched the byplay between the young tinker and her father. I probably shouldn't have, but I was listening in. Her father just seemed so disinterested in her, or worse. We were in public so he had to feign some sort of interest, but it still ate at me with what Kenzie was going back to. She didn't deserve that sort of thing at all. Her parents contributed to her trigger, and I knew that if Kenzie were to ask, I'd do something about them in a heartbeat. Ashley ran a hand through my hair. I knew most other people would be worried to have Damsel of Distress doing what she did, but I knew Ashley had control over her power. She clearly was paying attention to Kenzie's interactions with her father as well.

    I clenched my fists some as I watched. I didn't want to try and use my bugs to listen in, but I worried about Kenzie. I wanted to do something, but I couldn't. I'd promised Kenzie that I wouldn't step in, same as Ashley.

    "I know, Taylor," said Ashley. "I know. They're beneath her."

    "My parents could take her in," I said softly. "They'd be better."

    "Your parents have you and Mia," Ashley said. "And you two are handfuls already. Do you really think that adding Kenzie would be good for you or her?"

    "It'd be better for her," I said. "Mom and Dad are better than her parents."

    Ashley grimaced.

    "They are," I insisted.

    "They are," she reluctantly admitted. "But at the end of the day, neither of us can make that decision for Kenzie."

    I gave her a curious look. This was how I knew she wasn't her previous self as she claimed. Damsel of Distress would have little trouble just taking what she needed, from what I knew of her. But like Ashley, I couldn't just say that. I mean, I could, but it would mean more if she figured it out on her own.

    "What do you think of Victoria?" Ashley asked suddenly. "The others expressed their impressions of her, but I hadn't had the chance to ask you yet."

    "As a hero? A person? A coach?" I asked.

    "Any of those, all of them," Ashley said. "I know you remember things about her from before, but your impressions of her now."

    "She's trying to do good," I said. "The best she can with what she has. There's a reason Mrs. Yamada called her in, even knowing she might know me."

    Ashley nodded. "She seems somewhat adept. I think I heard that her parents were there at the Boston Games."

    "Did you fight them?" I asked. Ashley did like remembering those times as if she was there. To be fair, I was similar with my own memories.

    "I might have," Ashley said with a shrug. "My fights were mostly with Blasto and Accord's people. The heroes were more like… window dressing. The fights weren't as memorable, and hero costumes tend to blur together. Honestly, I couldn't even tell you what they wore."

    "White bodysuits, symbols in colors," I said.

    Ashley shrugged. "Maybe? I only know what her family is capable of for certain from what Kenzie sent me, but I didn't really look at the pictures. What about you?"

    "I fought Victoria once, got a ride from her cousin during an Endbringer fight, and had her sister threaten to give me cancer," I said. "In the same fight."

    Ashley lowered her voice. "Mia apologize for that one too?"

    I nodded. "But uh, she still sometimes uses that threat. When we're fighting. Give me cancer and then take it away."

    "The two of you will grow up to be interesting people," Ashley said. "But further impressions?"

    "If she ended up joining us, I wouldn't complain," I said softly as the truck door closed. "Kenzie likes her. Sveta's a good friend for her, and I think even Chris likes her."

    "As much as I like Kenzie, she does like everyone," Ashley said. "But Chris is a decent barometer."

    I didn't fully agree with that statement, but I understood what she meant. He became more empathetic with certain form use, and that let him be a much better judge of character than usual. He had been almost tolerable before Sveta offered to walk him home.

    "I think Rain might see her as a potential resource," I said. "For help with his cluster, and I don't think he'd be wrong."

    Even knowing what I now knew about Rain and that Victoria did too, I couldn't see her just letting them kill him. Lisa was wrong about him though. Maybe not about the objective parts, about where Rain was from or what he dealt with leading to the trigger, but she was wrong about him. Rain had a good heart. Whether it was a result of who he was or a result of the trigger itself, I couldn't be sure, but I knew that the guilt ate him up inside.

    "We'll all help Rain," Ashley said. "It was part of the deal, and I keep my word."

    I nodded. "Just like you get to experience it from this side and decide to be a villain later?"

    Ashley looked like she wanted to say something, but we both noticed the van driving off with Kenzie, and Victoria was on her way back. At least we'd managed to distract ourselves from her terrible father. I don't think that either of us were capable of being objective on that. For different reasons, obviously, but I wasn't sure how much Ashely remembered of her first life's father. I barely remembered mine. He wasn't Dad, anyway.

    Upon floating within range, Victoria slowly descended toward us, arms outstretched in a sort of "I come in peace" way. She gave the two of us a look, but she focused mostly on me. "Taylor, what time did you tell your parents we'd be done?"

    "The time you suggested," I said. "But this happens sometimes."

    Sometimes they got caught up doing something with the Wardens, and others there were issues with the trains and portals. It really got complicated coming and going to the City, but I felt it was worth it. I had friends here that were my friends. Not hers. Sure, I had some friends that had been hers, but I was here. She wasn't.

    "It doesn't seem fair to you," Victoria said.

    "Well, she is the daughter of heroes," Ashley said. "I've found that heroes are often fashionably late."

    I reached into my backpack and pulled out my phone. Fifteen messages. Oops. I'd been too focused on the now to take a look. Three from Mia, one from Dad, four from Mom, and then an additional seven from Kenzie. Already. While Ashley and Victoria were talking with each other, I looked at the ones from my sister first.

    Mia: Hope things are going well. Mom and Dad took me to the Wardens HQ today, left me with a guy. He's annoying.
    Mia: Eric doesn't want me playing with flowers. He says I could break them.​
    Mia: I don't think he knows who I am. Hope you're having fun with all of them.​

    I didn't know who this Eric guy was, but judging from the context, he either wasn't all that bright or he had specific ideas about my sister that didn't line up right with reality. I'd probably have to find out more about him before deciding to stuff his sneakers full of fire ants, including if he made her cry. I'd upgrade to bullet ants if he made her cry.

    The message from Dad was simple.

    Dad: Will be exactly one hour, six minutes and forty-five seconds late. Sorry. I'll see you then.​

    Informative. Apologetic. Precise. All traits I associated with my father. He was a good man.

    Mom's messages were a little more personalized.

    Mom: Taylor, sweetie, we're both a little held up with work today. I know that Colin sent you a message already.
    Mom: I don't want you to worry because of us being late. It's not especially heinous, but we're meeting with a delegation from Cheit.
    Mom: I won't be able to tell you too much via text, but your father will be able to pick you up one way or the other. I'll ensure it.
    Mom: Just try not to have Damsel attack him when she sees him. Please. I love you, sweetie.​

    Attack him? Wait, was he going to be coming in… of course he was, if he was coming straight from work and was running later than planned due to political stupidity.

    "Taylor?" Victoria asked. "Everything okay?"

    "Yeah, Dad's just going to be late, and Mom asked…" I glanced over at Ashley. She had good reasons to not like my parents, given what happened to the original Damsel of Distress at the end. "He's going to probably be in his armor when he gets here."

    Ashley crossed her arms. "I won't hurt him for what he did. Not physically."

    "You won't fight?" I asked.

    "I won't start a fight," Ashley said with a sharp look at me.

    Good enough.

    "How late will he be?" Victoria asked.

    I showed her the text, and Ashley took a look as well.

    Ashley snorted loudly. "Really? That is… very him."

    "If I hadn't believed you before about your father, Taylor, I think I would now," Victoria said. "Are you okay?"

    "If I could just ride the train by myself, it wouldn't matter," I said. Of course, I did like travelling with my parents. It just would have been easier on them when times were like this. Sometimes, if this were to happen, Lisa ended up being the one to pick me up.

    Obviously, given current circumstances, I had impressed upon my parents why it was a bad idea to use her as a backup. If we were going up against my friend or the Undersiders writ large, we needed to not give her more data than she already had.

    Which meant if I was going to New Brockton for other reasons, I would need to suggest we keep away from topics related to the teams and focus more on the current area.

    "Maybe I could be an escort for you at some point," Victoria said. "They trusted me enough to let you come to New Brockton with me."

    "Maybe," I said. "But home's pretty far. It's not even in the City. It's not even in America."

    "Ah," Victoria said. "So I wouldn't be able to fly you home. I could still ride the train with you if it came to that."

    "I have a question," Ashley said. "For you, Victoria."

    "Okay?" she asked.

    "The next time we have one of these… games like we had today," Ashley said, gesturing at the hillside. She still didn't like that we lost, but I thought we'd gotten past most of her issues thanks to just being with her with the music. "Will you participate? Or will you just float above and judge?"

    "I'll join," Victoria said. "It'd be good to keep my skills sharp, and I am curious how I'd stack up against some of you."

    She met my eyes for a second after that. The two of us knew how that fight would go, if it were to come to it. If her force field was up, I didn't have anything strong enough to burst it. I knew the trick about it, but I was pretty sure that she knew I knew. The moment I gave it away, any surprise was useless, but we'd see.

    "Good," Ashley said. "As I said earlier, I would like to see what you can do."

    Victoria nodded. "This isn't holding you up for anything, is it Ashley? I know you often have multiple appointments."

    "Not today," she said. "I can wait as long as we need to. Nobody is waiting for me to get home at the moment. Perhaps that might change, but not for now."

    "I'm sorry," Victoria said.

    "Where do you live?" I asked. "I might have asked before, but…"

    "I'm currently crashing on my cousin's couch," Victoria said. "After losing that job, I ended up having to leave my apartment."

    That had to suck. The job loss and apartment loss thing. I didn't know how living with her cousin would be, but from what I remembered, the only cousin she had left was Laserdream. Laserdream seemed like a kind, heroic woman when she helped me with Search and Rescue. Of course, I decided to grab one of Dad's halberds and take Leviathan on myself.

    That may not have been the best idea, but it was the best I'd had at the time. Endbringer fights still gave me nightmares.

    "You are okay, aren't you, Taylor?" Victoria asked again.

    "I'm fine," I said, shivering only slightly. There really had been too many dead that day, but I knew that wasn't the only time… My nightmares contained more than just Leviathan. Behemoth. Tohu. Bohu. Khonsu. I remembered the ones they'd let her fight. The times that she couldn't. Along with…

    I wasn't her. Her memories. Her actions. They weren't me.

    They weren't.

    "Do you want a hug?" Victoria asked carefully. She didn't touch me, even though Ashley was.

    I nodded, looking up at her.

    She glanced at Ashley before approaching. Soon I had two sets of arms wrapped around me, one from the front and the other in back. Briefly, I felt another set of arms, along with a patting on the back, but I couldn't tell from where that came. I'd just chalk that up to being upset.

    Dad got out of his car and approached us as I was having my problem. He got close enough while the hug was still going on, and he cleared his throat.

    "Defiant!" Victoria said sharply and let go of the hug. "You surprised me."

    "I realize that I am earlier than expected," Dad said. "But Dragon insisted. The moment we finished our meeting, I left."

    "Sharp one," Ashley said. "Perhaps at some point, you can regale us of times where the two of you worked together."

    "Ashley," Victoria warned.

    "There are many stories I could tell," Dad said. "But none would be as grandiose as supporting my daughters. Speaking of… Taylor, would you please wait in the car? And not listen in?"

    "I guess…" I shook my head. I didn't like not listening, but Dad had asked nicely. Both my parents had given me good reason to trust them over the past two years, but that didn't mean I liked ignoring my senses. "Please don't try and fight them."

    Dad chuckled. "I won't. I doubt they'll try to fight me either. Please, just wait in the car."

    "Okay," I said. I'd confirmed what I needed to know, and I made my way to Dad's car the fastest way I could without running. I didn't want to seem childish, but there were faster ways.

    Dad drove a modified sports utility vehicle that could interface with Dragoncraft if needed. From the outside, it looked more or less like any SUV that the average person would drive, albeit painted a deep forest green with gold trim. Sitting in the back of the vehicle were some terrariums that had spiders I couldn't quite identify in them. The moment I got into the back seat, (I was too small to sit up front), I took a closer look at them.

    The terrariums they were in were massive, sized more for big lizards than the average spider, but I easily saw why. These spiders were equally massive, had long furry legs and a large golden furry body, easily about eighteen inches from tip to tip. They didn't bear the tell-tale signs of my sister's modification, which meant that these spiders were naturally occurring, but I didn't know where. Their spinnerets were active enough that I could have them start weaving stuff right away.

    They were kind of cute, actually. Big fluffy spiders. I wondered if Dad got them for me for good reason. I didn't think my birthday was here yet.

    I glanced out the back window toward where Dad was talking with Ashley and Victoria. The conversation seemed to be going well enough, but Ashley was a little animated about something. Dad nodded at every other word she was saying before responding. He offered a hand to her first.

    Ashley grinned in a not-so-malicious way, and she shook Dad's hand, giving me a wink.

    Dad then shook hands with Victoria before coming back to the car himself. I tagged Ashley and Victoria with some nearby gnats. Yes, eventually they'd be out of my range, but I wanted to see how long I could feel them within it.

    "So, I heard you did pretty well today, working with Ashley," Dad said once he turned the car on. "And you've found our present, I see."

    "Um." I glanced at the spiders and then out the window again. I didn't know which one to address first.

    "They're called Sol Spiders from Earth Cheit," Dad said. "I'm not sure how their webbing holds up to Widows or Darwin's Bark spiders, but I think we can work on something for them. Dragon and I are setting up a test area for you and Mia to use tonight."

    "Mia's doing heroics too?" I asked.

    "Not yet," he said. "But I think she might soon enough. Regardless, these are just the first gifts we have for you."

    "You're not mad?"

    "Why would I be?" he asked. "Taylor, you have power, and that power does beg to be used. I am happy that you are being supported by a team, especially one that's got Victoria Dallon as a coach. While I would prefer you to be in the Wardens, working with us, there's reasons it might not be a good idea."

    Amy Dallon being one of them. Her being another.

    "So, if you're going to be using your power, especially in a heroic manner," Dad said. "You need a costume and support equipment. Do you really think your mom and I wouldn't give you the best we could?"

    Oh… that was… I liked that a lot. I smiled at my father.

    "We love you both very much," Dad said.

    "Love you too," I said. I really did.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Nymph 2.4
  • Threadmarks

    • Nymph 2.4



    Mom and Mia met us at the door as we got home, each with a different look to them. Mia definitely didn't look too happy at the scratches and scrapes I had on me, but it wasn't like they wouldn't heal on their own. I wouldn't be asking her for her help there. Mom, on the other hand, was in her fleshier human-shaped body and had a smile on her face. That was a combination of pride and love in her gaze.

    "So, I take it that your first team practice went well?" Mom asked as she picked me up into her arms, pulling me into a hug.

    "Well…" I tried to keep the frown off my face. "The other team won." I wasn't that disappointed. Yes, Ashley had been upset about it. We should have been able to beat them, but while I knew plenty about Tristan and Chris's powers, we all underestimated just how many tendrils Sveta had access to. There was no way to predict that she'd be able to try every flag all at once. It really was impressive. I think that was why Kenzie was fine with losing.

    Well, to be honest, she probably would have been fine with losing no matter what. She just liked being with all of us, which I really couldn't disagree with. It was amazing that she turned out as nice as she was with the terrible parents she had, but… I couldn't focus on that.

    "We were close though. Very close. If we'd had twenty more seconds before Sveta did her thing, we would have won."

    "Maybe," Dad said, leading the four of us inside. He held the terrarium that had my new spiders in them, carrying them into our living room as Mom carried me and Mia tagged behind. "From what Victoria was saying, you really held your own, given the limitations that were placed upon you. You even had a creative way of handling Mister Elman."

    I smiled. He was a teammate, after all, not an enemy. But even with teammates, she had sometimes been brutal. I was better than her. I would be better than her.

    "But you got hurt," Mia said, pointing at a visible scrape on my knee. "How bad was it, really, Taylor?"

    "Nothing really bad," I said. "You don't have to do anything, Mia. This will heal up fine without help."

    "Taylor…" Mia frowned.

    "We'll just disinfect it," Mom said. "Mia, you know that you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

    Mia nodded, but she looked at me curiously. "Can I see how bad it is, at least?"

    I held out a hand. "It can heal just fine, Mia. I'm sure of it."

    She touched my hand, and for a brief second, I felt her mind brush my own. It wasn't true telepathy that connected us, but it was almost certainly something to do with a mix of our powers and whatever our big s—whatever Bonesaw did when she made us. She wanted us to have this connection, but it wasn't anything all that bad. We were sisters.

    "You're right, Taylor," Mia said after a few seconds. "It's not that bad. You have a bit of a bruise on your coccyx though, and that might take a little longer to heal on its own. Definitely longer than the other bruises and scrapes. Do you want that healed?"

    "That one, sure," I said. "The rest, we can let heal on their own. Especially since Victoria…"

    "Right," she said, a flush coming to her cheeks. "V-Victoria. Yeah. You haven't…"

    "No," I said. "Not until you're ready to meet her."

    "And if you're never ready to meet her, that would be okay," Mom said, scooping Mia up with her other arm. She walked the two of us over to the couch as Mia did her thing with my tailbone.

    The tingle her power made when it worked almost made me want to giggle. Which, admittedly, was something I knew she would never do. I just wasn't sure if it was something I would do. Kenzie, under the right circumstances, sure. I couldn't see Ashley doing it, nor any of the boys. But… I was a kid. Kids giggled. And I wasn't her.

    But right now wasn't the right time. Right now, I needed to be there for my sister. "Yeah, like Mom said, it's okay if you never want to meet her. We should be able to avoid situations where you might run into her without warning."

    "Good," Mia said instantly. "Avoids things like what happened a few weeks ago."

    "Hmm?" Dad asked. "What are you talking about, Mia?"

    "There was a barbecue," Mia said. "I dreamed about it, but it definitely happened recently. Victoria was there, and so was… but she obviously didn't know. Not when she came. She asked Carol if she could meet with Victoria. Carol set it up."

    "Of course, she did," Dad said. "I'm not sure she ever truly found out what her daughters went through. Or did. What happened was not fair to either of them. You can't just force that on someone."

    I smiled at my father. He had come a long way from how he had been as Armsmaster. Maybe we helped some with that, but most of that was Mom.

    "So, Carol just ambushed Victoria with Amy, then?" I asked. "That's just… stupid. Not with what…"

    "Not with what she did to Victoria," Mia said. She shook her head. "I don't want to think about it again. I don't…"

    "You're not Amy," I said. "You didn't do those things to her. I… I don't think she'd see you as her."

    "She would," Mia said. "At least at first. I have the same powers. I'm a clone of the woman who hurt her. It would be easier if I didn't… If…"

    I hugged my sister. "You're not her."

    "I know, but…" Mia leaned into my hug. Our skin touched, and I felt her using the analysis part of her power.

    "You won't hurt me, Mia. You won't hurt her," I said. "You wouldn't even hurt Amy fucking Dallon if you got the chance. Well, not physically anyway."

    Me, if I could, I'd have some ants bite her repeatedly. I wouldn't kill her but annoying her as much as I could without getting her to do something to me… that was a good plan. Maybe. Well, it was the beginning of one. She'd hurt my sister, even if she didn't know it. And she'd hurt someone who could become a friend. That one Amy did know about. Even if she wouldn't admit it. Mia knew it was Amy's fault, and it wasn't hers.

    "I could though," Mia said. "What if…"

    "No what ifs," Dad said. "You've decided you won't. So, you won't. Besides, you both are too young to even consider any sort of… situation that would end up that way."

    "Colin," Mom said. "Perhaps we should steer the conversation further away from that topic. Taylor, Mia, you are our beloved daughters. Trust in yourselves."

    And not in Amy Dallon or Amelia Lavere. Whatever she felt like calling herself. I wouldn't let that bitch touch me with a ten-foot pole. I wasn't stupid enough to repeat her mistakes.

    "Okay," Mia said, nodding. I could tell that what Mom and Dad said comforted her, but she still worried. I personally worried what might happen if Victoria were to meet her. It wasn't that I thought that Mia would hurt Victoria, or that Victoria would consciously hold Mia as the one accountable for Amy's actions. Just that… given what she'd been through, would she be able to keep them separate?

    Some people, if they knew, might blame me for Khepri's actions. That scared me too.

    We weren't the originals.

    "I need a good cape name," I said, suddenly. The topic change seemed appropriate. "And it can't be one of hers."

    "Well, we can always help brainstorm ideas for you," Dad said. "But you might want to see what we have for you first."

    "You mentioned more gifts than just the fluffy spiders," I said.

    "Sol spiders," Dad said. "Yes, I did. Tess, did you finish the work on the test range?"

    "It needs a couple more touch-ups, but it should be ready enough as long as we aren't doing anything too crazy," Mom said. "And it isn't like we have some truly explosive bombardier beetles for Taylor."

    "I could help with that," Mia said. "We could maybe design something like that, beetles that eject a significant amount of methane that can be ignited…"

    "I think I might prefer relay bugs," I said. That was one good idea that she had in conjunction with Amy. "And maybe a big ridable one, too."

    "I think you might prefer a different method of flight, Taylor," Dad said, and he walked over to a cabinet. After placing his hand on the edge, it slid open, and a display shelf came out of the cabinet on hydraulics. Located on the shelf was some sort of tinker-made device, almost like a backpack. I mean, of course it was a tinker-made device. Look at who Mom and Dad were.

    The device looked… similar, somewhat, to the one that I'd… that she'd worn. "A flight pack? Like what Weaver had?"

    "Similar," Dad said. "But not the same. It's improved upon and designed for your frame, Taylor. We can also upgrade it as you need, with any designs that you think would fit. This one's wings aren't quite dragonfly shaped."

    I did like flying with Victoria but flying under my own control had to be better in many ways. I just needed to have something to protect my face and eyes from anything I might fly into. In addition, I'd probably want to have some additional padding and backup controls… Riding a giant bug could be fun too, but I needed to think about utility.

    "Colin and I thought that you would want to be involved in any design for your costume," Mom said. "But we do have some things we're going to be insisting on."

    I vaguely nodded. "The flight pack?"

    "Not exactly," Dad said.

    "How come she gets a flight pack?" Mia asked. Briefly, I thought she almost sounded jealous. "I thought the goal would be to be as different from Weaver as possible."

    "Safety and control," Dad said. "Taylor, do you know how far your range is?"

    I shrugged. "Maybe fluctuating between a few blocks and more? City blocks. Err… Brockton Bay city blocks. Some of those blocks in the City seem larger than they should be."

    Dad nodded. "And you can see and hear from your bugs."

    "Sort of," I said. It wasn't like they saw or heard things the way a human did. It took some time to figure out just what they were seeing, feeling, smelling, etcetera. "But you know my powers, Dad. Yes, they're the same as her power. Not very many differences. Other than maybe some things considered bugs that weren't bugs before. I don't know."

    "Yes," Dad said. "We do know them, and you do too. Tess and I were planning on an armored suit for you, possibly something you could control remotely if needed."

    "But then you'd have to do maintenance," I said. "Right?"

    "You do have two tinkers on the team," Mom said. "And giving inspiration to both of them could be interesting."

    "Rain's tinker power isn't that strong," I said. "He'd be the first to tell you that."

    "Would you be up for a specially designed Dragonsuit that fits with whatever theme you choose?" Mom asked. "We could keep it in reserve for when you need it."

    "Would Mia also get one?" I asked.

    "Of course," Dad said. "You both are our children. There is no reason for us to not supply for you."

    I nodded. "So, we can work the flight pack into the costume design… but I… don't know a name."

    "Skitter, Weaver and Khepri are right out, obviously," Mia said. "Maybe something sort of related to the bugs? What kind of wings are they, Dad?"

    "The initial design had them similar to a beetle or a ladybug," Dad said. "But I redesigned them at your mother's suggestion to be more similar to that of a hawk moth. Dragonfly wings are slightly more efficient and can go faster, but efficiency is not the only thing I considered for this version."

    "Safety was considered as well," Mom said. "And we can color the wings however you want, Taylor. Fit it with whatever color scheme you want."

    "So, bug-related," I said. "Moth or butterfly-related? With those wings…"

    "There are many genus names for both butterflies and moths," Dad said. "In addition to species common names. Since you are young, any name you pick now is not one you will necessarily need to stick with for the rest of your life."

    "I can print a list for you," Mom said. "But a suggestion would be either Danaus, Tisiphone, Yoma, or Lysandra. Vanessa is too much like a real name… which, if you did wish to change your name like your sister…"

    "I don't," I said. "Yes, Taylor might have been her name too, but she's not here. I am. I'm not going to let her take that from me. For Mia… Amy Dallon is still around. Still…"

    "Horrible," Mia said. "But we dealt with that. For now. Tisiphone sounds interesting. What kind of butterflies or moths are those?"

    "Brown ones," Dad said. "Yoma are yellow, black and brown. Danaus is the genus that the monarch butterfly belongs to. Specifically Danaus plexippus."

    "Danaplex," I said, a smile coming to my face. "Sounds like a movie theater."

    "If you pick that one, I will hurt you," Mia said.

    "No, no…" I shook my head. "And I'm not going to call myself the Monarch. I suppose I could call myself the Princess of the Butterflies… but that might mean I have to use too many of them."

    "And you like your spiders and bees," Mia said. "Maybe Bumblebee? They're cute."

    I shook my head. "Sounds like something that might be too cute and silly. I'm… not really that."

    "I think you're cute," Mom said. "Both of you are…"

    "Maybe Yoma or Lysandra then," I said. "I don't know. Maybe I should talk with the team about it."

    "Whatever you decide… we can make sure you have the dyes necessary for your silk," Dad said. "If you want to start creating a small panel of Sol Spider silk so we can test how protective it is, that would be good. But in the meantime, we do have a basis for your bodysuit prepared. We'll have some additional armor ready for you as well."

    "So, I can have a costume ready the next time we go out," I said. "Even if it's just a basic one."

    "I do think you'll look good with yellow, brown and black," Mia said. "Cute, even. But…"

    "You just want me in bumblebee colors, even if I don't choose that name," I said. She wasn't wrong about the coloration though. The more we talked about costume design and naming, the more ideas I started to get. Between my parents and sister, there were ideas flowing significantly while work got started right away on something.

    At the end of the night, I still hadn't quite settled on a name, but I'd narrowed it down significantly. Tisiphone, Yoma, Lysandra, Chitin, Spinnerette, and a couple others came to mind. I'd want to talk with Ashley and the rest of the team to make the final decision. As a team, we were going to be working together.

    It only made sense that we'd ask opinions on names. But one thing was for certain:

    Unlike Taylor Hebert, I would pick a good name for myself. I am Taylor Wallis, and I would not be constrained by my DNA donor, nor even the woman who operated the cloning vats.

    I'm a better person, after all.

    Aren't I? I was going to be a hero. Properly, this time.

    God, I hoped that was really true.
     
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    • Glorious return welcome back :D realy like the dialogue in this one, mia an taylor talking with mom and dad weighing in was realy nice, i like lysandra the most name wise but it doesnt fit the colour theme there thinking of. Tisaphone sounds regal enough and with the furrie connection that i think ashley would back that one till she knew what it looked like
     
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