Scarab [Worm/Scion]

[FFFX]

Scarab

--

Dawn 1.1

--

I felt like such a child crying in front of my mother's grave. Sitting on the grass with my knees pulled to my chest while I hung my head and tried so very hard to understand why my life was so unimaginably horrid. I was the picturesque representation of humanity at it's lowest point. I had actually come to complain to the dead about how my life sucked, as if somehow my life sucked worse than dying.

I knew that was a slippery slope because it invited the obvious question. Then why don't you just kill yourself?

I took a deep, staggered breath the moment the thought crossed my mind. Why not?

Everything I cared about was being ripped away from me; my mother, my friend, my grades, my happiness, my peace, my memories, my entire life dismantled piece by piece and discarded into the bay like some kind of garbage.

By the girl who was supposed to be my best friend.

I wanted to scream, to kick and shout and hurt something, anything at all. I didn't though. I just tipped over and laid on my side, still in the fetal position, like some bawling fourteen year old baby.

Fifteen, I reminded myself, my birthday was yesterday.

"I'm so pathetic." I choked between sobs.

"Aren't we all, every now and then?" The voice belonged to a man, a soothing baritone that discouraged me from bothering to rise to see his face. There was no need, because he wasn't dangerous, and I honestly couldn't bring myself to care if he was.

Then he sat down next to me and rested a hand in my hair.

"Penny for your thoughts, Taylor?"

I breathed deeply and considered the request. "Why do you care?"

The question did not even force him to think. "Why wouldn't I care when a kindred spirit is in distress?"

"Kindred spirit?" The idea felt ridiculous. I wasn't even sure why.

"I know what it's like." The man grew ever more somber. "I know exactly how it feels to be betrayed, cut up and discarded as trash by someone you loved, then left frantically trying to pick up the pieces only to find that the most important ones are already gone."

He sounded sad, and so sincere I could not help but ignore how creepy it was that he knew so much about me. Curiosity, I guess, let me push it aside. I let him keep talking.

"My experience was perhaps a little more physical, I admit, but that does little to break the comparison. Men like me pride ourselves in different things than little girls I might assume… I was a different man than I am now. I was pieced back together, slowly, meticulously, and with great care." He gave me a light pat on the head. "I only regret that I cannot quite give you the same. However I can offer you some words of advice, and a gift."

My tears had stopped, and it was just the soft tone of his voice that seemed to relax me. He sounded so understanding, so real, and I had yet to see his face.

I could have stopped him there. I could have turned and looked at him, told him to leave me alone, that he was a stranger and it was creepy, or that I would scream. Instead I closed my eyes and imagined he had my dad's face.

It was a horrible thing to do, I wanted to hear what he had to say and I needed to hear it from my dad, not a stranger. I only wished my dad wasn't as broken as I was.

"You are laying on the ground, amidst the earth and worms and you cannot fall lower lest you drown forever. You have a choice now: To let yourself be buried, or to stand up and brush yourself off. To pick up the pieces, what is left, and begin building. Do not repair who you were. Do not let the pieces fall into what simply is. Build, slowly, meticulously, deliberately, the person you want to be." She could see him smile in her mind's eye as he slipped something into her hair. "Be all you can be, nothing less than your best. And then one day look back on this, your lowest of days, and realize how small it all is from the heavens."

I nearly gasped, some… awareness overtook me and I was jolted awake from the moment as if it was a dream. That man was not my father, and yet I felt his words sink into my heart unbidden and no amount of rationality could keep them out.

I hated him for a moment, for daring to make me hope.

My eyes opened and I turned to see empty air, the only remnant of this mystery man was a weight in my hair. Reaching up I plucked away a flower he had tucked behind my left ear. Nymphaea caerulea, the Egyptian blue water lily, mysteriously growing from a branch of smooth green wood, vibrant in spite of itself.

I held it to my nose and smelled it, and calm washed over me while my fingers danced over the petals. It was a real flower.

It was impossible, except I knew better. Parahumans could do all kinds of strange things, why not make a flower that never wilts? A water lily that grows off of a wooden hair clasp? Why not?

But then, why give it to me? I must have spoken it aloud because he replied to me one final time.

"Because you deserve a reminder of how beautiful you can be."

The man's voice seemed to come from just beyond my line of sight but he was not there when I turned to face him. "Thank you…" I mumbled. "If you're still there."

I was answered with silence and placed the flower back in my hair where I had found it.

I had some building to do.

--

Three months was technically not a very long time. It was, however, a long time to go without any sleep. Unless, apparently, you were me.

I stared in the bathroom mirror and inspected myself. I was still bland and uninteresting, a little paler maybe, with a mouth just slightly too wide for my face and a body just slightly too tall for my build. There were no bags under my eyes, and I smelled as fresh as a daisy in spite of everything. More mind bogglingly still, I didn't even feel tired.

I just plain didn't need to sleep.

Parahuman? The thought had occurred to me more than once in that time. Since my visitation by the man who gave me the blue lily I began studying to attend Arcadia instead of Winslow. I had a plan, of course, to prove myself so that the transfer would be allowed. It simply required me to be ready to do better on tests than I had ever done in the past. I didn't just have to do well, I had to do the best.

I did not expect to utterly demolish the boundaries of human limits while studying however.

I was fairly certain it was not normal to be able to think three thoughts at once. To be able to brush my hair after a shower and simultaneously analyze what were likely to be new parahuman abilities manifesting in me every day.

I had been fasting for the last three weeks looking for the limit at which I would begin to starve. I had the sneaking suspicion I still had one, but it was not forthcoming and for all I knew could be another several weeks away. I did start to get dehydrated after thirteen days and twenty one hours though.

Two weeks with no water and maybe double that with no food. I could hold my breath for 13 minutes and forty-three seconds and I never had to sleep again.

It was almost absurd if it wasn't so exciting. I told my father I was sleeping and eating and all that, and I did start drinking water normally again after the second week.

I was going to Arcadia High to attempt to enroll, and I decided I would run there to see how long I could sprint without stopping.

I finished brushing my teeth while my mind continued to lay out the day's plans, not difficult at all even normally, but I was giving my teeth my full attention while I did it, flossing meticulously and with fine manual dexterity I knew I did not have three months ago. I could probably pin that on my massively improved handwriting after taking more notes than I knew how to file properly in preparation.

My teeth practically sparkled like white polished opals.

I was going to Arcadia High. I would plead my case, offer incentives, and rationally outsmart whoever I needed to in order to make it happen. I would transfer to Arcadia before the start of the next school year and I would never have to see Emma, Sophia, or Madison's disgustingly pretty faces ever again.

This was what I built. A girl with no chains, who conquered her demons and left hell behind. I was reborn, like a phoenix, or a hero of old who braved the underworld and broke free of her own power.

It was uplifting, and I had my mysterious friend and his magical never-dying water lily to thank for it.

I jaunted, more merrily than I probably needed to, back to my room to dress myself. I noticed my father turn briefly to look in my direction as he passed by the hall and actually heard him mutter, "What's got her singing at six in the morning?"

Maybe I was humming whatever pop tune was stuck in my head. It didn't matter, and it was the radio's fault. I had to listen to something when my dad was asleep or I would go crazy from the silence.

I might have spun on a heel a few times just because I had a rhythm going as well.

I was probably a lot happier than I had been in years and a lot happier than I had any right to be. I briefly considered what that line of thought meant and decided it was not worth keeping. Of course I deserved to be happy! I wanted to be happy, I built the new me to be happy! After everything I went through the universe owed me this reprieve.

I felt a chill run down my spine, as if merely thinking that the universe owed me anything had somehow… no, I didn't believe in things like god or destiny or whatever. The idea of tempting fate was rather silly in that context.

Still that nagging feeling persisted.

Probably nothing.

My eyes drifted to my pencil, and I quietly grabbed my hand-held pencil sharpener with the other. Slowly I honed the tip to a fine point and set the writing instrument down on my desk and began to fish around for some clothes.

I was going running, so some sweatpants and a tank top seemed suitable. I put my lily in my hair, tucked behind my left ear as usual, and then picked up the pencil, balancing it point-first on a fingertip while I considered it carefully.

It was sharp enough, probably.

I slipped it in my pocket, just incase.

--

I had gravely miscalculated.

I left on my run knowing Arcadia would not be open for hours yet. However even as I ran all the way until well past noon I did not get even the smallest bit tired. My limits for such exercise seemed almost terrifyingly outside my reach to even measure on a day where I had other things I needed to do.

So I stood in front of Arcadia High School, and began my triumphant march inside.

I passed the bulletin board, wandered down the hall with enough pep in my step to distract from how nervous I was, until I came to rest in front of the main office, took a deep breath and crossed that threshold as well.

I approached the secretary who smiled up at me. "Hello, how can I help you miss…?"

"Hebert, Taylor. I'm here to transfer schools." I began to wring my fingers across the legs of my pants and knew I was not nearly focused enough.

So I split my focus completely. Half of me could worry about how everything could go horribly wrong and the other could focus on the here and now. My here and now train of thought was mildly amused by the number of exit strategies my worries were managing to create and a load was taken off that half of my mind.

"I... yes, you sent a request a few weeks ago and we have your records now… unfortunately though it looks like your transfer has been denied." She seemed at least a little apologetic.

"I know, that's why I came in person. I wanted to talk to the principal about it personally." I could see her get a little bothered by that but she nodded anyway and dialed an extension to discuss it with the only person who could even possibly change her mind.

"Well the Principal is in a meeting but the vice principal is…" The secretary stopped trying to explain why I couldn't see anyone and instead picked up the phone and dialed a quick page.

I heard a ring and my eyes flickered to the door nearby and read the nameplate, Vice Principal Howell.

I overheard everything.

"Yes, we have a Miss Hebert that wishes to speak with you about transferring."

"I remember that. Does she need to be let down more gently?"

"I think it would help if you talked to her a little."

"No harm in that I guess. Send her in."

I wanted to punch somebody. Instead I set a third facet of my mind to daydreaming about horrible violence just to get it away from the rest of my thoughts. I was making good use of my ridiculous multitasking but failing to do anything productive with it. The thoughts were beginning to run together as emotions got in the way as well. I knew I would be more hostile than I wanted, and that my nerves were starting to get to me regardless.

I could split my thoughts but my emotions were rather pervasive. Fortunately I was thinking fast enough that it didn't matter. I could keep up with it all, consider my words carefully before speaking.

It wasn't over yet.

"Missus Howell will see you now." The secretary smiled at me, and I gave her the most half-hearted grin I could muster.

"Thank you."

I walked into the office and looked around. It was remarkably bland in its sameness. It was like these kinds of offices were stocked and designed by committee to make students feel like they were in an uncomfortably formal location. Gave the adults a greater sense of power when surrounded by smart looking bookshelves and potted plants that may or may not have been plastic.

The woman that sat before me looked older that she would have liked, with hair just a touch too vibrant to be naturally colored, and a mole under her eye that just made me stare blankly for a few moments.

"Thank you for seeing me Missus Howell." I forced myself to continue smiling. "I'm going to get right to the chase. I am transferring to Arcadia High. This much I have already decided. No other schools are even remotely close enough and Winslow is a hole in the ground from which I have only needed one year to teach me that it is a bad school and all members of their faculty and staff are horrible and should feel horrible."

I waved dismissively. "But I digress. The important thing is that if I do not transfer to Arcadia High this semester, I sincerely doubt my ability to remain sane and rational. I have spent this last summer reinventing myself and building up the courage I need to break free from a self destructive cycle of victimization at the hands of a horrid bullying campaign that nearly cost me my life. I have come to you because Winslow's staff are incompetent or think themselves preoccupied by 'more important matters' and I have been forced to go over their heads to a more upstanding institution in hopes that by bringing this to somebody's attention they will be called on their, for lack of a better term, bullshit."

She seemed surprised by my aggression, by the volume of words I had bombarded her with.

"You sound distressed." Was all she managed to mutter.

No shit. Came to mind, but I decided to be more elegant. "That was mostly intentional."

"I don't much have the power to really… do that." Principal Howell seemed even more bothered than her secretary had been. "I wish I could help you, but dealing with bullying is something that should be handled in-house, so to speak. I don't have the ability to administer punishment in another school."

"I'm not asking for punishment. I'm asking for a way out." I only barely managed to say it without growling.

"I'll have to speak with your parent or guardian about this…" She seemed evasive, as if trying to dodge the issue altogether by deflecting to my father would save her.

"He knows I've had it rough but not the specifics. I guarantee though, if you put this off he will be filled in by time I come back and he will not be happy. He knows I want to transfer. He has probably guessed why. He even knows I am here, right now, trying to do so on my own." I narrowed my eyes at her and saw… things. Why was that mole under her eye bugging me so bad? My finger was a measure from quite being on it so I let it slide.

"That would perhaps be for the best." She agreed.

I threw up my hands, defeated. It was painful, to think that after all my confidence building it could be shattered to completely. I hung my head and sighed, and then gave her one last glance. Spite, perhaps, led me to almost say nothing. My conscience however, would not allow it. "You should get that mole looked at. It's cancerous."

That caught her more off guard than anything I had said to that moment. "How did you…"

I continued, unbidden, unable to stop myself. "You should also cut down of the fast food probably. The exercise isn't doing jack all for your cholesterol."

"You're parahuman." She said it was the most understanding tone. It was almost as if she suddenly realized something. "I won't tell anyone… and I will okay the transfer. However, I would recommend you allow me to arrange you a meeting with the Protectorate. You should at least consider joining the Wards."

I didn't know why she had changed her tune. I didn't know why she came to that conclusion so quickly. I didn't even know why she believed me. It would get me what I wanted though, so I decided not to play dumb and slumped my shoulders. "Fine. I'll consider it." The admission felt so sour in spite of the victory.

Like I cheated in order to win the unwinnable game and it lessened the victory.

"For what it's worth, I appreciate the warnings. I was already aware, and in fact I have a surgery already planned for the mole. If not for that I could safely say you would have likely saved my life." She smiled. "No promises on the cholesterol though."

I snorted, less in mirth and more contempt. "I just wish I understood any of this."

"I'll make a note that you have more questions than answers. If you have time tomorrow we could arrange the meeting. The Wards base is fairly public, and I can arrange for you to be met there." Principal Howell was jotting down notes on a small post-it, likely noting my reluctance and lack of enthusiasm.

"Yeah… why not. Ten in the morning okay?" I shrugged. I had not, in perfect honesty, considered joining the Wards at all until that very moment. In fact, it had entirely slipped my mind that being a parahuman was synonymous to being a cape. That Arcadia High was home to the Wards. That I could be a superhero.

"Sounds fine." She stood up and held out her hand. "For what it's worth… I'm sorry for what you went through."

"I'm over it." I took her hand. "I just want to leave it behind before I do something I'll regret by dwelling on it."

I was so angry that it had to go this far just to get me what I wanted.

I was so happy I was getting what I wanted.

I was left just rather drained of emotion altogether. Ambivalent, I think, was the word of the day.

I left without so much as a formal goodbye or well wishing.

--

AN: Intelligence is not a social stat.

 

[FFFX]

Scarab

--

Dawn 1.2

--

In preparation to meet with someone from the PRT, Protectorate, or Wards I had opted to wear a baseball cap and a pair of rather large framed sunglasses. It was no mask, but it would at least make identifying me more difficult; assuming my flower wasn't so iconic that my identity wouldn't get out anyway once I joined. I could elect to not wear the flower as a Ward. I could also elect not to wear it as a civilian. Neither idea felt right, because I did not like the idea of leaving the water lily unattended.

So, garbed in nothing more formal than a t-shirt and a pair of jeans I waltzed into the Wards base, which was really more of a tourist attraction with ridiculous amounts of security. The entire structure was mostly steel, which made it sturdy enough to prevent collapse in the event of an attack. That, combined with what was no doubt an unknowable amount of Tinker tech, would prevent any kind of scene from happening without the odds being heavily in the heroes favor.

I saw Aegis standing by the gift shop looking just a little uncomfortable in his shining costume. Considering the preteen girl in the gift shop staring at him in a less than innocent manner, I could not blame him.

I walked up beside him and smiled. "Waiting for me long?"

"I don't know who I'm waiting for." Aegis admitted. "Vice Principal Howell send you?"

"Yeah." I almost left it at that, but realized I could not allow myself to recede into silence here. I was talking to Aegis. That was a big deal. "She didn't tell you my name?"

"Nope." He smiled. "That's pretty normal though. You're allowed to keep that a secret until you join at the latest. We like to promote the right to a cape's privacy if they don't want to sign on."

"That's what I'm afraid of." I admitted. "Signing on means attention. I don't have anything to hide, I just…"

"Get camera shy?" Aegis suggested, and not entirely incorrectly.

"Try people shy." I crossed my arms and looked at the floor. "I probably wouldn't have admitted that as readily before… whatever happened."

"Your trigger event?" Aegis whispered, as if suddenly I was talking about something I shouldn't.

"I don't know. Maybe. Should we go somewhere more private?" I watched him nod and he began leading me to the nearby elevator.

"Come on, I'll give you the tour and introduce you to the team. Then we can talk shop and see if this is something you want to do. The Director gave me full control here, didn't want to scare you off with another suit after how sour your talk with Vice Principal Howell went."

I followed him in, and once the door closed he relaxed. "So, what did they do to you?"

I tilted my head and frowned. "Sorry?"

Aegis looked startled and frowned. "Sorry that was rude… I was told about the bullying. I shouldn't have asked for specifics, it just slipped out. You seem pretty well adjusted for all of it so I must have thought... How much do you know about trigger events?" I would have been mad that he had been told, but I was about to get an answer to what had been nagging at me.

"Absolutely nothing beyond that they give people powers." I answered truthfully.

"Well… Generally it's super personal and I won't ask you to share something like that. For most of us? Our trigger event was the worst day of our lives." Except he had asked. He was backpedaling apologetically. Mistaking my confusion for apprehension and not wanting to scare me off. I pretended not to notice because it would be easier than explaining the truth.

Nothing at all like that had happened, so the idea of all trigger events being horrible was rather shaking news. If I ever was pressed I'd have to make something up, because I doubted a pep-talk from a stranger counted as the worst day ever. I also doubted they would believe in my magical flower. It probably wasn't really magic, but it was close enough as far as I was even capable of understanding.

"I see." I feigned complete understanding rather well. Even if I never triggered conventionally, I still knew what it was like to suffer.

Or did I trigger, but my everyday was so horrible it blurred into the background?

The thought horrified me, so I abandoned it. Hard.

"So…" I broke the tense moment just as the elevator opened. "Tour?"

"Sure. I think we should start with the common room, since everyone's probably already there." Aegis gave me a lopsided smile and I found myself frowning.

"Why does this feel like an intervention from people I don't know?" As soon as I asked he seemed at a loss for words. "I'm not in denial about the bully thing."

"That's not it. Really. I just happened to tell them we were getting a potential new recruit and suddenly everybody wanted to be here. Vista has been complaining about there not being enough girls on the team, because Shadow Stalker doesn't count apparently."

"And of course boys will be boys." I muttered. "Always looking for the most common superpower."

"I heard that!" Somebody yelled from the next room. The voice sounded like Clockblocker from whenever I heard him on the news. Which was rarely. The PRT didn't let him talk much. "S'not fair!"

Crossing the threshold I was met with the sight of Clockblocker, Vista, Gallant, and Kid Win arrayed about a sofa and a couple of chairs in front of a television displaying the pause screen of some fighting game. Aegis smiled at me. "Introductions would be rather redundant considering who we all."

"A bit." I smiled back.

Standing off in the corner was Shadow Stalker, just watching vacantly. However she was the first to speak. "Hold on, she doesn't even have a costume yet?"

I didn't like her.

Kid Win seemed to contemplate that a moment. "Well what if she only just got her powers and hasn't had a chance to experiment with them at all?"

"I'm right here." I reminded. "I've had them for maybe three months, easy."

"That's cool." Clockblocker dismissed Shadow Stalker's dismissal. "So what can you do? Had any ideas for a cape name or a costume?"

"Not really…" I noticed they were all just staring at me and I had to once again split my mind to distract myself from worrying about what they were thinking about me and it only partially worked. "I think my power is mostly about holistic well being."

Vista tilted her head. "Wait… so you're, what… super-healthy?"

"Try ultra-healthy." I smirked. "I can go two weeks without needing to drink water. I can hold my breath for almost fourteen minutes, and I am just past my third week of fasting to see how long I can go without eating. I also haven't slept in two and a half months."

"I heard about stuff like that." Aegis said. "The not sleeping thing. Some capes just can't."

"Not can't, but don't need to. I can sleep whenever I want, but why bother if I don't get tired? More time to read and stuff." I probably shouldn't have said 'read' in front of my peers. 'Play games' or 'watch tv' would have been more mainstream and it wasn't like I didn't do those things at all.

"A-anyway… I can also tell when someone else is off-kilter. If they have tumors or are sick in some way I know just by looking at them." I heard Kid Win whistle in response.

"So… how do you use that offensively?" Shadow Stalker queried. "No offense, but most powers come with some kind of offensive application. Even Aegis here has some super strength."

"I don't know. I'm still feeling out the limits. I know I can run for over six hours without breaking a sweat, so maybe I can outlast people in fights easily."

"Wanna give it a go?" Shadow Stalker had apparently taken that as a challenge. Something about her was grating on me. For that reason alone I almost wanted to accept. But I had another reason.

"I don't think-." Aegis began to interrupt but I held up a hand.

"It's fine. If I get my butt kicked it'll mean I'm probably not cut out for the hero business. I gave it some thought. 'I don't get tired' is a pretty terrible superpower. If I can't find some other aspect of this that can let me hold my own, I won't be any kind of asset to a team in the field."

Gallant had slowly been moving around the room during the whole conversation and was close enough to Aegis to whisper in his ear. I overheard it. 'She's getting mad, primarily whenever Shadow Stalker talks. I don't think she knows why.'

"So where do you want to do this?" I gestured for Shadow Stalker to lead me on, taking careful note of Gallant's observation.

"Down the hall a bit. We have a gym for this kind of thing." Shadow Stalker gestured for me to follow.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Vista asked me, or really anybody who would listen and object. "I mean… if you want to maybe join we could always do this later. You don't need to decide in one day."

I think she was afraid Shadow Stalker would scare me off. It was sweet, but unnecessary. "I'm sure. If I can't do at least this, there's no point in me fighting anybody."

Kid Win shrugged. "It's just a friendly spar."

"With Shadow Stalker." Clockblocker whispered, and Kid Win flinched.

So she was brutal. Good. That much, at least, I was used to.

I followed Shadow Stalker and Aegis made a frustrated groan before following. "Okay, but the fight is over the moment I call a winner."

"Fine." Shadow Stalker caved immediately. She sounded frustrated. Did she want to hurt me? Or did she just not like Aegis telling her what to do?

Everything about her was screaming defiance for authority and the Protectorate image. Her name, the dark colors of her costume, her aggressive attitude, and her flippancy. I had no idea where I had seen some of it before but I couldn't let it distract me from the moment.

When we entered the gym, she led me to the corner where there was a section padded out for full contact and relatively empty otherwise. "So, ever been in a fight before?" Shadow Stalker asked.

"Nope." I managed a smile. "First time for everything, right?"

"Whatever." She put up her hands into something of a boxer's stance. I got the impression she didn't have any formal instruction, but she knew her way around giving someone a beating. "Don't feel too bad when you lose. I've got a couple years of this."

"Rules." Aegis interrupted. "Powers okay so long as it's something we know about, if you feel something new stop and figure out what it is first." Aegis was looking primarily at me so I nodded. "Try not to fight dirty, keep it clean and sporting."

"Whatever." Shadow Stalker cocked her head dismissively, but I figured she would mostly follow the rules unless she thought she could get away with it when Aegis was right there watching her like a hawk.

Why did I feel like I had such a bead on her character? I had only just met her.

"Begin." Aegis called out, and Shadow Stalker was moving before I could even put up any kind of guard, my eyes focused on her hands but I should have been watching her feet. The next thing I knew I was experiencing vertigo, my feet dragged out from under me.

I hit the mat in the first ten seconds.

"Laaaaame." Shadow Stalker groaned.

I just let myself lay there and think about what was really bothering me. The way she walked, the way she talked, that voice, and that aggressive persona. I knew where I was recognizing it but I couldn't quite believe what my brain was telling me. "Call me a loser." I requested, just to see.

"Okay… you're a loser." Shadow Stalker shrugged and I could see Sophia's look of aloof amusement in my mind's eye. Yeah. That was her.

"Thank you. Round two?"

I was back on my feet in an instant so Aegis held up his hands in defeat. "Begin." It was almost a sigh.

Shadow Stalker rushed forward again. This time I jumped, but not over her leg. I jumped clear over her head, landing on the other side of her and spinning to backhand her across the face. I would rip off her mask and validate my hypothesis. I would punch this girl in the face repeatedly in the name of a friendly spar because she was Sophia Hess and deserved every lump I could give her.

My hand clipped her hood and her altered form allowed the lightest touch to help her dodge away as if I had shoved her with all my might.

"White girl can jump, apparently." Shadow Stalker observed, and that got a brief chuckle out of Clockblocker. Of course it would.

This time I charged at her, and she just casually tip toed around my strikes, nearly weightless and easily capable of jumping as high as I could, but choosing not to be so flashy. She was showing off her mobility, and using minimal effort.

She was also ever so slightly favoring her left side, because it had a pretty gnarly bruise that couldn't have been any older than eight hours. Somebody had pulled a night shift. I changed my approach and lightly jabbed her side suddenly.

As usual she flitted away, but this time with a hiss. It would take more than that to take her down, but she knew I knew about her bruise which meant she would guard it better. I had also managed to provoke her into attacking. She wanted the injury to be a secret, because she most likely broke a rule.

If she turned intangible I could still hit her. Some limitation of her power must have meant she couldn't phase through people, but it did soften the blow by reducing her staying power and letting her roll with the hits. If I wanted to make her really hurt I would have to hit her while she was solid.

While she was hitting me.

So I saw her punch flying towards my face. I decided not to dodge, and instead widened my stance and grit my teeth. No matter how much it hurt the pain would be worth it. I would make her hurt worse.

Her knuckles made contact with my sunglasses and they shattered, as well as my glasses underneath. Shards of glass were forcefully smashed into my skin and my left eye closed on its own. The pain was white hot for for an instant, but numbed to a dull ache I could easily ignore, either as another facet of my endurance or a mental trick. I didn't care about the source, just that it allowed me to shift my weight and ram my right knee into her already bruised side with all of my might.

Shadow Stalker hit the mat clutching the injury, gasping and doubled over in pain.

Aegis held up a hand. "Okay, that's enough."

I took off the glasses and threw them against the wall to let her get a good look at my face. "Fair is fair."

"Hebert?" She whispered. "The fuck?"

Clockblocker looked between the two of us and suddenly tilted his head. "Oh, you two know each other?" He seemed to be in a bit of a panic.

Gallant hummed. "That explains it."

"I thought I'd let you know, Sophia, because I figured out who you were a few moments ago. There is some kind of truce about this sort of thing right? I know your name, you know mine?" I admitted, then turned my attention to Aegis. "Sorry, but I no longer have any interest in joining the Wards. The option has been considered, and subsequently rejected. I'm going home."

Vista began approaching when she saw me start to leave. "Um… your face…"

"I'll live."

The girl recoiled as if struck, and Gallant stepped forward. "That's not necessary. I understand you're angry, but don't take it out on Vista."

I took a deep breath. "I suppose I am."

"Do you need an escort to the hospital?" Clockblocker provided.

"No, I'll walk. Maybe I regenerate. Won't know till I try." I made it all the way to the common room again. Aegis had stayed behind to talk to Sophia and Vista and Clockblocker had followed me, Gallant was more leading me to the door. "Look… nothing against you guys. It's just her. I transferred from Winslow to get away from her and her bullshit, alright? I don't need that here. I'm also not bitter enough to make a stink about it and get her booted from the team. She probably needs you guys to keep her on the straight and narrow. Do right by her I guess, even if I can't bring myself to feel she deserves it…" I reached, and found the words came more easily than I would have liked. "It's the right thing to do. Just… maybe try to keep her on a tighter leash? I'd be lying if I didn't say she tried to ruined my life."

"Keep in touch." Clockblocker handed me a slip of paper with a phone number. "Some superpowers are more common than others. Kicking Shadow Stalker's ass? That's pretty hardcore."

"Okay." I mumbled. I wanted to say more, but I did not even remotely trust myself. Clockblocker was an idiot at times, but he was a funny idiot, and his heart was in the right place. "Thanks."

Vista was shuffling awkwardly. "Sorry it didn't work out… I hope we'll at least team up every now and then… or hang out maybe?"

"Maybe." I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah… I'd like that."

Gallant hit the button for descent on the elevator. "I'll walk you to the door. We'll want to avoid a scene in front if your face is like that. Don't want people to wonder."

"Yeah."

The sooner I was out of the building the better.

--

AN: Pain is for the weak. Like Shadow Stalker.

 

[FFFX]

Scarab

--

Dawn 1.3

--

I ran for most of what remained of the day. I kept my head down, and my hat probably hid my injury well enough that by time someone thought about it I was long gone. I never once stopped to remove the glass, because I was just too frustrated to stop running for anything.

I wasn't going to go home. I had no real reason to. I wasn't hungry, I wasn't tired, and I didn't want my dad to see me with glass shoved in my face.

I really hoped I could heal.

I slowly did begin to stop, but not because I was tired. In fact I was more lost than tired. I did not actually pay attention to where I was going, or why I was going there, or what I was going to do when I got there.

I wandered a bit more before coming to stop when I became aware of exactly how empty the streets were. I needed directions, but a lot of the people I did see looked like they were on drugs or looking to sell themselves for some. Lone exception being an african american girl about my age sitting on a stack of old tires in front of an even older warehouse.

"Hey." I greeted her warily, and she gave me a noncommittal grunt in response. She was more developed than me, but plainly shorter. I would have guessed she'd be a little younger than me, but definitely a teenager. "Mind if I join you."

She gave her some attention and her eyes widened. "Holy fuck, what happened to your face?!"

Yeah, that could have been phrased more elegantly. "I just broke my glasses…" I began, but after a moment more of thought I decided to be a bit more honest instead. To a stranger, I could vent a little. "I got in a punch up with one of the girl's that has been picking on me for two years… don't worry. She got it worse."

The girl whistled. "Well… I don't know any first aid or nothin'…"

I just sat down on some cinder blocks across from her. "It's cool. I'm just going to pull the glass out. Let me know if I miss any, my face is a bit numb right now."

She nodded and watched me pull a few shards out of my skin. They felt bigger than they actually were, which I suppose made a lot of sense. My glasses were fairly durable and really only cut into my face because of how hard Sophia had punched me. They were designed to do minimal damage when they broke, but there was no accounting for that level of violence.

"So how did it feel?" The girl was leaning in, interested.

"Painful." I smiled a bit.

"Smartass. I meant getting back at the bitch." I knew, but she rolled her eyes anyway.

"Honestly? I don't even know." Opportunity knocked. I needed this, to vocalize my thoughts and get them in order. I did not know how I felt about it, and there was no time like the present. "I spent the last three months trying to figure out who I am, what I wanted, who I wanted to be. I tried meditation, aerobic exercises, hitting the books; all to try and understand what it means to be... I decided I wanted to be free, so I chose to transfer schools, and then I did, but it felt so fake. Too easy. Then I had this golden opportunity to send off with the last laugh." I flicked a piece of glass into the brick wall.

"It wasn't that funny…" I mumbled.

"Sucks." She let herself sink slightly into the tire stack.

"What about you?" I asked, dabbing blood off my face with my sleeve. I wasn't bleeding as much as I should be, which was cool.

"My mom has horrible taste. Her boyfriends are terrible people, and so is she. Probably doesn't even realize I'm gone."

"This is a rather bad part of town. Do you live here?" I found myself asking.

"Nah. It's cool though, my brother works around here. It's safe...ish." She grinned at me. "Name's Aisha, by the way."

"Taylor." I replied, taking a moment to run my fingers over the skin around my eye. "Better?"

"Yeah, I don't see any more glass." Aisha leaned back again and stared at the sky. "I'm a runaway, sorta. It never sticks. My brother usually finds me, mostly because I usually wind up near him. He's… safe I guess. Trying really hard to make a place so he can get me out of mom's. I'm just really restless… I kinda can't wait, but he's also trying too hard. He's a bit of a grump."

Aisha sighed. "But at least he cares."

"Sap." I blurted and stuck out my tongue.

Aisha sat up and glared at me. "You started it."

We both started to laugh. I smiled a bit more sincerely this time, and she stared at me for a moment in mute shock. "Those fuckin' teeth! The hell do you whiten them with, bleach?"

"There's a thought." I mused. My teeth were a pet project, good teeth meant people would probably completely forget about the mouth they came in, or at least that was my hope. It helped that I had extra hours to devote to the task with nothing else to do. I was getting the impression that plaque was having a more difficult time growing in my mouth lately too. Side effect of the enhanced health probably. Cleaning was getting me diminishing returns pretty fast, so I answered with the more recent of truths. "I just brush twice a day. Every day."

My teeth were starting to get freakishly shiny though.

"Augh." Aisha fell back again. "Ain't nobody got time for that."

I snorted. "I have too much time. I spent most of it plotting and preparing to fight tooth and nail to get out of the bully situation… now I'm just… lost. I finished the fight in two days of having started it. What am I supposed to even do?"

"I dunno." Aisha shrugged. "That's a question for a smart person. Like my brother, who's right behind you."

"Hi."

I whirled around and saw him for the first time. He was tall, chiseled, and did not quite look very happy. He did, however, look very attractive. He softened his expression when he was looking directly at me in turn. "I hope Aisha wasn't too much trouble."

"None at all." I found myself standing up suddenly and brushing dirt off my jeans.

He was staring at my left eye.

"Um… I'm Taylor." I provided, sounding more helpless than I would have liked.

"Brian." His gaze was rather blank, but also very invasive. I couldn't tell if he was checking me out or sizing me up. I was being appraised.

Aisha sighed. "She's cool bro. She brushes her teeth every day and everything."

I snorted, rather unattractively, trying to suppress a laugh. I should have just let myself giggle, it probably would have been at least slightly cuter, and less horribly embarrassing.

"That's nice." Brian seemed to not even know what to do with the additional information. "Aisha, we're leaving."

"You're not the boss of me!" Aisha declared. "I was just having a very interesting conversation with Tina here."

"Taylor." I reminded her.

"Taylor." Aisha corrected.

Brian rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you only forgot her name because you were so wrapped into the rest of the conversation."

"Shut up!" Aisha crossed her arms.

"It's fine." I smiled. "I need to head home anyway. Do you mind if I tag along for a while? I'm a little lost. Just need to reach a landmark and I'll be good."

Brian slowly nodded. "Yeah that's fine." Then he turned to Aisha a little triumphantly. "There, now you can pick up your conversation and come home."

"Ugh, fine!" She hopped off her rubber throne and dragged her feet just to prolong the inevitable.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Could be… worse." The words came out before I could stop them and immediately I was on edge. No, it was just silly superstitious paranoia.

"Yeah." Aisha agreed, not seeming to pick up on the verbal cues of my apprehension. Brian seemed to though, and raised an eyebrow at me.

We began walking through the Docks, and I felt at least moderately safe. Brian was an imposing figure to be sure. He was tall, broad shouldered, and very fit. I would have been intimidated if Aisha hadn't made him sound like a saint. Though that may have been an exaggeration. She made him sound like a good brother at least, and that was good enough for me.

"So, you were talking about something when I showed up." Brian admitted. "All I heard as Aisha say you should ask me about it. Anything important?"

I laughed. "Just philosophy…"

Aisha preened when Brian turned to look at her. "You were in a discussion about philosophy?"

"I told you it was super interesting!" She managed to look about five times as smug as a triumphant supervillain.

"Well…" I admitted. "It was a bit personal. I was venting because I had a stranger to vent to. Something tells me you two won't be strangers for very long."

"Friends are good confidants too." Brian admitted with a shrug.

"Well… best way to explain it might be this. Aisha told me you were trying to make a place for her so she can get out of her mom's house, right?" Brian gave his sister a bit of a look but nodded. "Well… what are you going to do when you accomplish that? When she's safe, happy, grown up, and bored?"

Aisha snorted. "Sums it up." I heard her mutter.

"I'll probably go traveling." Brian considered. "Learn more martial arts, maybe go competetive. Vale Tudo, MMA, and the like. Everyone's got a hobby they'd like to do for a living right?"

I stopped walking for a few moments. "Oh my god I am so dumb." Stupid in spite of my own burgeoning super-brain, I had not even considered the pursuit of a hobby. Some idle task to keep myself sane on sleepless nights. Some thing to do that did not have a goal or endgame. I could read all I want, but I wasn't super invested in it like my mother was. I needed to do something with my hands. "I need a hobby."

Brian laughed.

Aisha laughed harder. "Oh wow, that sounds like the saddest… um..."

"Epiphany." I offered.

"That." Aisha agreed.

"It kind of is." I admitted, allowing myself a chuckle at my own expense.

I heard the rustling of denim against denim, a deep breath in anticipation, the sound of a rubber sole scraping against concrete, and the tightening of a fist around polished wood.

Two in front, two behind. Four attackers, or potential attackers. I turned to see the ones behind us, following somewhat distantly, but able to close in as soon as we were stopped at the next alley by the other two. Skinheads, Empire Eighty Eight.

Racists, misogynists, white supremacists.

I grabbed Brian's sleeve and gave a light tug. "Things got worse."

Brian turned his head and saw them too. "They're just going to follow us and make us feel afraid. Just keep cool, play scared, and they'll go away."

"There are more ahead." I whispered. "We're walking into an ambush. I think they're mad because I'm here. They think I'm with you and they…"

"Don't like interracial relationships." Brian finished for me. "Fuck."

One of them has a weapon. I wanted to say it, but couldn't. I was pretty sure I used a power to find out and didn't want Brian to know I was parahuman.

We came to a stop when the other two stepped out of the alley ahead of us. One of them had a knife, and gestured to the alley with the blade, urging us to walk into a corner where it would be easier for them to harass us out of sight. Not that they would care, they just wanted it to be easier.

Brian took a deep breath. "Look, you guys don't care about her, right?" He tipped his head in my direction. "Let her go and I'll play along."

The guy with the knife walked right up to us. "No. See, I don't have much sympathy for a nigger-lo-" I could think of a hundred things I wanted to do in that instant, my brain spinning up into overdrive, and the only one I actually managed to act on was probably the dumbest.

I punched the man in the teeth hard enough for him to recoil a few steps.

The other men looked surprised. Brian looked at me in equal amounts of shock and horror. I must have ruined his plan.

The man I punched, however, growled in incoherent anger and swung his knife at me. "You bit-!" He was again, cut off, this time by a right hook from Brian. That one sent him sprawling on the ground either unconscious or heavily concussed.

"That was phenomenally dumb." Brian hissed. Likely to me.

"I couldn't help it! He was saying these words that were so… stupid I just… I panicked and bam." I mimed a punch. "Right in the kisser." Oh god who even says that?

Aisha had managed to place herself right next to Brian, clutching the back of his shirt. He gave her a quick pat on the head. "Go sit on the stoop over there." Aisha nodded slowly and stepped away, sitting on the steps of the house right next to us.

The three men were considering exactly how violent they wanted to get after we took out the guy with the knife. I side-stepped a bit until I was back to back with Brian. "I'll take the ugly one?" I offered lamely, the words formed before I even knew what I was saying. Right in the kisser? I'll take the ugly one? What was I, twelve and stupid?

Brian snorted. "Remind me never to introduce you to Alec."

"My words are failing me today." I admitted. I'd blame a frantic internal panic, but I was surprising myself by keeping my cool. Somehow the violence made me less nervous than the talking.

They sure were taking their dear sweet time attacking, probably cautious because of how Brian did manage to floor a guy in a single hit. I mimed a boxer's stance, the more they expected me to fight a certain way the more off guard they would probably be when I broke form. That was how Sophia got me earlier.

The men charged, I let one smash me over the head with his fist, which I realized a little too late was augmented with a knuckleduster. I didn't feel it very much anyway and responded in kind with a kick to the groin. My first attacker hit the ground.

My second assailant pulled a gun on me.

I was fairly certain I wasn't bulletproof. I ducked, grabbing Brian on the way down and pulling him out of the way of the line of fire.

I heard the bang less than an instant later and Brian's opponent hit the ground bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest. "Holy shit." I whispered.

"Motherfucker!" The man with the gun yelled at us and took aim again.

I looked up at him and felt something in me ignite, smoldering, and it felt like I was crying. Even so, he stopped and began shaking like a leaf. He was scared? Of me?

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth I maintained eye contact and snarled at him. "Beat it."

He turned and ran with a whimper, like a whipped dog.

"That was easy." I whispered.

"Fuck you!" Brian yelled. "You nearly got us all killed!"

I didn't have words for that. He was right, in a way. "Well, sorry if I thought it would be a better idea to engage them in the street with the two of us, rather than let them drag you into a back alley and beat you to death and do God knows what to Aisha. There were four of them Brian."

"Stop fighting!" Aisha yelled at us. "You can brood about who almost got us killed later. Me? I want to geek out over how amazingly badass that was! Scary? Fuck yeah. Not anymore though! You creamed those guys!" She kicked the skinhead that had punched me in the head while he was down and I was pretty sure he lost consciousness from that.

"Now what happens if they want revenge?" Brian asked. "They'll hunt us down. They see us once and they'll follow us and do this again. Maybe next time you'll be alone. We need to be careful from now on because somebody thought it would be a good idea to start to a fight."

"I'm sorry." I admitted. "But that would have happened anyway, only you would have been alone."

Silence reigned.

"Unless you had a better idea, some kind of cunning plan you could let me in on."

He looked like he wanted to argue, but stopped himself, considered carefully and sighed. "No… I didn't."

Aisha grabbed both of us in a hug. "There, happy! Now we can go back to being new friends!"

Brian shrugged. "I think we should part ways until I cool off."

I nodded. "Sounds like an idea." I pulled my pencil out of my pocket. I should have thought to use it. Instead I held out my hand to Aisha. "Got any paper?"

She hummed. "I got a couple of ones in my pocket?"

"Close enough." She handed me the change and I wrote down my phone number on a one dollar bill. "Keep in touch."

"With a badass like you? Definitely." Aisha saluted me and Brian waved me off.

So I left: To go home, to explain to my dad why there was blood in my hair, why my face was cut up, where my glasses went, and why it took me over twelve hours to get back.

Fun.

--

AN: Sekem? I hardly know 'em!... I'll stop now.

 

[FFFX]

Scarab

--

Dawn 1.4

--

I stopped in a gas station and slipped into the bathroom to check myself in the mirror. My scalp had barely bled any, probably thanks to the hat preventing the brass knuckles from scraping off the skin, the lump was already mostly gone, and a tiny cut clotted. It probably only bled as much as it did because it was a head injury.

My face was a different story.

The smaller lacerations were gone, leaving only traces of dried blood, but the larger ones had only partially closed. Even so, I looked a lot better if one ignored the blood on my sleeve from earlier. I should have thought of that at the time.

Instead I drew some paper towels from the dispenser by the sink and wet them to start dabbing the blood of my shirt as best I could. Maybe I could make it look less like blood at least.

What story would I tell my dad?

I tripped and broke my glasses? It certainly didn't look like I got into a fight. I ran the towel through my hair at the thought to clean some of the dried blood from my bangs, what little there was anyway. I wasn't healing as fast as some capes could, but I was certainly healing faster than normal.

Tripping made sense.

If I had makeup to put on and was okay with getting it in a cut I could probably have hid the last of my facial injuries and just walked home as if nothing was wrong and be believed. Except I had no reason to do that, and it would sting.

I wasn't sure what was worse. That I was willing and going to lie either way, or that I chose the lie that would make my dad worry because I didn't want a tiny cut to sting. What did that say about me?

I banished the thought, because it didn't matter.

I tossed the paper towel in the bin and left the restroom to browse the gas station's inventory.

Snickers. I wasn't hungry yet. Hadn't been for weeks. Didn't care anymore. Fasting was a stupid idea since I'd have to be teleported to the middle the Sahara desert to actually starve to death after three weeks of constantly running in a direction. Even then the thirst would kill me first.

A small isle of candy, one Snickers bar left. I reached for it, but a second hand slipped around me and nabbed it first. "Yoink!"
I spun around, more in shock than anger. I hadn't noticed him approaching in spite of how good my hearing had been lately. The black haired boy smiled at me a bit, like some kind of self-assured asshole. He had gotten remarkably close to me for a stranger, and he looked to be around my age.

He was unfairly attractive, in a way that Brian wasn't. He looked pretty.

"What? No complaints?" He seemed disappointed.

I grabbed a Milky Way off the shelf. "I would have preferred the peanuts, but I'll do without."

"Boring." He threw the candy bar at me and I reflexively caught it with my left hand.

His eyebrow raised. "Whoah, you ambidextrous?"

"What makes you think that?"

"You've used your right hand to reach for everything else so far, but I doubt anybody else would have caught it with their offhand like that. I didn't even give you any warning. I was trying to be a dick." He admitted.

"Why?" I found myself mumbling, his behavior was reminding me of Sophia... or Emma, or Madison.

"Because it's funny to see people get flustered and angry. Less so with sad and weepy though. Sorry." He shrugged. He didn't seem to be that sorry at all. "That's majorly cool though, the ambidextrous thing."

I sighed. "We're done here." Out of sight out of mind. People like him didn't matter.

"Aw, and you just started being interesting. Oh well… thems the breaks I guess." He shrugged while I walked away. "Name's Alec by the way, if we ever run across each other again."

"Don't plan on it." I growled under my breath, too low for him to hear.

After paying for the chocolate, I spotted him talking to a blonde girl who was just glaring at him. She looked ready to bury her face into her palm, anticipating that Alec would provoke her to do so. I overheard a bit as the boy in question gestured at me. "-and she's really good with her hands."

I felt heat rising in my face and ran.

If I stayed any longer I would probably try to kill him, and I wasn't sure if anybody would be able to stop me.

--

I crossed the threshold of my own home and let out a sigh of relief. It was nice to be on familiar ground. It occurred to me how absurdly long the day was after being a shut in for so long. "I'm home!" I called out, half expecting my father to be in a panic.

I was half right.

He got up immediately from the living room and slowly, hesitantly, began making his way over to me. He looked like he wanted to run, but chose not to, that it would be smothering. "Taylor? Oh thank god. I was so worried!"

I decided to show some backbone and closed the distance for him and wrapped him in a hug. "I'm sorry."

"Where even were you all day?" He held me tighter. I couldn't tell if he was crying or not.

I opened my mouth, closed it again, and truly considered my options.

'Finishing things up at the school,' was a bad lie. The school wasn't open as early as I'd left, and closed hours ago.

'The library,' would have been a good option, if I could even begin to think of what I would do there.

'I met a boy,' technically true, but would give the wrong idea.

'I met a girl,' would hopefully not give him the wrong idea. Didn't want to risk it.

The truth? My mouth moved unbidden. "I went to meet the Wards this morning."

"The Wards?" He whispered. "Whatever for?"

All in. "I'm parahuman."

"Parahuman." He stepped back, releasing me only so he could set both hands on my shoulders and get a good look, as if he expected to see something different. "How? When?"

"Not long… I don't know… maybe sometime last year? I didn't notice until this summer." I scratched at my chin nervously. "I honestly hadn't even given any real thought to it until yesterday."

"So today you…?" My dad seemed scared, for me I could imagine.

"Had a lot to think about. Ran, mostly. Talked to some new people, considered my options. I don't think I'll be a superhero or anything like that." He finally released me and exhaled deeply.

"I need to sit down."

I meandered to the kitchen table and he joined me eagerly. "So…"

"So." Dad managed to compose himself a little. "I thought you wanted to be a superhero, like Alexandria. What happened?"

I wasn't good enough.

I was a coward who let people walk all over her. I was a violent punk who smiled when I finally kicked Sophia in an already bruised rib. I was an impulsive jerk who picked a fight with some skinheads. I was a worthless person unworthy of being a hero for the sake of being like Alexandria.

I didn't deserve it.

All those thoughts crossed my mind in an instant, and I actually had to breathe deeply through my teeth as I forcefully banished them. They weren't constructive, or even true thoughts.

"I don't know. I guess I just don't know what I want." I forced myself to smile. "I mean… my power is pretty useless."

"What's your power?" I could see him hoping of invulnerability.

"I think it just has an underlying theme or holistic well being." I chewed my lip in thought for a simple explanation. "I don't get tired or hungry, and I heal a little faster." I began to wring my hands and stood up. "I'm going to make some tea. Do you want some tea?"

"Tea would be great." My dad nearly whispered, either on the verge of tears or on the verge of a good chuckle. I'd give him time to decide. I had all night to catch up on two years of dishonesty and half-kept secrets, and something told me he was willing to pull an all-nighter.

--

The conversation had gone about as well as it could have. Some of it harrowing, emotionally exhausting, but probably more so for my dad than for me. I was glad when we had to call it quits so he could get some sleep before work. He had to let it sink in, the bullying, the powers, everything.

I sat in the kitchen staring at a blank pad of paper and a half empty cup of tea. Dad had already gone to work after morning came, leaving me alone to watch the house and ponder what kind of hobbies I would try to take up, or just try to see what stuck.

I was drawing a blank but slowly began putting down ideas.

Writing. Gardening. Sewing. Singing. Dancing. Martial Arts. Learning a second language was something I had always wished I had the time and brainpower to accomplish. Both I now had in spades.

I looked up at the clock. Ten past nine. "Come on time, why are you so slow?" I leaned forward and set my head on the table. Why was I bored? Because I didn't know what to do with myself. Goal accomplished. I was spending more time trying to figure out what to do with my free time than actually doing anything to alleviate the sense of tedium.

I felt like I was waiting for something to come to me on its own.

The phone rang, and I was ever grateful, answering it in a heartbeat. "Hello?"

"Taylor?" The voice was high and sounded more than a little on edge.

"Aisha?"

"Taylor I don't know what to do. I'm in an alley and I think that guy from yesterday saw me. He's coming this way and… oh god. I don't know what to do." Her voice was cracking, she was panicking, and so was I.

"Just stay calm, where are you?"

"I don't fucking know! I wasn't paying attention to the roads or nothin'!" She sounded like she was moving a bit. "I'm downtown, on the edge of the docks, I think I'm next to a laundromat."

"I'm on my way. Whatever you do, don't let him hurt you, don't make him mad, but put it off as long as possible. I'm on my way." I heard her start to beg me to hurry before I hung up and bolted out the door.

Thankfully I knew exactly where she was. I passed by the place on my way to the Wards' Base.

I was never more glad that I couldn't get tired when running, I was able to just push myself constantly and move at top speed. I wasn't phenomenally fast, but I was fairly sure someone could have mistaken me for an athlete at least.

I wasn't moving fast enough, couldn't afford and cab, and sure as hell wasn't waiting for a bus.

I pushed harder until my legs burned in spite of my tireless persistence. I wasn't going much faster.

I almost wanted to hit myself. Why had I even thought I would spontaneously develop superspeed?

Seconds stretched into minutes, and my panic grew with each passing one. The city was big, but I wasn't stopping or resting or even held up by red lights or slow zones. I wouldn't even stop from traffic, and had to vault over a car to avoid getting run over.

I was probably less surprised when I did it than the driver was.

I slid to a stop on the proper street, unaware of how much time had passed.

The alley was completely empty. "Shit."

I turned and surveyed the pedestrian traffic on the road. I spotted him immediately, the skinhead that got away. I chased him down, not even waiting until he was alone, and grabbed him by the back of his shirt and wrenched him down to my level. "The fuck?!"

I spun him in place and pinned him against the wall. "Remember me fucktard?" I reached, feeling that thing from before. I set it on fire inside me and let it ooze from my eyes until it felt as liquid as tears. "What did you do to the girl?"

"W-what girl?"

"Don't you 'what girl' me! Talk! The girl in the alley! Where did she go?!" I could have threatened violence, but I knew nothing was scarier for him right now than simply meeting my gaze.

"I… I didn't see no girl in the alley! I swear to you!" Somehow I got the impression he wasn't lying.

"Fuck." I let go of his shirt and snarled. "If I see your ugly face again you will wish you were dead. Leave."

He ran and I stalked back to the alley, people on the street were staring at me, but only briefly. I didn't overtly seem superhuman, and they would never be able to pin down my powers anyway since not even I knew what I was doing half the time.

The alley. Empty. No sign of Aisha until she wrapped an arm around my shoulders and began to giggle. "That was amazingly badass."
"Thanks… wait…" I turned my head and met her gaze. "The fuck?"

"I got me some superpowers." Aisha grinned. "I am so lucky you showed up though! I didn't know it would still work if I moved or if it was easy to turn on and off or what! I didn't want to drop it until you showed up and then you schooled that guy!" She was talking too fast, I couldn't get so much as a thought in edgewise until she stopped to catch her breath.

"He didn't even remember you." I floundered for words more meaningful than that. Are you alright? What happened? She didn't give me the chance before moving on.

"Huh… cool." Aisha let go of me and began to pace around, I could see it in spite of her current attitude that she had been crying, and her shirt was disheveled, and I couldn't help but find it a little odd that she had bounced back that fast just because she got superpowers out of the deal. "Aw man… I can't believe you're parahuman too! This is too cool! And now I'm parahuman! Icing on the cake!"

I didn't know what to do or how to respond to any of her behavior. It was counter to what she allegedly experienced. The worst day of her life had its capstone set into place mere minutes ago. Unless she had always wanted to be a cape. Unless her lowest moment was followed by her greatest wish fulfilled. I couldn't rule out that she was just as excited now as she had been scared not but moments ago.

I couldn't even remember my own trigger event, so maybe Aegis was just a little spoiled? Aisha had to put up with a horrible home situation every day. I was bullied for two years. Maybe it wasn't as bad if you were already used to bad things.

I took a deep breath and refocused my thoughts on what mattered before going over everything in my head again. Aisha had triggered. She had some kind of freaky memory wiping invisibility thing. She knew I could do my scary glare thing.

"We should call Brian." I decided.

"True that." Aisha agreed, a little too readily.

Then she flipped open her phone and hit one on speed dial.

--

"Can you heal?" Was the first question Brian had asked me.

"A little, why-" Then he punched me in the face and broke my nose.

Hindsight being twenty-twenty? I deserved that and there was no way I could even begin to argue. Everything he had been mad about the day before was completely the case and he was fully justified in his wrath.

"Ow." I whimpered out, less from pain and more because I couldn't breathe out of my nose properly for the first few moments. Then I reached up and started snapping it back into place.

Brian shook his hand, appraising me all over again. My skull must have been harder than it looked.

Could have fooled me.

Aisha, however, tapped her brother on the shoulder. "That wasn't very cool."

He glared at her too. "Don't even start Aisha. I told you to be careful too. Not to go anywhere alone."

"You're not my boss…" She smiled. "Yet."

"No." Brian growled.

"Aw, come on! I'll be good! I promise! You can recruit Taylor too! She's got a really cool power!" Aisha insisted, and suddenly I realized why she was so interested in calling Brian then. Why she dragged me all the way to his apartment. Why he was now suddenly so angry at her for saying it.

"You're a cape too." I whispered.

Brian looked at me and nodded slowly. "Aisha, we're going to have to have a talk about privacy."

"But-!" Aisha cut herself off and I got the impression she knew better than to keep arguing when he was that mad.

"You should join the Wards." I suggested. "I know you're trying to get Aisha out of your mom's place, and the Wards pulled a lot of strings for… some of their members. They could speed things along probably."

Brian, to his credit, actually started to consider it.

"They're good people, mostly." I reached into my back pocket. "I have Clockblocker's number here, I could arrange a meeting for you."

"I don't know… I'll have to… think on it. I mean, the Wards still do dangerous stuff, putting my sister in that isn't…" Brian really looked conflicted. I felt bad for him a bit, always having to worry about Aisha's safety like that. Must have been nice though, for Aisha to have such an awesome big brother.

One who would punch a girl for her if he felt he needed to.

I should have been angrier about that.

"Look, I have your number alright? I'll give you a call when I make a decision." Brian stood up and reached out a hand. "Thanks though, for giving us that option. Sorry I had to punch you, but I wanted to make a point."

"I can take it." I insisted softly and took his hand.

The a siren began to call out, distinct, loud, and by the sound I could tell it was emanating over the entire city from the bay. From the Protectorate base.

Brian breathed quietly, barely above a whisper. "Endbringer."

--

AN: Well, she wanted something to do...

 

[FFFX]

Fixed the part TheUnicorn pointed out. Even if it was a small thing, thanks for helping to improve the story! Every little bit that makes a story better matters. Devil's in the details and all that.

--

Scarab

--

Dawn Interlude 1.a: Dennis

--

I nearly screamed when the alarm sounded, and I was pretty sure nobody would have blamed me if I had. The room went super silent and Missy started to look pretty pale faced. I worked my jaw in parallel to my courage to find something to say.

Carlos beat me to it.

"Anybody need to sit this one out?"

It was a legitimate question, but technically speaking all of us probably should have. We were just kids by all rights, it would be better for everyone if we survived to adulthood. More experience, more little tricks with our powers.

Only Chris raised his hand, and he didn't even want to. "My mom made me promise."

We all nodded, and Carlos put a hand on his shoulder. "Go to her, before she gets lost in the crowd."

Chris nodded and took off, hesitating at the door for a moment longer in silent apology.

Carlos kept his voice as level as he could. "Suit up and head out."

My room: where I kept my costume, the stuff I didn't have room for at home, and the stuff I wanted when I was on duty. Naturally, it was at once messier and more organized than my room at home. Less stuff, but less oversight from my mom to put it away.

I was halfway through tearing off my shirt when my cell phone rang.

Who the hell would call me now?

I finished taking off my shirt and threw it on the floor before answering. "Hello?"

"Um… hi."

"Taylor?" Taylor had called me. Of all the people. "Listen, now isn't a good time. I-."

"I know. I need you to bring me a mask or something. I want to help but I don't have anything. Just something for my face, I guess." She planned to fight an Endbringer? With her power set?

"You don't have to fight you know." It was the most feeble attempt to get her to back down. I knew that, but I had to at least try once.

"Neither do you." Touché, little water lily, touché.

"Fair. Got any preference?"

"Nothing that covers my hair, or gives me a distinct look that people expect me to keep."

"Also fair. We have bunches of generic domino masks for emergencies. They're not quite one-size-fits-all, so I'll bring a few." I heard someone pound on my door.

"Clockblocker, you ready yet?" Of course it was Shadow Stalker.

I was falling behind. "Alright, meet us near the Wards Base; there'll be pamphlets and stuff. Emergency plans. Wait outside the yellow tape and I'll hand off the mask in an alley or something. I gotta go."

I hung up before she could thank me or anything. Not that she should.

"I'm coming!" I yelled. I just hoped Taylor wasn't going to get herself killed in her first heroic act.

That would suck.

--

Dawn Interlude 1.b: Brian

--

Regent was the first one I spotted when I got to the parking lot the Protectorate had managed to rally all the capes to. He sauntered, for there is no better word for how he walks, over to me and gave as grim a nod as he could. Not even Regent was one to joke about Endbringers it seemed. "So… you ready for this?"

"Not even a little." Regent practically whimpered. "I mean, I know we talked about this, but seriously? What the everloving fuck am I supposed to do to an Endbringer?"

"Search and rescue, help people dodge if you get an opportunity." I shrugged. "Whatever you can."

Regent sniffed. "I should have gone with Rachel…"

I couldn't find a reason to argue with him.

"Hey." Tattletale approached us, rather somberly.

"And that makes four."

The only thing I could do was get angry. Aisha had followed me. I had told her to go to the shelter but she had followed me. "A- you, no."

"Imp." Aisha insisted, wearing some dollar store devil mask. I hoped she wasn't dumb enough to have paid for it, but hoped she wasn't so eager to be a villain she was stealing already. "Don't be such a dick, Grue. I want to join the Undersiders. I want to help."

"You told her?" Regent whispered too loudly. He wanted Aisha to hear him.

"You triggered?" Tattletale asked Aisha, Imp, directly.

"Only like, a couple hours ago." Aisha admitted.

"No." I repeated myself. "You will not fight an Endbringer. Not when you aren't even sure how your powers work or if they'll even do anything."

"You can't tell me what to do." Aisha crossed her arms. "I'm helping and you can't stop me." She made a noise like she was sticking out her tongue, but stopped and gagged when she licked the inside of her mask on accident.

It only made me angrier.

"Imp-!"

Who was I talking about? Or to?

Whatever. It couldn't have been that important. I just wish I knew what I was suddenly so afraid of. Scared enough to make my powers itch.

"You okay Grue? You're getting leaky." Regent observed.

"I don't know. Tense I guess. Endbringers will do that." I turned to Tattletale. She was staring at me, frowning, eyes a little unfocused.

"What?"

"Probably nothing…" Tattletale admitted.

"Well, let's just hope this is a good day and all of us make it out alive." I put a hand on each of their shoulders. "We may not have been working together that long, but I'd hate to have to start over; you guys have grown on me." I spared Regent a glance. "Well, some more than others."

Regent snorted. "Thanks, bossman."

--

AN: Aisha really wants to hang with the big kids.