Spirit Detective Taylor (Worm x Yu Yu Hakusho)

[Pendragoon]

February 14th, 2011

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Sophia demanded as we approached a group of Heroes coordinating clean ups, as well as search and rescue. From what I could sense of the fighting it had all come to a stop with the destruction of the Scarab. The giant insects were gone and I was breathing easier. I'd need to thank Amy once again for the continued upgrades, because that explosion should definitely have been the end of me.

The gathered Heroes turned to face us one by one as we approached, Sophia's yelling at me drawing all of their attention. I wanted to shrink back under the attention of so many Heroes, especially when I saw Legend among them. I hadn't seen the LGBT icon since summer camp, seeing him acting in his true capacity though was something else entirely. Armsmaster gave Legend a curt nod and turned to approach us.

"Esprit, I see you have Shadow Stalker in hand." Armsmaster said.

Sophia froze mid-step beside me, I glanced at her and saw she looked like a deer caught in headlights. I ground my teeth in frustration, an hour earlier I would have gladly handed her over but now it didn't sit right with me. She had fought beside me, she had put herself between me and a blade. As much as I hated her I couldn't just hand her over, not after that.

"Not quite." I said, slowly with eyes locked on his visor. "I did have her in restraints actually, when the sirens sounded. Given what was happening I released her so she could help save lives, she was quite successful at that as well."

"I'm sure it will be a consideration at her trial." He said, producing a set of Tinkertech handcuffs. "Since this wasn't an S Class event, the Truce isn't in effect at the moment."

"Bullshit!" Warlock yelled as he joined the conversation, falling in beside me and putting another body between Sophia and Armsmaster. "When those sirens sounded, everyone stepped up, hell, even Lung was fighting. Don't think you can get away with breaking the Truce like this."

"I have to agree with Warlock." I found myself saying, much to the surprise of everyone present if the lack of tension from Armsmaster's hanging jaw was any indication. Sophia seemed dumbstruck that I was turning down such an easy chance to be rid of her. "She's not worth a violation of the Truce."

"Unfortunately, we don't have much say in the matter." Another voice called out, drawing all eyes to her. I wasn't too proud to admit that my inner gay fangirl squealed her heart out at the sight of Alexandria setting boots on the ground not even ten feet from me. "The Chief Director has made her decision, if it weren't for the high fatalities this might not have even ranked as an A Class threat, the Truce was never in effect."

"Now that's a soundbite." Insight's voice played from a speaker hidden somewhere in Warlock's robes. "Would you like to arrange for a repeat performance tonight at six for the evening news, or should I just toss this as is on PHO and make myself some popcorn?"

"If you thought you could get away with it," Alexandria said casually. "You would have already uploaded it."

"Interesting theory there Chief, but I'm one of those pesky Thinker blind spots, kinda like Eidolon and our darling little Esprit here. Your normally shit-your-pants terrifying boogeyman can't find me, now can they?" There was no doubt in my mind that those words had been carefully selected to drive home Insight's blatant threat to a member of the Triumvirate. "Care to run a test on which of our theories are correct?"

Alexandria seemed to be staring straight through Warlock to Insight directly, it was a bit unnerving to be honest. If someone had told me even an hour ago that I would put myself between the Triumvirate and Sophia fucking Hess, I'd have requested they submit for Master Stranger screening immediately.

"Fuck!" I blurted out. "What about the potential Master?"

"Oh shit. Lexy, were there any captures made in all the chaos?"

"A small group of costumed soldiers have been placed in custody, and are suspected of being Mastered." She confirmed.

"Uber's dead." Sophia said.

"Leet as well, they recovered his body from the aircraft I shot down." Miss Militia said.

"Shit." Insight said with what seemed to be genuine concern. "Esprit, can you sense anyone nearby that doesn't feel like they belong?"

My whole body stiffened. Had Warlock told her about Spirit World and all it entailed? It was pretty much the only possibility I could think of given Amy wouldn't betray our trust like that leaving Castiel as the only possibility. His employment to the enigmatic woman only seemed to solidify my suspicion.

"You're way off on whatever spiraling tangent your thoughts just jumped down Esprit. I'll explain later, but nobody sold you out. For now I need you to focus on finding the Master."

Either she was distracting me, or she was being sincere. Either way I didn't have time to dwell on that. She was right. The true threat was still out there and I needed to find it before more people were hurt.

I pushed myself into my senses, dropping down into a lotus pose and closing my eyes. Each and every person began to appear in my mind's eye radiating away from me in a wave. The familiar signatures I noted. Castiel, Sophia, Miss Militia, Armsmaster. Alexandria was new so I made a point to remember her unique signature. Others I glossed over, now wasn't the time to try and parse through the dozens of new people currently assisting with the emergency response.

Further out, not far from the site of the battle with the Scarab, I found someone who shouldn't be there. A single familiar parahuman, surrounded by over a dozen normals. I had sensed the person several times over the last month, but never thought much of it. I was reasonably certain I had sensed several unmasked capes over the same time period, so I'd made it a point to not push myself to unmask them even by accident. This person was one such signature.

"There's a cape hiding in a ship on the other side of the graveyard." I said and Alexandria's helmet snapped to me. I could feel her glare piercing through her visor but now wasn't the time to worry about secrets if this had been one massive distraction like Insight feared. "Warlock, can you get us a platform? We need to get to them before they try to run."

"I'm not sure my tech can lift that much." He said, carefully.

"Lexy already figured out your limits." Insight said. "No point hiding things right now, not in an emergency situation like this."

"Alright." Warlock said, reluctantly. He stepped over to a fractured portion of the parking lot we found ourselves in and slammed his staff down on it. Runes spread across the surface and the chunk of asphalt rose up into the air. "Point me in the right direction."

I hopped aboard and was surprised when I felt the platform shift further when Sophia joined us. I supposed I couldn't blame her for sticking close by, given the threats everyone else present just made against her. I pointed Warlock off towards the direction I could sense the Cape and we shot off. To my surprise, Alexandria did not follow.

"Are you sure you're okay with her coming along?" Warlock asked as the wrecks of the graveyard passed beneath us in relative silence. "She's filth, you've said so yourself. Why waste your time on someone so far beneath yourself?"

"What are you talking about?" Sophia asked. "Hebert seems to be over her weak victim shtick, even if she has made parts of my life a pain in the ass in doing so."

"I was talking to Esprit."

"Oh." Sophia muttered. "Should have known. Everytime I think you're getting better, you let something like that slip."

"Fuck, I did it again, didn't I?" Warlock said. "Sorry."

Sophia sighed. "You told me to not let you slip on even the smallest things, I'm holding you to that. That was a pretty damn big slip."

"It was." Warlock said. "I'll do better."

"Good."

I tried to keep my nose out of their conversation, but given the proximity there really wasn't a way for me to ignore it. I had no idea these two had been hanging out enough to be able to have conversations like this, but aside from training I really didn't know much about Castiel's personal life.

"Hopefully, this mystery cape is worth the detour." Sophia said.

"It will be." Insight said. "It has to be."

"You're making me nervous." I said. "What made you so rattled?"

"A crippling lack of information." Insight said, quickly. "I need clues for my power to work with, otherwise I'm flying blind and working with bad data. That doesn't lead to good places given my power is essentially to fill in the blanks."

"Down there." I pointed at a ship close to the shore. It was hard to tell in the afternoon light, but there appeared to be power to parts of the derelict. "Sophia, provide overwatch. You need to stay as far away from this potential Master as possible."

"Why is it that the two of you get to go charging in, but I have to hide?" Sophia demanded.

"Because Warlock and I can resist most Master effects. You cannot."

"Wait, Warlock too?" Insight asked, then after a moment continued. "Fuck, if he's able to, that means…"

"Bullshit later, crisis prevention now." I interrupted in a commanding tone and jumped off the platform. I lacked even the barest amount of Spirit Energy, the twenty minutes since I'd emptied my reserves in the prior battle hadn't even come close to refilling the tank. My regeneration just wasn't keeping up anymore, but it did mean I could fire a single lethal shot if I needed to.

Forgoing reinforcing my limbs, I had to rely on Amy's upgrades as I impacted the deck, denting steel under my feet with a deafening crack. My knees protested but nothing gave. Two men, armed with shotguns stumbled back in surprise at my sudden arrival. I lashed out, one I caught with a backhand despite their attempt to use the shotgun as a shield. It crumbled as easily as their bones. The second I dropped with a roundhouse to the shoulder, I did my best to put the sound of breaking bones out of my mind.

Two more came up from below deck, the hive thoroughly kicked. I raised my finger but didn't fire, two darts protruded from their necks and the men crumbled. Sophia's shadow state descended with a grace that I couldn't help but feel envious of.

Three more were approaching from behind me, but I dropped flat to the deck instead. Our prior platform crashed into them with a sickening crunch, their Spirit Energy snuffed out. I tried to ignore the deaths he had just caused, but without help, my two takedowns weren't likely to survive either. It didn't matter, something was here that would explain all of the day's madness, it had to.

Warlock descended and placed a hand on my shoulder, likely sensing my own turbulent energy. Sophia ignited her new Lightsaber and cut down the newest arrivals, the breeze catching the smell of burnt flesh just right for me to gag. Now I understood why firefighters often had issues with eating grilled pork.

"Let's end this." Warlock said.

"Just the Master remaining." I agreed. "Sophia, cut us a path with that fancy glow stick. If you can get a dart into them, do it, otherwise you'll be a liability once we make contact."

"This seems like a terrible plan." She grumbled but began to cut where I had indicated.

"Probably, but this lets us bypass any potential traps they set."

The hull dropped as Sophia finished her cut and I wasted no time jumping down, my finger up and glowing, aimed at a young girl with dark hair huddled in the corner. Warlock was right behind me, and I could sense the Spirit Energy charged steel floating all around him, ready to fire in an instant. The girl looked up at us, tears flowing down her face but the facial expression didn't match, everything about her seemed fake.

"Oh fucking hell." Insight muttered in a haunted tone. Sophia joined us and almost instantly I could feel her Spirit Energy swirl into a spiral of despair.

"Kill her now!" Insight shouted.

It said something that neither Warlock nor myself hesitated to act. My Spirit Gun tore through the left side of her face while Warlock nearly turned her torso into mulch and shredded the hull behind her. I spun and grabbed Sophia by the wrist and twisted just as the Lightsaber ignited, barely missing her chin. Her eyes were wide and tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Please don't… Not again…" She was an incoherent mess, and whatever the girl had done wasn't wearing off just because we had… Killed her. "Don't touch me Steven."

"Sophia!" I yelled, shaking her by the shoulders. "Focus. You're here, not wherever you think you are. They can't hurt you anymore."

Behind me, Insight was rambling over the speaker while Warlock yelled right back. "Say something we can understand dammit. Why the hell should we cherish a faraday?"

I began to say something when my phone rang, the caller ID said Vicky so I answered it. Her voice was frantic and I could feel my stomach dropping with each and every word even as my Spirit Energy responded.

"Vicky." I said, my voice a monotone even though Spirit Energy roiled around me like an inferno. "Slow down, what do you mean Amy was kidnapped."

---

Author's Notes:

The plot thickens! Next time on Spirit Detective Taylor, debriefing before the end of arc finale! Stay tuned!

So, arc 4 and it's interludes have been typed for weeks, about half of arc 5 is hand written and waiting to be typed but my muse has been focused on other projects lately. First was Fistful, which the muse was going strong for but trailed off. I have another 5 chapters handwritten I need to type up still yet, but recently I've been distracted by an as of yet unannounced collaboration with another fic writer that has us both giddy as hell to get it ready and posted. We're hoping to be in a position to do just that early into January. SDT may go on a brief hiatus if my muse remains difficult for another month since my backlog is down to 4 chapters right now, the lowest it has been since June.

Regardless, my goal is to complete arc 6 before the fic is officially a year old. I'm saying that here just so it's out there and I can't back out on that commitment without a public apology which always make me uncomfortable, so social pressure ftw?

 

[Pendragoon]

February 14th, 2011

"I should have fucking been there!"

Cobalt light rolled off me in an inferno. I hadn't been able to slow the outpouring of Spirit Energy since Vicky's call. There had been almost no word on what had happened to Amy and it felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff about to fall off. I couldn't sense her at all even with how strong she had grown recently. She must have been too far away and with her inability to project her Spirit Energy, she could be anywhere.

The PRT were assembling an emergency meeting while I was trying to calm my frayed nerves. The room was too quiet with everyone making hushed conversations in small groups. Alexandria was talking with Eidolon and Legend while on the local front Miss Militia was talking to a frantic Lady Photon.

Brandish was glaring at Vicky during a rare break in their ongoing argument, who had placed herself between our group and the rest of New Wave, while Sophia was practically glued to Castiel and I. While it was likely this was due to our little group being the only one not currently trying to arrest her, I couldn't help but notice the empty look in her eyes.

"You aren't going after Heartbreaker!" Brandish shouted back at Vicky as most of the assembled capes tried to pretend they weren't listening to the argument. "She's already gone and I'll be damned if I'm going to lose my only daughter to that monster."

Vicky nearly growled. "Are you referring to Heartbreaker, or Amy?"

Several gasps came from those nearby. Well, glad to see Amy's family issues being aired for all to see. No doubt this would be a giant headache once she was safe.

"Who do you think?" Carol spat with venom.

"Considering you called Amy a monster to my face, it isn't hard to guess." I said so that everyone could hear me. I was struggling to force my voice to remain level, it already was taking everything I had to keep my roiling Spirit Energy from spilling forth any worse than it already was.

"Given that Insight has provided confirmation that this is Heartbreaker we're dealing with, I'll give you some benefit of the doubt that you might have been Mastered into trying to isolate Amy."

"Heartbreaker isn't a threat to the entire planet like she is!"

I just glared at her, it was like I had neither the energy nor inclination to fight this battle. Arguing with Carol was like batting my head against a wall. Before she could start another tirade Miss Militia and Lady Photon approached, interrupting her.

"Brandish." Lady Photon said, putting a hand firmly on her shoulder. "Unfortunately, all of New Wave are going in for voluntary Master Stranger isolation. Our emotions have been tampered with and we've decided it best to let the Triumvirate deal with this crisis."

She sputtered as Lady Photon led her away but fortunately didn't make a fuss. I was grateful for that, even if it meant less fliers to help search for her. Miss Militia was watching them leave then turned to Vicky.

"Aren't you going with them?"

"I guess you didn't get the memo, I quit New Wave." Vicky said sharply. "You find anything useful or are you just going to waste more time while my sister's potentially getting mind raped?"

"Nothing yet." Miss Militia said, sounding defeated. "We're waiting for Dragon to finish her sweep of the city's camera records to confirm if Heartbreaker has been sighted in the area. If he needs to transport Panacea to him, we still have a chance to save her."

"If they need to transport her, she'll rescue herself before long." I said.

"Unless they knocked her out, that is." Lady Photon said.

"Good luck knocking her unconscious without a Brute." Castiel said while rubbing the arm that Amy had broken the prior night while sparring. He learned the hard way that Amy didn't have a glass jaw.

"I understand that Amy's had extensive self-defense lessons over the years, but you're making it sound like she should have a Brute rating."

"She's no pushover." I said in an attempt to obscure the truth. "They could have drugged her, though I recall her mentioning her power doing something to her that makes those less effective."

"While I find all of that quite interesting." Miss Militia cut in. "She's been missing for an hour now, things are beginning to look dire."

"I'm not giving up on her, but if need be…" My voice caught in my throat as I forced down a sob. "If she's become a threat, I'll deal with her personally."

I turned and gestured for my people to follow me, Cas and Sophia fell in on each side and Vicky flew over to catch up. I pulled out my phone and dialed, two rings in and Genkai answered.

"Any luck?"

"None so far." Genkai said over the sound of rushing wind. "I have Koenma diverting what resources he can, but there's only so much he can do without drawing the wrong attention."

"Keep me updated, I'll call you once the meeting concludes if they have anything noteworthy to add."

I hung up, letting out a shaky breath as I sank to the floor. A part of me expected Sophia to say something biting, to pounce on my moment of weakness. When it didn't come I found myself looking up, meeting her hollow eyes with tears in my own. They were unfocused, lost in whatever Cherish had done to her.

"Sophia, are you gonna be okay?" I found myself asking.

"How do you do it?" She whispered. "We put you through your worst day, you became strong. Now, your girlfriend has been taken by one of the worst fuckers in the world and you're still standing."

"I'm standing because I refuse to lose hope." I replied.

"She forced me to see memories of my trigger, and worse. I saw my greatest fears become reality in my mind as everything abandoned me but them." A sob escaped her and I noticed Castiel softly touching her arm in support. "I wanted to die. That's still there, the memory of that moment of absolute despair, whispering in the dark. I don't think I can even trust my own mind anymore."

"I'd tell you to go for M/S screening, but they'd never let you back out." Castiel said. "Check with Insight once this is over, she should be able to help you."

"You could always try some of the old insults from Winslow, see if those make you feel better." I said with a smirk.

Sophia huffed. "We both know those were lies, you've proven how strong you are compared to me."

"Holy shit, the Stalker can learn…" Castiel muttered. I elbowed him.

"She really did a number on you, didn't she?" I said softly. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry you got caught up in that."

"Are you seriously showing her pity?" Vicky asked. "The bitch killed you for fuck's sake!"

I face palmed as Sophia frowned and moved her attention to Vicky. "The fuck? Hebert's right here."

"There are two possibilities." Insight said from the speaker on Warlock. I groaned, having forgotten she was listening in. "One, she died as she triggered, with a regeneration ability of some type… Huh, that's technically true, neat."

"What's the second option?" Sophia asked.

"The second option." Insight paused for dramatic effect. "She actually did die and someone on the other side sent her back for some reason or another."

I glared at where I thought the voice was coming from in his robes. "Just who the hell are you?"

"Thanks for the confirmation, Tay Tay." Insight said with what sounded like a wide grin. "I'll pester you about that one when we don't have a Pan Pan to pull out of the fire."

"Wait, Hebert actually died? When?" Sophia looked between all of us before stopping at me. "How?!"

"The Locker." Was all I got to say as the screens flickered to life, a woman's digital avatar appearing on the central display and various data points arraying themselves on the secondary monitors. Multiple pictures appeared on one of the monitors, of which I recognized the girl Cas and I had killed, one Cherie Vasil, Cherish. Another child was pictured next to a familiar cape, the civilian name listed was Jean Paul Vasil, Hijack, but of greater interest was the other name attached. Regent.

Just how long had Heartbreaker's children been in the Bay? Regent had first made the news over six months ago, and it had been at least a month since I first spotted Cherish's energy on one of my morning runs. Just how many had come to my home to assist dear ol' daddy?

"Apologies for the delay." The digital avatar that must have been Dragon's said. It would seem I would be meeting all of the legends today, not just the actual Legend.

"Most of those present know me but for those that don't, my name is Dragon. I've finished examining the camera footage dating back to Regent's first appearance in the Bay with facial recognition algorithms and can confirm that Jean Paul Vasil arrived approximately three weeks prior to his first outing as Regent in June of 2010. Cherie Vasil however didn't arrive until mid-December, which would explain the shifts in behavior from Amy Dallon and those around her that have been reported in recent weeks.

"It is safe to assume both were here under orders from Heartbreaker, with the likely goal of securing Panacea. Neither Heartbreaker nor any of his other children were spotted in my current search grid. I have my programs expanding the grid in an outward pattern, but results will take time to compile. If their intention is to take her to Canada, she may already be well outside the city proper."

"That isn't quite accurate." A male's voice said from behind all of us. Regent was leaning up against the back wall, twirling his scepter. "I came to this city to get away from Daddy dearest, so I would appreciate it if you didn't plaster my identity for every Hero in the city to use in the coming manhunt."

"I'll take that under advisement." Director Calvert said.

I frowned, looking between the director and Regent. I'd forgotten about Genkai telling me yesterday how our local PRT director was also the supervillain Coil. I hadn't had time to think through the implications but, considering Calvert was Coil, it meant Regent was one of his subordinates. It seemed he was planning on playing the competent PRT director act for a while longer. He was actually decent at it so dealing with him wasn't as high of a priority in my book. We still didn't know what his plans were but considering we had no physical evidence of his identity we would just have to wait for the right opportunity to act.

Dragon's avatar regarded the new arrival. "Regent, would you be willing to submit yourself to our custody for the duration of this incident?"

"Assuming you don't use this as an excuse to try to press me into the Wards." Regent replied easily.

"You have my assurances, further, any assistance you can offer would be appreciated." Calvert said.

"Done. I want the fucker dealt with as much as anyone. Probably more than most of you actually."

"Your assistance is appreciated, Regent." Dragon said, resuming her presentation. "As for Panacea, she was taken from Arcadia under duress during a hostage situation while the Endbringer sirens were going off. Our goal is retrieval, however, should she prove hostile I regret to say that lethal force is being authorized given concerns over the potential her abilities could bring."

Alexandria stepped forward and began to go over search grids but my world was falling away. Hushed whispers surrounded us while I stared at nothing. Dragon's avatar appeared to be watching me, a look of sympathy being emulated but it rang hollow. I stood and left the briefing, none of the PRT personnel attempted to stop me or the three that followed me outside. I wandered a short distance into an alley before speaking.

"All right Insight, what can you give me that they couldn't?"

"Hmm, aside from the fact that Heartbreaker is still here, not much more. They're outside the city proper, but not by much. If Panacea isn't with them yet, she will be quite soon."

"So we need to move quickly." I said to Cas and Vicky. Sophia's jaw was hanging but she didn't voice any complaints and neither did the other two. "Cas, take Sophia, Vic, come with me. Insight, point us in the most likely directions, Cas and I should be able to sense her Spirit Energy if we get close enough."

"Not even attempting to hide things?" Insight asked, but I didn't answer her. I moved over to Vicky and had her lift me into a bridal carry as she moved into the air. Warlock lifted off the ground on a stone slab, Sophia holding onto his waist. "Alright, Warlock, follow along the interstate heading north, Glory, there's an abandoned asylum due north of the city. I'm getting some weird vibes from it and the data isn't matching up."

"Got it." I said. "You have our numbers if you learn anything new. Let's get Amy back from that monster." The others nodded as Cas levitated off with his platform and Vicky held nothing back, powering north. My phone was out and was dialing before we hit cruising altitude. "Genkai, the meeting was a bust but it helped Insight narrow things down. Vic and I are heading to the old asylum up north to check on a lead."

"I'm fairly close as well, I'll divert and meet you…"

Every hair on my body stood on end as a wave of Spirit Energy stronger than anything I had ever sensed before crashed over us like a physical force. Vicky however didn't even seem to notice aside from a minor bit of turbulence. "Asylum it is, see you there."

The line went dead and my phone immediately began to ring. I swiped to answer. "I've already diverted Warlock and Stalker." Insight said. "Given I could feel that from here, you'll need all the luck. Be careful Esprit."

"Thanks, hopefully we'll have some good news for you when this is all done." I said, looking off towards the source of the roiling waves of energy. A maelstrom of power swirled in the distance, spiking at terrifying levels. "Because if it comes to a fight, I don't think we can win."

---

Author's Notes:

Only one more chapter for the arc proper. Next time on Spirit Detective Taylor, the conclusion. Stay tuned.

Alright, I've been teasing a new project for a few weeks now and I suppose with it in all likelihood going live within the week, it's time to reveal just a bit more about the project that has so thoroughly distracted me from my other works.

Inheritance is a fun little fic with a bit of an AU to it that will see Taylor trying to be a hero against all odds, with concerning results. Her first night out is a disaster, and the heroes don't know what to do with her. What happens when the heroes find you too dangerous? How far will Taylor be willing to go to do what she thinks is right?

Join Weaver as she tries to figure out what is and isn't a good idea when she has 14 other voices in her head all providing commentary. Butcher!Taylor in full effect with a PRT that is aware she inherited but not what her civilian identity is. Oh what a glorious trainwreck awaits!

This is a collab between FirstSelector and I using a series of snips they wrote as a base that were so compelling that I couldn't not help ensure became a proper fic. I hope everyone finds it as entertaining as we have. Coming soon!

 

[Pendragoon]

Content Warning: Depictions of body horror, torture and the aftermath of graphic violence.

February 14th, 2011

Vicky set me down outside the building where the maelstrom of Spirit Energy was centered. The pressure was immense and daunting, but what was worse was the distinct feeling that this mix of pain, anguish, and suffering was saturated with what I knew to be Amy's own energy.

Genkai's spirit form was waiting for us, standing on one of the iron spikes next to the gateway. The black iron fence surrounded the inner courtyard of the building and was completely overgrown with vines. The vines though had been torn away from where the gate would swing open, showing that people had been here, and fairly recently, not that I needed further proof given the eye wall of the storm was just beyond it.

The psychic energy intrinsic to the site was intertwined with Amy's into a dense weave of suffering, the howls of tortured souls were almost overwhelming my senses. Within the wind itself I caught glimpses of shapes and faces ever shifting, never there when you looked but always on the edge of perception.

I felt Castiel and Sophia on approach long before I could actually see them. Sophia's energy vanished as a cloud of shadow descended from the sky, Castiel setting his feet on the ground beside her as she rematerialized. Genkai regarded her with a raised eyebrow before turning back to me, I simply shrugged. Now was hardly the time to explain why one of my tormentors was here, helping.

"Holy hell…" Castiel muttered, stepping up beside me and regarded the tempest of anguish. "Why did she have to be in a place like this?"

Sophia gave the building a long look before walking over to a section of the overgrown fence and tore the vines away, revealing a plaque. "Brockton Bay Home for the Criminally Insane. Yeah, fuck this."

"Is the big bad Shadow Stalker scared?" Vicky asked with a smirk.

"I'm just going to point out that this has all the makings of a damn horror film." When none of us commented she continued, pointing at each of us in turn. "You have the blonde bombshell, the lesbian nerd, the reformed racist and the jock." She finished, pointing at herself.

"You're also the token black girl." Cas added. "Afraid you'll die first?"

"Fuck you." Sophia spat while flipping him off. "Remind me again why I even bothered to come along?"

"Because you're fucked in the head?" I asked with an icy tone to cut off the bickering while I walked towards the gate, ignoring the tormented cries of the damned within the tempest.

"I just hope we aren't too late, otherwise this is going to be messy as shit." Cas said, getting a disbelieving look from Sophia. "Hey, your funeral if you want to underestimate the scary as fuck biokinetic with insane plant powers currently causing this massive storm of negativity and anguish in the air. Really shows those amazing instincts of yours, survivor."

I couldn't help but smirk as Sophia stood there, speechless, her mouth hanging open as she just stared at Castiel. "Panacea? Seriously? Please tell me that was a joke." She barely whispered.

"Nope." I kicked the gate, sending twisted iron tumbling across the courtyard, digging furrows in the stone walkway, and embedding itself in the brickwork above the front door. Silence reigned as I stepped over the threshold and into the tempest. The cries of tortured souls grew louder as I stood there, taking it all in. Every ounce of pain and anguish that had been felt by those condemned to live and die in the hell that this building had once inflicted upon others.

I flared my own aura as much as I could, pushing back the howling tempest as I stepped through only for it to abruptly cease. Amy's energy was still shining strongly from within the depths of the asylum, but it no longer intermixed with the malignant energy that had gathered over the years.

"Well, if that wasn't ominous." Cas muttered.

"Whatever was fueling that outburst of Spirit Energy is just, gone." Genkai said, hopping off the spike. "Perhaps it was a creation of hers."

"Perhaps." I answered flatly.

"Jesus Hebert, how much were you holding back when you punched me?"

I glanced over my shoulder and gave Sophia a flat look. Her eyes were fixed upon the iron gate now embedded in the wall. She could gape all she wanted, after the shit with Uber, this was nothing. I took a deep breath before turning back and approached the door. A trickle of Spirit Energy empowered my fist and I punched the steel door hard enough to send it flying, destroying the front desk across the lobby as well as a portion of the wall behind it. I was in a property destruction kind of mood after the day I'd had.

Genkai hurried inside atop her oar and surveyed the room, after a moment she signaled the all clear. "I was expecting some form of defensive position given the force that was used to take her."

"It is odd, I'll give you that." I frowned as my senses expanded out, but failed to pick up anything beyond Amy's own energy. "Cas, can you sense anyone or am I missing something?"

"Not a soul aside from Amy." He said with a frown. "At least her energy is back to normal now, rather than that maelstrom of shit your pants terror inducing horror it was when we arrived."

"We'll want to move swiftly, but remain vigilant for traps." Genkai said and I nodded in agreement. I readied a finger and began to move forward.

"Just who are you talking to?" Sophia asked, checking both of her wrist launchers after she saw my finger then she drew her Lightsaber, but didn't ignite it. "You got someone playing mission control that isn't Insight?"

"Just a ghost." Cas said casually, producing a handful of steel balls which he empowered with Spirit Energy and set them to orbiting around him.

Sophia stopped in her tracks, staring at him. Were the situation not so dire I might have laughed at how ashen her face had grown.

"It's true." Vicky added. "Though I can't see her when she's like this either. I only know because I've talked to her while she's possessing something." She paused. "Or someone."

"Stop fucking around." Sophia said, a hint of hysteria in her voice. "Ghosts aren't real, they're just some kind of Stranger."

"She's more of a grim reaper." I said. "She's also acting as a guide and mentor to Amy and I, and more recently, Cas."

"Taylor, did you even ask if Sophia knew my name?" Cas asked, crossing his arms. "It's bad enough that Insight has me working with her in costume, I really don't want to associate with her outside of it as well."

"Fuck you too, Empire boy." Sophia shot back.

"Shit." I muttered, interrupting them as I dashed forward, stopping by a doorway and sweeping my finger across the room, searching for anything even remotely suspicious before I dropped to one knee to examine my find.

A full set of tactical gear, complete with an emptied shotgun, was splayed across the floor. Spent cartridges littered the ground around it, sitting in still moist blood. The vest had been sliced open, but no sign of the former occupant remained.

"Fuck, this is some invasion of the body snatchers shit." Sophia said.

"Wanna split up and search for clues?" Castiel mocked, dryly.

"Cut the chatter!" I snapped, running a finger along the slice in the wall above the display. It was familiar in a way that didn't sit well with me, confirming a fear I'd had since we arrived. "Amy did this."

I heard Castiel gulp from behind me. "Do I even want to ask what she did with the body?" I couldn't help but notice he was suddenly much more vigilant of his surroundings.

"There's gonna be zombies…" Sophia muttered. "It's always zombies in situations like this."

"Why are you so panicked Sophia?" I asked, standing up and taking in the rest of the room. "You've never struck me as the type to show fear."

"She's a horror movie junkie." Insight said, once again reminding me that she was always listening. "Too many late night slasher marathons lead to reactions like this. It's hard to think straight when you suddenly realize you're starring in one."

"Tay can't think straight either but I don't see her freaking out." Castiel said to several glares, mine included. "Tough crowd."

"What order does the comedian usually die in these movies again?" Insight said with a knowing tone, yet I could feel the tension underneath.

"Can we please just focus?" I asked, cutting off Sophia's answer as I moved towards the only open door. Beyond it was a lengthy hallway with doors on one side and barred windows on the other. Most of the glass had been shattered and the light of the setting sun set the hallway in a warm hue. I could see two more sets of empty gear at the far end of the hall. "Check the doors." I said softly, keeping an eye, as well as a finger, trained on the end of the hall.

I heard a massive crack and spun around, only to find Vicky holding the now liberated door by its handle.

She smiled sheepishly. "Oops?" Carefully, she set the door aside and peeked in. "Room's clear."

I shook my head and moved on, thankfully without further mishaps, as we cleared the hall methodically. At the other end was a final door that seemed to descend into the basement. Now that we were next to the empty gear I could see that they had been dispatched much as the man up top had been. Worse, there were three more sets of gear on the steps heading down. Sophia groaned, casting a concerned eye on the splatters of blood decorating the walls and dripping down the stairs but she followed anyway.

I pushed the mostly closed door at the bottom open when sudden motion drew my eye back up the stairs. A helmet bounced and clanged noisily as it fell, while Sophia stood stock still from where she had disturbed it. I couldn't help but pinch my nose to stave off the budding headache. My eyes however were drawn to the armor half impaled into the ceiling, still dripping blood.

"So, Tay or Cas next for the jump scare?" Vicky asked. "Taking all bets."

"Twenty on it being you again." Cas said as Vicky stuck her tongue out at him.

I wanted to glare at them for being so cavalier about the situation but faltered when I saw the raw concern in their eyes. Despite the teasing, they were afraid, hiding it behind flippancy and jokes. It only served to steel my resolve to save Amy.

The room we entered next seemed more medieval torture chamber than anything else. Metal chairs with surgical equipment straight out of the fifties lined the floor. Worse was the paintjob, fresh blood adorned nearly every surface of the expansive room.

"Holy fuck." Sophia muttered at the same time Vicky whimpered out, "Oh Ames."

I could feel my own heart clenching at the sight before me, but more so at the remnants of Amy's energy still in the air. Just what could have pushed Amy to cause such carnage? I clamped down on those thoughts immediately, because I was getting more than a few ideas given who was involved. I didn't need anger clouding my judgment, I could wait until I had an acceptable target to take it out on. Like I had with Cherish.

We fanned out, slowly moving through the room while Genkai moved up to the rafters to provide overwatch. There were deep gouges carved into the concrete and blood had pooled into them. The smell of iron was overwhelming and my boots kept clinging to the floor. One of the exam tables I passed had been cleaved in two by something impossibly sharp. It painted a grim picture as I passed the emptied uniforms of some paramilitary force.

Adding to all this were faint echoes of those who had been tortured over the decades this place had been in operation. Doctors applying electrodes to strapped down patients, probes being drilled into skulls. It was hell on earth, and I could almost taste the suffering that permeated the air. I could only imagine what it was doing to Amy…

I came up to a steel door that had multiple gouges as well as two clean holes punched through the metal as though it wasn't even there. I moved into position and signaled that I was going to clear the room. Cas, Vicky and Sophia all paused in their own searching and readied themselves to act.

I took a deep breath, bringing what Spirit Energy I had to the surface and formed a small Spirit Sword, using it to sever the door bar that had failed to keep out whatever Amy had used in her attack. I heard the metal fall to the floor and dismissed the sword, drawing the energy back within me. Ever so carefully I began to pull the door open.

A flash of light and deafening crack rang out as something slammed into my gut harder than anything I had ever felt before. My feet came out from under me as I fell to the floor. I now understood how Yusuke must have felt after Genkai went jackhammer on his abs like I'd seen in his records.

Cas was rolling me over as I coughed up blood, and I could see both Vicky and Sophia yelling over me but couldn't hear a damn thing. My head lolled over towards the door and I saw what had hit me, a fucking shotgun had been rigged to go off when the door was opened.

"Your turn." I muttered as Cas helped me to my feet.

My shirt and jacket was in tatters and I knew I would be feeling that in the morning, it was likely several of my ribs had been broken even with the reinforcement. My breathing was heavy, ragged and aching. Vicky had a hand on my back, keeping me upright as I gathered my bearings.

"Damn Brutes." Sophia said, looking at my exposed abs. "That just isn't fair."

"Like you're one to talk." Cas said, unimpressed. "I think it's safe to say the room's clear."

"Yeah, clear is a word for it." I said, looking at the remnants. "She hasn't left a single soul behind to tell the tale."

"They were pawns of Heartbreaker, don't tell me you're going soft now of all times." Sophia said with a growl. "This is life or death, you can't show mercy to the weak."

"Why not?" I asked, slowly walking over towards the last remaining door. "I did for you."

I could sense Amy on the other side of the wooden door. I didn't know what was waiting for us on the other side, what creations she might still have from when she had decimated these men. Worse, what Heartbreaker might have done to her while she was in his care that led her to doing all that we had seen.

With a deep breath that set my chest aflame, I turned the handle and pushed the door open again. Within was an ornate personal study, recently dusted but clearly in disrepair. My raised finger swept over the room and, seeing no threats moving against me, I turned my attention to the far corner of the room, where Amy was hunched over, gripping her knees with her face buried. The only movement I could see from her were shallow breaths followed by wrenching sobs.

I held up my hand, signaling everyone behind me to stay back, behind me I could see the concern written across Genkai's face. She gave me a curt nod and floated back behind the rest, outside the room.

I took two small steps forward and let a smile show. "Hey Amy. Sorry I'm late."

"Don't come any closer!" She screamed, scrunching up even tighter against the wall and her breathing turning even more frantic.

"Amy, it's me." I whispered, taking another careful step forward. "It's Taylor."

"Just leave!" She cried.

"Never."

"Carol was right about me." She said amidst wrenching sobs. "I'm a goddamn monster that needs to be put down."

"No, you aren't." I said softly, closing just a bit of the distance still between us. "If that were true, you wouldn't be so broken up over what happened."

"You saw what I did! There's no coming back from that."

I nodded, not that she could see it, and took another step. "I did, but it's not the most monstrous thing I've seen today."

"What could possibly have been worse than what I did?"

I took one last step and turned, sliding down against the wall to sit beside her. "Well, for starters," I began and her breathing stopped when she realized how close I had gotten. "Uber and Leet were Mastered into staging a fake Endbringer attack as a cover for your kidnapping."

"Fucking perfect." She muttered. "More people that were hurt or killed because of me."

"Hey, none of that." I rested my hand gently on her back, her entire body tried to jerk away. "Every injury, every death is on Heartbreaker. This is all on him. Everyone else was a victim, and that includes you. Self-defense doesn't make you a monster, Amy."

"That doesn't change how many died!" She said with a shriek, quieter, barely a mumble I heard her continue. "It doesn't change how many I killed."

"Nor how many I killed." I said softly. "I popped Cherish's head like a tomato from Return of the King, not to mention her Mastered bodyguards."

"You don't get it." Amy said, sitting up. "I killed them with my power! I saw each and every one of them die on a level you could never imagine. I did things to them…" She devolved back into sobs and I pulled her into a tight hug.

"None of that matters Amy, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. Ever again." I said while tracing gentle circles along her back. "Anyone that tries will meet the business end of my Spirit Gun."

She choked and coughed. "Don't make any promises you can't keep."

"Don't plan to." I said and after a moment leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

She sobbed even louder as I held her close. I pitied anyone that dared, because I would rend apart Spirit World itself if it meant protecting her.

Koenma help anyone that tried.

---

Author's Notes:

That wraps up arc 4, there are two interludes to follow, one from Sophia's PoV, the other from Vicky's before Arc 5 gets rolling. The interludes are typed and ready, arc 5 however is a bit over half finished, and only hand written.

Between Fistful and Inheritance I've let my backlog dwindle to almost nothing. I'm hoping to get the handwritten chapters typed up before my backlog runs dry, and get the arc finished in general, but it isn't a fun arc. Amy's in need of a lot of healing from her ordeal and a lot of that just takes time. As a result, it has been just a bit depressing to work on and I haven't been in the headspace for it lately. I will do my best to keep this fic updating alongside Inheritance as I REALLY want to get to Canberra... Just be aware my muse just isn't there and I don't want to force it.

 

[Pendragoon]

February 18th, 2011

Four days. It had been four goddamn days since that shitshow kicked off by Heartbreaker. Insight had guessed he had had some disease that he needed Panacea to heal, hence him risking all that destruction just for a distraction. Sophia would have never guessed that Panacea was such a scary fucker, Heartbreaker obviously didn't and he reaped the consequences of that mistake. When she had been with the Wards, the other girl always came off as a subdued, depressed and timid healer. Not quite as bad as Hebert had been, but pretty damn close.

Sophia hadn't experienced a proper night's sleep since the asylum, the nightmares of what Panacea had done still haunted her. Sophia almost wished the bodies had been left behind, it was the whole not knowing that disturbed her so much. A corpse was easy, everybody being just straight up missing while leaving the clothes otherwise undisturbed? Scary as fuck.

Information on Class S threats were always locked down tighter than Armsmaster's ass, and now she understood why. Amy Dallon was almost certainly one such threat and, having seen the aftermath of her in action, she agreed that it shouldn't be public knowledge or it would risk mass panic that the world's greatest healer was so much more.

The debriefing with Insight afterwards revealed the true nightmare, she layed out in no uncertain terms the true danger that Amy was. She could have easily made something airborne that wouldn't have been noticed until it achieved global saturation, dooming humanity. That Hebert had brought her back from something like that, talked her down from dooming the world was almost worthy of respect. Almost.

She really couldn't think of Taylor as weak, not after everything that went down. Tuesday's events were already being compared to some of the worst acts of Parahuman violence in history. Taylor had been calculating and ruthless in every engagement, and when it came down to it, she hadn't hesitated to kill. That she had shrugged off a Master that rendered Sophia suicidal, as well as telling off members of the Triumvirate when they demanded she be handed over, and finally taking off after fucking Heartbreaker himself without a second thought…

Hebert was supposed to be weak, nothing but prey to be hunted by the true predators of the world. The image of Cherish's head bursting open, gore splattering across the inner hull came to the forefront of Sophia's thoughts almost unbidden once more. She was no stranger to death, Sophia had killed gang bangers and gone to school the next day as though nothing had happened.

She slapped her cheeks, driving the thoughts back off. Thankfully, the Boardwalk was reopening ahead of the weekend. She couldn't risk the increased crowds where someone would be more likely to recognize her. Last thing she wanted was to be spotted by a Ward out of costume. Sophia was just tired of being stuck in her apartment all week after such an adrenaline fueled day. She needed to get out and stretch her legs, even if she didn't end up busting any heads.

Hebert and her girlfriend had been cleared by the PRT as free of Master influences, and Panacea was on leave from school for as long as she needed after such a harrowing experience. PHO were going nuts over poor little PanPan being targeted. If only those fools knew the truth.

The reason Heartbreaker's name had been kept out of all official announcements, at least according to Insight, was to prevent any subliminal commands he'd left from triggering upon his death. Keeping Amy's slaughter of his entire entourage a secret was simply part of that, or so she claimed.

Insight had forbidden both her and Warlock from talking about what happened at the asylum, mostly because Hebert had threatened to destroy her completely if word got out. That Insight attempted to bargain for said silence in the first place was almost enough for Sophia to rethink that whole 'Insight is a Thinker' theory she had.

Insight would likely be furious when she heard Sophia was out in public, especially so soon after being threatened by the Triumvirate, but she was tired of being hidden away like a scared animal.

Fuck.

There was just so much to unpack about that day and she just wanted to put it out of her mind and eating breakfast at a greasy spoon diner seemed perfect for that. She just had to convince herself that was true. She found her way into a corner booth with a clear line of sight to the door as well as an easy route to the kitchen in case she needed to run.

The waitress was what you would expect of an early morning diner, probably a Merchant customer after dark, as were half the line cooks she could see. She really didn't care, she'd eaten at worse when she still lived at home. She was feeling hungry so she opted for their pothead special, three eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns all the way, and an oversized pancake.

The waitress had just left when someone walked right up to her table and took a seat without a word. Sophia's fist clenched around her coffee cup as she slipped her other hand down for the knife she had hidden.

"Relax, Stalker." A shockingly young sounding voice said. She wouldn't have been surprised if the boy hadn't even hit puberty yet. "Insight asked me to keep an eye on you."

"Who the fuck are you supposed to be?" Sophia had to ask because she couldn't see anyone that young working for the controlling bitch.

The boy sighed and reached out, laying a finger on her spoon. She watched as a flash of light was followed by her spoon briefly levitating before it returned to its place.

"No fucking way. No way in hell that a little shit like you is Warlock." Sophia said with a sneer. "Have your balls even dropped yet?"

The spoon snapped back up in the air and shot down, pausing handle first less than an inch from Sophia's hand. "I could always impale you with it if you need proof. Or…" His fist unclenched and a half dozen steel ball bearings levitated up. "The Cherish treatment is always an option."

Sophia could only blink at the deadpan delivery of such a blatant threat. "Point proven kid." She said, taking a sip of her coffee. "I just didn't expect you to be so young."

"You're barely a year older than me." Warlock said.

"Calm down, I get it. I got enough of that shit from Vista." She took another sip of her coffee, wishing her food wasn't taking so long. "So, am I going to keep calling you Warlock, or should I pretend I don't know your civilian name?"

Before he could answer, or give an excuse, the waitress returned with Sophia's order, taking a few minutes to hand it over and took Warlock's order as well and she poured him his own cup of coffee. A few moments after she left, Warlock spoke. "Castiel."

Sophia snorted. "Alright Cassie." She took no small amount of pleasure at how he flinched and stiffened. "Why does Insight think I need a babysitter?"

"Was that supposed to be a stupid question?" Cassie asked. A low growl rumbled from the back of Sophia's throat. "To be frank, you're a terrible person and deserve whatever comes your way. Hell, I'm surprised Taylor hasn't popped your skull yet given she's shown herself fully capable of doing so. That still pales in comparison to how lucky you were that Panacea was so out of it, otherwise being turned into goo would have been a mercy."

"You really think I'm going to take that from an Empire washout?" Sophia said with forced calm. "You haven't left your roots that far behind you with how often you slip."

Cassie barked out a sharp laugh. "Ooo, scathing. Yeah, I'm former Empire, such a shocking revelation. Leave it to one of the Empire's top recruiters to figure out."

"Hardee har." Sophia said, rolling her eyes. "Are you planning to follow me all day like we're on some kind of fucked up date?"

Pressing his buttons was proving to be quite amusing as he exaggerated a shiver of disgust. "As repulsive as your personality is, it would be fun to piss off the Empire shits."

"So, a leisurely stroll through downtown, maybe hit up the Eagle's Nest and start a bar fight?"

"Oh hell no." Cassie said with a chuckle. "I actually have a secret identity to care about, thank you."

"I've found there's also a certain freedom to not having to worry about hiding things." Sophia answered with a grin. "Just look at Hebert's morning spars with Collateral Damage."

"Amy's actually going to be joining them tomorrow, I'm curious how that will go." Cassie said. Sophia had to mask the shiver of fear she felt run down her spine at the idea of Panacea being back in the public eye. "I could join them as well, they've invited me, but I'd rather avoid my morning routine being a circus. Vicky can just fly away, so it works for her."

Sophia leveled a flat glare on Cassie. "So can you, asshole."

"With the right equipment, sure." Cassie said with a shrug. "Doesn't mean I want to always have my gear with me."

"You can fly without it. You kinda blew your Tinker cover on Tuesday." Sophia smirked as Cassie wilted, for as dangerous as he could be, he was still just a kid under all that bravado. "So, care to tell me who you really are or should I start guessing?"

"Provoking me won't get you out of being supervised." Cassie said, pausing to lick his lips. "You think you're clever enough, you know this city, figure it out."

"You act like it's difficult, but with how you hang out with Hebert and Panacea, how they were pissed with you after that secret meeting you had, you told them who you once were." He was squirming now, and the waitress had brought his food, giving him extra time to think up the worst scenarios. Once the waitress stepped away she decided to deliver the final blow. "Someone dies mysteriously, then a new Tinker shows up with a strangely similar power set. Even the Protectorate is stealthier with their rebrands, Rune."

Cassie paused with a piece of bacon halfway to his mouth and just stared at her for a moment before letting out a weary sigh. "Well, shit." Sophia had never felt so smug as she set about devouring her breakfast before it got cold.

---

"Damn, that might be the fastest derailment of that thread yet." Cassie noted, setting his own phone down.

Sophia looked up from her ice cream. True to his word, Cassie had stayed with her for the entire day but the part that irritated her was that it hadn't been nearly as unpleasant as she feared it would. He hadn't forced her to do anything, hadn't tried to talk her out of doing what she wanted, he was just there, making sure she stayed safe. It was an oddly pleasant feeling to have someone along for the ride that she could actually relate to.

At her raised eyebrow Cas spun his phone around for her to read the thread. She quickly fished her own phone out after the first video Insight had shared nearly had her in stitches over just how hopeless Glory Girl could be when it came to girls flirting with her. By the third video she couldn't help the snort that saw vanilla ice cream shoot from her nose and sent her into a coughing fit. Even her best death glare couldn't stop Cassie's laughter, but he still passed her a napkin.

"It wasn't that funny." Sophia grumbled, before another wave of coughing hit her.

"Oh, it definitely was." Cas said while wiping an actual goddamn tear from his eye. "I'll make sure to get the footage from Insight."

Sophia froze. "You've been recording?"

"Insight has me wearing a body cam at all times ever since the incident. It's a sensible Master Stranger precaution. You're probably wired as well and just don't know it."

"That fucking bitch." Sophia snarled, already fearing how Insight would edit the day's events and lord her perfect little 'date' over her. She'd probably send it to Specific just to get a new travesty of modern literature out of the pervert too. "I'm going to beat the piss out of her if I ever get the chance!"

"We just experienced one of the worst Master led attacks in history and you want to bitch about reasonable precautions?"

"If it means she gets blackmail material, fuck yes I'm gonna bitch."

Cassie shook his head, then his eyes went wide as a finger jumped to his ear. "You're sure? Shit. Sophia, grab your shit, someone called you in and the Protectorate is almost here."

Sophia looked down at her half eaten ice cream, not wanting to leave it unfinished. They were coming for her when she hadn't even done anything wrong, in her civilian identity no less. She just wanted to sit here, mind her own business, and eat this damned ice cream. It was a sick joke and she was sick and tired of running.

Cas was saying something but she was distracted by her work phone ringing, the contact image was Insight's nerdy picture that only the likes of that Veder dweeb would approve of. Reluctantly, she answered the call.

"Sophia, go." Insight ordered, thankfully the tinkertech prevented those around her from overhearing things that were better off unheard. "They brought half the damn roster for this. Clockblocker, Vista, Flechette on the ground. Miss Militia, Dauntless, and Velocity taking up support positions. They don't intend for you to walk away, civvies or no."

"I'm tired of running." Sophia said, quietly. "They treat me like I'm just another villain when I'm a fucking hero. Insight, Tuesday was all the proof I needed that this won't end, no matter what I do. It won't be enough for them."

"Yes, you're a hero." Insight said with what had to be a roll of her eyes. "Get Hebert to agree to drop all the charges and I might be able to start establishing that, but not yet, it's still too soon."

"She's right, Sophie." Cas said, earning a death glare for the nickname. "Either Clock will tag you and you'll wake up in restraints, or it turns into a running battle with Velocity and Dauntless hounding you. Insight is good at the art of the escape, but you shouldn't push your luck like this."

"I don't care."

"Better start planning the breakout now, Insight." Cas said, his eyes on the door. Sophia could see his fist wrapped tight around his ball bearings and she was taken aback. Was he actually considering fighting the Heroes to protect her? This wasn't anything like the situation where Hebert had stood up for her, it would be easier for him to just step away and let things happen, but he wasn't. Was he really willing to risk a villain label just to help her?

Sophia had no idea how to process those thoughts.

"You don't know how many resources it will take to arrange a breakout." Insight yelled over my phone. "Please, for the love of god, move your ass!"

"No." Sophia said. "I'm done running."

"Don't be an idiot." Insight practically begged. "You're too valuable to waste like this."

"If this works, I won't have to constantly look over my shoulder."

"And when it doesn't I'll be forced to burn resources, risk moles that took months to place, just to get you freed. That just means more charges for them to bring against you." Insight paused. "Time's up, good luck Sophia."

The line went dead the instant the bell chimed and three costumed people stepped into the ice cream parlor. She recognized Clockblocker and Vista right off, but the third was an unknown. That had to be Flechette. To their credit, the three of them seemed to be on nothing more than their standard PR route and were just stopping in for some ice cream like most would expect of the children. It was encouraged for the Wards to do things like this, it helped humanize them and distance them from the idea of what they really were. Soldiers fighting a war.

"Militia on the roof across the street on overwatch with Dauntless, Velocity one block out along the best escape route. Insight missed Assault and Battery as well, probably in civies then."

Sophia turned her attention back on Castiel, his eyes were distant as though his attention was elsewhere. It was exactly like Hebert had been when she singled out Cherish. Insight might have been feeding him the information but something was off about it. There was some other ability in play, one that multiple people shared. She knew Warlock hung out with Hebert and Glory Hole out of costume almost daily, unfortunately she was pulled out of her musing by all three Wards stepping up to her table, with Vista standing in the lead position.

"Sophia Hess, a.k.a. Shadow Stalker, you are under arrest." Vista spoke, firmly.

Her hands were relaxed beside her, ready to twist space into a funhouse mirror so Clockblocker could tag her. She'd seen them do it several times in the past. The pair were a frightening combination in the field, and Sophia just knew Vista was one tantrum away from being one of the most lethal capes in the city if they just gave her a weapon.

Sophia instead chose to ignore them by taking a bite of her ice cream first. She took her time to savor the richness of the flavor before answering them.

"I'd ask under what charges, but we all know it wouldn't matter. The Protectorate is still bitter they weren't able to arrest me under Tuesday's Truce, which I suppose is now broken thanks to you. Alexandria tried and failed to arrest me then, not Hookwolf, not Lung, she chose me. You can let your bosses know that Insight will be releasing that recording, but she's probably already one step ahead of me."

Sophia had to fight back a smirk at the way Flechette's jaw hung loosely, ever so slightly ajar. She returned to eating her melting ice cream. Silence reigned so she chose to continue her speech if they weren't going to play along.

"I'm not hurting anyone, I'm not in costume and I haven't done anything illegal since I left the Wards in fear of my life after my identity was leaked to the Nazis." She punctuated the final word with another bite.

"We didn't sell you out!" Vista said with vehemence, falling right into Sophia's trap. "We're here because you violated your probation."

Anger blossomed in Sophia's chest, but she had them. "Probation that was forced upon me. I was given exactly one choice, prison or the Wards all because I pinned a rapist to a wall and called it in. I caught him in the act, Vista. Do you have any idea what that's like to stumble upon an Empire asshole raping a girl barely older than you? I should have fucking killed him for it, but I did the right thing instead and was unmasked by the PRT for it."

She had to take a shaky breath to reign in her anger, but she was hardly done. She'd never told any of them this, not that she had been legally allowed to, all because of that damned probation. Nothing was stopping her now.

"They unmasked me without my consent, called in my Mother and her boyfriend, the man who caused my fucking trigger. He got to set the terms, how the fuck do you think that made me feel about the goddamn Wards?"

Sophia was panting by the end, with cold sweat rolling down her brow.

"Sophia." Castiel said, softly. The tenderness cutting through the haze of her thoughts. His hand held hers in a gentle embrace, but she was squeezing back like a vice. "It's alright, he isn't here, he can't hurt you anymore."

Sophia forced her own breathing to deepen and even out. She imposed a calm upon herself that she certainly didn't feel. What she did feel was Cas giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, his presence helping to drive the last dregs of Steven from her mind.

"Mom abandoned me, chose to stand by that shitstain at every turn rather than fight for her daughter. She trusted the government to handle me instead of being a parent. If you think I'm so fucked up, start with them. I told Piggot that the bastard caused my trigger, in exacting detail, and she still handed him all the power over my life.

"When I left the Wards I did my damndest to move beyond my past. I have a team now that actually tries to help me, even when I don't want to listen. I finally have the chance to be the hero I want to be."

"Sophia, you killed twelve people Tuesday." Clockblocker said. "We can't ignore that."

Of course they had attributed all of those deaths to her. "How many did Warlock kill? How about Esprit? Hell, how many has Hookwolf killed this week alone? The people I killed were combatants, not innocents. What about the people Hookwolf killed when he attacked my old apartments? Six innocents died, civilians were murdered because that bastard was trying to get to me through my family."

"You've been doing a lot of deflection for someone hiding behind a hostage." The purple clad cape, that had to be Flechette, said.

Sophia was about to shift her rant when Castiel began to laugh. The trio of heroes all turned to look at him, though she couldn't make out much of their expressions given the helmets and visors.

"You think I'm a hostage? No, I'm her babysitter." Castiel said with a shake of his head. "Please continue however, I'm sure the gangs would love another example of our glorious government sponsored heroes outing another of the Bay's independents."

The implication was clear, Cas had not only admitted he was a Cape, but that he was ready for a fight even in civies. Just to punctuate his point, Cas let a ball bearing roll across the table then pulled it back into his hand. A subtle show of power, but a show all the same that left no doubt as to his identity.

"Warlock?" Vista whispered in astonishment. Sophia really couldn't fault her reaction, finding out the badass Warlock was a prepubescent fourteen year old was proving to be a great source of amusement. It helped that he was tall for his age and the voice modulation did a good job of throwing off any estimates even further.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Castiel said with a smirk. "I'm just saying, you never know who might be a Cape when you target people in civies, it's why the rules exist after all."

As if to punctuate his point the parlor door swung open and Rachel Lindt stepped in with three of her dogs. Bitch's identity was public knowledge, but nobody really bothered her ever since she got a proper trial for the murder charges and she was cleared.

The dogs all had dopey grins on their faces and wagging tails as they approached the counter. An order to sit was given and all three didn't hesitate to obey as vanilla cones were swiftly ordered for the excited canines.

"I believe you made your point." Clockblocker said. "We'll withdraw for now since you're obviously prepared to drag civilians into this."

"We've done no such thing." Sophia said, irritated that he would even suggest such a thing after all the PRT had done to endanger the few people she cared about. "All we did was remind you why the rules exist."

Clockblocker's fist clenched, then he turned away and began to walk towards the door, much to Vista's sputtering indignation. She took no small amount of satisfaction in watching each of the three Wards turn and retreat from the parlor in defeat. Sophia leaned back into her seat with a contented sigh, she had stood her ground and was still free.

Castiel's phone began to ring no sooner than the Wards were out the door. He answered it and placed it on speaker.

"You insane bitch! I can't believe that worked." Insight exclaimed with an exasperated tone. "Could have done with less theatrics and giving the PRT information on your civilian identity though. While I can't deny the results, do be more careful in the future, Warlock."

Castiel laughed. "Hey, you did good with timing Bitch's arrival like that, it perfectly punctuated my point."

Insight was silent for a moment. "I thought that was you guys."

Sophia and Castiel shared a look then turned back to Rachel and her dogs. The German Shepherd was happily lapping away at his cone while Rachel scratched his ear with a contented smile.

---

Author's Notes:

One more Interlude to go, then the fic will be entering a hiatus until my muse can focus on this project again and deliver it at a quality that it deserves, especially for how much the action will be ramping up after the next arc.

 

[Pendragoon]

February 19th, 2011

There were few things Victoria Dallon enjoyed more than flying. Cutting through the air somewhere between eighty and a hundred with the wind blowing through her hair and her shield protecting her, she felt completely in her element.

Up in the sky, she was free.

In the wake of the Heartbreaker incident, which had been covered up by the PRT quite effectively, Vicky had moved back home to be with her father. Her mother had come out of M/S screening as a clear positive for Master influence and was undergoing mandatory daily therapy to work through it. Small mercies as she would likely have been too proud to seek help otherwise. Aunt Sarah, Uncle Neil and Crystal also tested positive for influence, though to a lesser degree. Regent had confirmed his sister's ability didn't leave permanent effects, but that wouldn't change that Vicky's family will always remember what had been said and felt while Cherish was influencing them. There is some damage that cannot be undone.

Regents debriefing had been recorded, with him detailing each of his siblings that had been spotted outside of Heartbreaker's territory over the last three months and the likelihood they were involved. Only three had been seen within the Bay according to Dragon, and aside from Cherish, no bodies had been found. Not that there would be any, not after what Amy had done.

Amy was quite clear that she wouldn't be moving back home, and Vicky couldn't blame her in the slightest. Cherish didn't create new feelings or fears, just took existing ones and played with them. At the range she tended to operate from and her trying to stay hidden, she would have chosen to manipulate existing feelings that were close to the surface.

Taylor's meeting with Mom had been less than a week after Cherish's earliest sighting in the Bay, so that mess could be blamed on the Master, but everything before that had far less excuse. She had many late night conversations with her sister since Taylor came into their lives and upended everything. The things Amy told her about her mother just made her want to hold her sister until the pain went away.

Carol might have been her mother but that didn't stop her from being a cold hearted bitch at times, even without the excuse of Master influence to fall back on.

Amy had scarcely left Taylor's side since the incident, having suffered the worst of it that day. She couldn't help but consider that most of her new friends now had body counts, as did her sister. It felt wrong for heroes to take lives, but those who attacked them all had kill orders in place, or were retroactively given them in light of the severity of the attacks.

Vicky shook her head and pulled herself out of those spiraling thoughts by actually spiraling through the air. It was why she soared through the night, nothing could clear her head quite like it. She only wished Amy could join her on such flights, the girl could use the relaxation.

A scream below snapped her out of her lazy loops as she leveled off and began to scan the streets. Vicky almost missed the young girl darting down an alley but she didn't miss the three skinheads in hot pursuit.

She powered into a dive, easily cracking one-twenty on approach. Normally she would feel a thrill at plummeting a thousand feet but all she felt was her rising anger. She watched as one skinhead shoved the girl down while another cut her pants away and get on top of her. It was then that Vicky slammed into the man at speed.

The knife wielding skinhead bounced off a dumpster with a sickening crunch as Vicky came to a dead stop in midair, glaring down at the first man to put his hands on the girl. Her aura pulsed in time with her heartbeat and she couldn't hide the smirk when the man pissed himself. Pity, it would be a shame if the would-be rapist got frostbite from such a thing.

"I don't suppose you would surrender?" Vicky asked, sweetly. She took great pleasure when one of them pulled a gun.

Vicky shot forward, the gun fired off once before her hand wrapped around the barrel and crushed it. A gentle palm strike to his chest laid him out flat, he didn't get back up. The final asshole with the pissy jeans had backed away, pushing himself as closely as he could get to the brick behind him.

She took her time stepping up to the man, then kneeled down right in front of him. He refused to look at her, trying to hide his face as he cowered before her like the sniveling racist that he was. The whimpers he let out were nothing to be pitied.

"Care to tell me why three racist shitheads were running down an alley like a bat out of hell?" The man just continued to shrink in on himself. "Fine, be like that."

Vicky grabbed the man by his shirt collar and shoved him into the wall hard enough that he crumbled to the ground.

Dusting her hands off with a smile Vicky pulled out her cell phone and began to dial emergency services for a pick up. It was as the phone rang that a flash of light from a passing car's headlights lit the alley and her heart nearly stopped. The first man she had body checked was sprawled out on the asphalt, a pool of blood beneath him.

"Fuck!" She exclaimed, cutting off the call the moment it connected. A quick check of his pulse showed it was weak, and he was barely breathing. "Fuck, Fuck!"

She thumbed through her contacts and found Amy's number, pressing call more out of habit than conscious thought. Amy had always come through for her before. Vicky was beginning to panic when the phone rang for a fourth, then a fifth time.

The call connected the moment before it would have gone to voicemail.

"Hello?" Taylor's voice asked ever so softly. "Do you have any idea how late it is?"

"Taylor!" Vicky did her best to not dwell on why Taylor was answering Amy's phone at 1 A.M. "It's an emergency, give Amy the phone!"

"She just fell asleep, so unless someone is dying-"

"I don't want to become a murderer!" Vicky yelled. 'Like you' echoed through her thoughts, unbidden and unwanted. "I tackled him off a girl, there's blood everywhere. Please, I don't have anyone else I can go to."

"Emergency services exist, Vicky." Taylor said with considerable disdain.

In the background, she could hear her sister stir while mumbling out. "Wha goin' on Tay?"

"Amy!" Vicky yelled. "I need your help!"

"No, you don't." Taylor grumbled.

An 'eep' from Amy suggested she had just rolled over and snuggled up with her sister with the intention of falling back asleep. Vicky was quick to snap a picture of the man and send to both Tay and Amy's phones. She could tell when it arrived by the sharp intakes of breath from the both of them.

"Send the address, we'll be there soon."

Relief flooded Vicky's entire being as she quickly sent the general area ping her phone allowed and settled in to wait. She found herself pacing the alley after zip cuffing the two whole men and ensuring they would be ready for pick up. All she could do was wait.

Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long as Taylor slammed into the asphalt with a deafening crack, nailing a three point landing with obvious practice. The ground beneath her had splintered from the sheer force of her arrival. Amy was only seconds behind, though her entry was feather lite by comparison as her feet set down beside Taylor.

Even in the gloom of the alley, the exhaustion on Amy's face was plain to see. Her gaze was unfocused, and she had deep bags under her eyes. What was unexpected however, was the arrival of Genkai in her cougar form.

"Ensure the man won't perish." Genkai instructed Amy who absently nodded. As Amy knelt over the man, with Taylor rubbing calming circles on her back, the cougar approached a now very nervous Vicky.

She wasn't quite sure why she felt intimidated by an oversized house cat with a red bandana, but Genkai managed to do just that.

"Your training begins tomorrow."

Vicky felt the blood drain from her face at the icy tone of Genkai's words. "What do you mean by training?" She asked carefully, wondering just how it would differ from her current regimen with Taylor.

"You're reckless and irresponsible with your strength. I had hoped sparring with Taylor would curb the worst of your tendencies, but it appears I was mistaken. You will be joining the others for their full training routine starting tomorrow at dawn. There will be no arguments, you will be punctual. Am I understood?"

Vicky looked over to where Taylor was helping Amy back to her feet. Her whole body was trembling as Taylor did her best to calm her sister. She couldn't help but notice the gloves Taylor was wearing, and how there was no accidental skin contact between them. The option was there if Amy wanted it, but it would require a conscious choice on her part to initiate it.

"Understood, Genkai."

---

Dawn came far too early in winter. Vicky hadn't slept at all, dreading what was to come to the point that she never relaxed. She was coming to regret that decision as a steel ball popped her shield like a water balloon once more.

"Focus, Victoria." Genkai's feline form ordered. "You only make this harder on yourself each time you allow your shield to reform."

"I can't help it." Vicky said between heavy breaths as sweat rolled off her. Taylor and Castiel were flanking her as they ran up the steep hill. Genkai was trailing behind them, setting the pace. "It's like I'm trying to keep my heart from beating. I can't maintain it forever."

"Try." Genkai instructed and Castiel popped her shield once more. "It's no different from any other training and will help you learn control regardless."

Vicky bit back a curse. She hadn't felt the burn of a workout in her muscles since she triggered. It wasn't something she missed by any means. Not that Amy seemed to mind the burn as she easily crested the hill ahead of the group.

Unlike before the Heartbreaker mess, Amy was joining them for their early morning jogs now. She was fully devoting herself to Genkai's rigorous instruction. Vicky had expected Amy to freeze up when it came to using her powers after such a traumatic experience, and she almost had, but here she was training even harder than before. Genkai was truly an amazing mentor for her, because if Vicky had those powers?

She'd never want to use them again after what she saw.

Amy was damn near showing off with how much weight was strapped to her. Vicky had watched her as she had packed actual lead bricks into her backpack. She had come so far from the girl she'd been at the start of the year, having shed the bit of flab and now put everyone to shame in gym class. It was to be expected though, when you managed to gain Brute and Mover ratings through nothing but hard work and force of will.

There were the occasional moments where Amy forgot to temper her strength, like the kickball incident two weeks back, or when she had snapped Cas' leg during their most recent spar. Taylor had rushed over to attend to her trembling girlfriend immediately.

No matter what either of them insisted on, it was clear to anyone with eyes that the two were in a relationship. That they refused to admit it to themselves or each other was just unfortunate. Didn't stop them from sharing a bed though, as she had discovered last night, not that she could fault them. Amy probably needed the comfort of someone close at hand to ward off the nightmares.

Vicky's control slipped and she felt her shield, and her strength, return only for Cas to pop it in almost the same instant. She let out a low growl at how defenseless she currently felt when she was robbed of her powers. It reminded her all too much of the day Amy had triggered, when she had been bleeding out on the cold sidewalk.

She was thrilled her sister had found someone that genuinely cared for her, and not just because she was the miracle healer Panacea, but because she was Amy. Taylor was there for the right reasons, and it filled Vicky with warmth that she might one day call Taylor family if things went well. Yet, at the same time Vicky felt… lonely.

Dean had finally managed to have that promised dinner with her two days prior. She fully expected him to ask if she would take him back, and even considered making the offer herself, but Dean surprised her. He wanted to maintain the separation they currently had, because he was tired of their constant cycle of breaking up and getting back together. He wasn't in the best of places and she could admit that she wasn't either.

He wanted to hold off until he was the man that she deserved in her life. He even laid out how he was shifting his focus from a business major to one of psychology with the intent of becoming a Parahuman therapist. It was a laudable goal, one that his power was uniquely suited towards.

She just wished that he hadn't been right. She needed to mature, she couldn't keep being a child playing superhero. Smashing the bad guys, and half the city in the process, all while wearing a glorified princess costume just wasn't who she wanted to be anymore. Glory Girl would need a rebrand after everything was settled.

Step one was learning to control herself. A passing villain had once dubbed her 'Collateral Damage Barbie' after a particularly destructive battle. It hadn't even been her fault that the chain reaction brought down Fortress Construction's new highrise in downtown. She still insisted that it was entirely on Fenja. PHO however, in keeping with the nature of the internet, fucking ran with it.

CDB became a running meme anytime she got into a fight where even the paint got chipped, even if she didn't get involved in the fight they still played it up. It didn't help that some of them were actually funny, even if they were mean spirited.

Spirits.

Vicky still couldn't see them like the others apparently could. Without her cougar body, Genkai was completely invisible to her. Ever since the Asylum however, she could swear she would occasionally see something out of the corner of her eye.

Genkai had spelled a few things out for her before they began this first exercise to help her learn to control her powers. Such as how she would be getting tortured… Trained. How she would be training each and every day going forward until she caught up with the others. She just wasn't clear on how long said training would persist.

That Taylor had offered up her old bed hadn't helped Vicky's nerves. Neither had Taylor's comment about how she knew Vicky, unlike her, did in fact like long slimy things. Payback truly was a bitch it seemed.

That line of thought looped back around to the teasing Insight had subjected her to in the group messages they set up after the Asylum. It was originally intended for Amy to always have someone to talk to since Insight was apparently a Noctis Cape, but it quickly became something else. Just a place for fun and carefree jokes and teasing.

The videos left little doubt that Vicky had some sapphic tendencies. It didn't give them a right to tease her so mercilessly over it however! Castiel kept sharing quotes from 'A Dallon Sandwich' that were close to driving Vicky to do something drastic to SpecificProtagonist. She'd found a lot of humor in it back in those early days, but now that she had these lingering questions about herself. It was all too much. Especially with the attention it was getting.

Even Legend had commented in the thread about how cute it was! Mister 'I can shoot literal rainbows' himself had given the fic his blessing in a way. That only inspired everyone to come out of the woodwork and soon it had international attention. How the hell had this become her life again?

Vicky could even admit the story was adorable at times, so long as she looked past how it shipped her alongside her adoptive sister. The fic always made sure to remind the readers that Amy had no blood relations to Vicky, still didn't stop it from being weird.

It also reminded her how Amy no longer lived at home, how even though she saw her daily, there were no more late night hang outs in their rooms where they talked about everything from homework to their romantic interests. The first time Vicky had caught Amy staring at Taylor's frankly unfair legs… She was happy to finally be able to bond with her sister over something that wasn't Cape related.

Vicky could even admit to herself that there was much to admire about Taylor, no incestious thoughts to be had there, but she couldn't even dream of doing that to Amy. It helped that Victoria Dallon wasn't one to share what was her's.

The pair were good for one another, two broken girls helping one another heal. Vicky refused to do anything that might risk what they had together. That didn't mean she couldn't look every so often though. Those workout pants were very nice.

Finally, the rest of the group reached the park where she and Taylor would conduct their morning spars. The crowds were smaller than usual, which wasn't a surprise after the events last week. Vicky couldn't help but wonder how many of those that made a habit of observing them had perished in the senseless chaos. It helped that the one who deserved it the most had his heart thoroughly broken that day.

Vicky collapsed onto the cool grass of the park as she panted for breath. Castiel didn't even try to hide his laughter, which only grew stronger when Vicky flipped him the bird. She didn't even care if it wound up on PHO later, that was a problem future Vicky could deal with. Current Vicky would continue to enjoy the cool embrace of the earth itself.

Murmurs in the crowd saw Vicky opening one of her eyes to observe what had them talking. Taylor and Amy had wrapped up their stretches and were squaring up for a match. Vicky forced herself upright, much to the displeasure of her aching muscles. Amy had been so secretive about the progress she was making, and it seemed she was finally done hiding. Vicky wasn't about to miss even a moment of this.

She was curious to see how someone who lacked Amy's upgrade package would fare against one who did possess it. By all metrics, Taylor should easily win this fight unless Amy was willing to reveal some of the more esoteric abilities her Spirit Energy offered. Taylor had her beat by every metric that mattered.

In a blink, Taylor was in Amy's face, fist lashing out. Amy neatly sidestepped and let the fist sail by. Amy then took hold of Tay's arm in the same moment, took all of the momentum and redirected into a sharp sudden spike into the frozen earth. A crash akin to thunder sounded across the park.

The echo of the thunder dissipated as the stunned crowd looked on in silence. Castiel however simply tsk'd as Amy jumped back a dozen feet from Taylor and took a ready stance. Taylor stood up slowly, taking the time to brush off the clumps of frozen earth from her green jacket.

Vicky couldn't help but stare at the manic grin that Taylor now wore. Mischief glimmered in those bright green eyes of hers, though Vicky could see the cobalt sparking behind that gaze. Taylor took a single step forward then vanished with a blast of displaced air and earth.

A strangled cry ripped free from Amy as she was launched skyward by an uppercut courtesy of Taylor's fist. The crowd gasped in shock, then surprise when rather than crashing back to earth, Amy twisted in mid air and landed on her feet.

There would be no further hiding her strength after that blow. Amy had clearly demonstrated enhanced abilities that would be the talk of PHO within minutes. Taylor simply grinned and waved for Amy to come to her, which her sister happily did with another thunderous crack.

"She's come a long way, hasn't she." Genkai said softly. "Although, I suppose that applies to both of them."

"I don't think I ever fully understood it." Vicky was forced to admit, then winced as Taylor was once again spiked into the frozen earth only to immediately erupt from the debris, fists swinging. "If these really are powers that can be learned, should Ames be broadcasting herself like this? This will attract the kind of attention that she's never been comfortable with."

"She wanted to send a message. That she wouldn't simply roll over just because someone came after her. That if anyone tried it again, she was strong enough to stop them herself."

"I think I understand." Vicky said as she continued to watch her sister fight. To see the smile on both of their faces. "Will I be able to do that? Even without my powers?"

"In time."

The words rang with a certainty to them that sent chills through Vicky. Vicky could see the enjoyment on the girls' faces. She knew that feeling of power well but they had such control. Her powers had only ever led her to being reckless, as if that's what her power was designed for. She didn't want to be Collateral Damage Barbie, she didn't want to hurt people through her own recklessness, she needed to learn these powers to do better.

She closed her eyes and began to push. Against her Aura. Against her shield. Pushed it down and away from her with more strength of will than she ever had before. She met a defiant resistance, one that screamed about how she wasn't safe, an almost palpable emotional response. Still, she pushed.

With a final strained effort, she fell through the resistance. Her shield and with it her strength were gone for the first time since she had triggered. She had done it by her effort alone. Vicky smiled, knowing that she finally had her off switch.

"Congratulations, Victoria." Genkai said in a tone that filled her with dread. "Now we can truly begin."

---

Author's Notes:

Tis the last chapter I have typed up at the moment. The fic is officially entering hiatus at this point. Inheritance has fully occupied my muse at the moment, and so long as that holds true, this story shall remain dormant. My apologies for that, I fully intend to return at some point and complete this fic, hopefully with renewed vigor and lessons learned to deliver something truly worth reading and that I enjoy writing.

 

[Pendragoon]

February 22nd, 2011

I was ejected from my bed forcefully as a shrill scream pierced the fog of my fading dream. Sheets tangled around me while I struggled to make sense of the world. I was in my room at home, the person in my bed ceased their screaming only to shift to wailing sobs. Amy was in my bed, she was crying. She had another nightmare.

I was back on my feet and crawling back onto my bed in an instant, pulling the disheveled brunette into a tight hug as her crying seemed to only grow worse.

"Shh, it's okay Amy, I'm right here." I whispered into her ear, while tracing soothing circles along her back. "Nobody will hurt you here, you are safe."

The girl in my arm shivered. "I keep seeing their faces. Their eyes…" Amy said between her wailing. "I unmade them. I ended their existence."

"Yes, you did." I answered. "Because of you they can't hurt anyone else ever again."

"How can you just say it like that? My power should be a Panacea yet I used it to kill. Thirty seven people Tay, three of which were children."

"Heartbreaker's children." I reminded her. "All of them were powerful Masters in their own right. You did the right thing, Amy. None of your friends will hold it against you."

"What if I hold it against me?" I held her tightly as she spoke. "Carol was right about me. I should just turn myself over to the Birdcage before I do something to someone I care about, something that I can't take back."

"If you did that, I'd break you out." I said as she sucked in a sharp breath. "I told you, I'm not going to give up on you. You mean far too much to me, and I wouldn't stand around doing nothing while one of my most important people was sent to a literal hell on earth."

"I don't deserve to have you in my life."

"Face it, you're stuck with me Ames." I glanced at my alarm clock and saw just how close it was to going off regardless. "Wanna surprise Dad with breakfast?"

I was grateful to see the ghost of a smile across her face.

I let Amy use the restroom first while I got started on breakfast. It wasn't anything fancy, but thanks to our training we tended to eat a lot. Scrambled eggs with sausage links and toast. Two dozen eggs met our mixer and were set to sizzling.

Amy came down and took over the prep work while I headed back upstairs to take care of my own needs. The cooked eggs and sausage were covered with cheese in a casserole dish and tossed into the oven, then it was off for our morning run and spar. We were keeping it light in the mornings where school would get in the way, so there was no spectacle and no Vicky. Genkai had her on a special program now that she was starting to tap into her own latent Spirit Energy.

I did not envy her.

The snakes on the other hand? Maybe a little.

We mixed up our routes, mostly to avoid the paparazzi that were having a field day that Amy had moved out of the Dallon home and into mine. Add in Carol's mandated therapy after being Mastered by Cherish? The media circus was a bit much, which is why I shouldn't have been surprised that they were getting creative with stalking us.

One person was jogging along the path we were on, and just as we came up alongside him, grabbed my arm. "Ms. Hebert, care to make a state—"

I slammed him to the ground and pinned his arm behind him until I heard it dislocate.

Let it be known, I hated vultures.

"Quit your bitching." I hissed. "You chose to attack an out cape in public, you can fucking deal with the consequences."

He looked up at Amy, hope sparkling in his eyes.

"I'm not healing you."

We left him there and continued our jog, placing a call to the police as we did.

I really hated Mondays.

---

It said something that the police were content to take a verbal statement rather than ask us to come in. Amy had put enough of them back together after gang attacks to earn more than a bit of good will, not to mention everyone knew she had stopped Heartbreaker. The Guild was even in the process of paying Amy his considerable bounty.

That didn't erase the trauma Amy endured thanks to him. Seriously, fuck Heartbreaker. If he wasn't already doomed to what amounted to eternal torment, I would ask for him to be brought back from the depths of hell and send him back myself. Slowly, and in pieces.

He deserved nothing less.

It was almost surreal that after all that, Amy wanted to return to school to finish out her year, but I understood the resolve she was showing. She refused to be seen as weak, she didn't want anyone to take her choices away from her like that stain on humanity had tried to do. It was her choice to kill him, and she accepted that it had to be done. She had killed people just as I had, we were both killers now no matter how we justified it.

We both knew that made the next time easier, we'd crossed the line once, doing it again would be simpler reasoning. Humanity was a fragile thing, something easy to lose sight of when you stood above others, or had something worth sacrificing for. We could justify anything in the name of an ideal or goal, and we'd crossed a line we could never take back.

Genkai was helping us as she could, between her council and history lessons. Her love, Toguro, was a bastard, but he did what he felt was necessary to never be weak again. Yusuke had been his challenge to that way of thinking, to see which path was right. In the end, Toguro accepted he had been wrong, he learned that lesson, that might doesn't always make right, even if it cost him his soul to learn that lesson. He did it so others might learn from him, and Yusuke had. I wanted to count myself among that number, others learned the hard lessons through experience, it was only right that those to come after heeded the lessons of those who walked before us.

Arcadia put Winslow to shame. I already knew this from my visits over the last month to meet up with Amy and Vicky, but there were clean halls, no obvious gang activity, hell, not even a clandestine drug deal in the bathroom according to my senses. The teachers were on point when things went bad, which was a rare thing. If homeschooling wasn't working out so well for me, I might have considered putting in a request to enroll next year.

It didn't matter, Amy was a senior and I was testing out for my GED in June, high school was a fleeting thing for both of us. I'd follow her to Brockton U if she wanted to attend, otherwise we would forge our own path.

It still surprised me that Arcadia didn't object to my shadowing Amy in the wake of Heartbreaker's attack on the school. The alternative was to pull her from school, and Arcadia likely didn't want to lose the clout of having one of the biggest names in Capes attending. That she often healed students when injured, especially on the sports teams? Yeah, they would be fools to let her go.

The teachers didn't even bother me as I did my own class work, my phone was granted access to the repeaters at all times in a similar way most of New Wave's was, Vicky had lost the privilege long before all the drama went down. It beat having to explain how my phone was seemingly Tinkertech for how it could bypass the faraday cage over the school. Still, I had a laptop paired to my phone and was blitzing through my schooling.

"Kinda jealous you're getting to graduate after only two years of high school."

I glanced over at Amy beside me, she was writing a short essay on the One Hundred Year War. "Says the girl that skipped second grade."

"High School is so awkward when you are normal, add powers onto that?"

I winced. Amy had triggered in public during her freshman year, when Vicky was almost killed in an attack by some two bit group. Add in her family already being unmasked, it would make things incredibly awkward.

"Not sure you want to go through what I did to escape high school." I said, softly.

Memories of the locker weren't pleasant, spending two days slowly being eaten while dying of hypothermia and dehydration? Absolute hell was one word for it. Arcadia wasn't that school, but it was close enough to dredge up the memories.

Amy fell silent, her essay forgotten as what she said hit her. I hated it, but we were both broken girls with heaps of trauma to work through. Hiding from it wouldn't do either of us any favors in the long run.

Still, Amy's trauma was fresher, raw. I'd tried to talk her into taking it easy for at least another week, but she wasn't having any of it. The nightmares hadn't stopped, but they weren't as frequent. All I could do was be there for her as she handled it in her own way.

"Vicky's picking up pizza." I said, attempting to lighten the mood. "Pity it takes so much energy to fly."

"Yeah…" She agreed, wistfully. "We'll get there eventually."

That we would. Genkai's training was never easy, but the results spoke for themselves. Two months and I could bench press a bus and survive massive explosions. Even less time and Amy was able to spawn forests at will. Castiel lacked our raw power but he could hold his own thanks to fine control of his energy in conjunction with his power. Vicky was able to see Genkai in her spirit form now at least, but she still hadn't managed anything resembling external control of her Spirit Energy. Sophia…

Well, Cas was putting her through the ringer if the recent picture of her broken nose was any indication. A simple message accompanied the photo.

'I warned her.'

It had been a good laugh before school, something that we both needed. Sophia was a monster, she had a hand in killing me. It irritated me to no end that not one of the trio had been brought to justice. Madison skirted out by latching onto Insight, Emma's dad claimed a psychotic break and got her into a psych ward instead, and Sophia had gone to ground until shit hit the fan and bizarrely ended up being one of the few to stand with me.

Sophia helped me get Amy back. Even if she might not have been needed in the end, she hadn't backed down in the face of Heartbreaker. Amy had saved herself, but she hadn't been in any condition to do much else. Who knows how far she might have slipped if we hadn't found her, or how far Heartbreaker's scheme might have gone if Sophia hadn't helped bring Uber down.

I didn't like it, but Sophia had stepped up when it counted. It didn't absolve her of what she did, but it was still something. Enough at least that I wasn't planning on chasing her down again to put in prison. That her association with Cas kept her close enough to keep an eye on her only helped, even if they were nominally in Insight's camp.

Something about her didn't sit well with me, and Cas agreed. She had her hands in too much, something told me Insight would be willing to do a great many things to accomplish her goals. Hiring my bullies was among them for whatever reason. She had to know that would only serve to push me away, so why bring them onboard if I was one of her recruitment targets?

I was missing something and it irritated me to no end.

"You're overthinking things again." Amy said, just as the lunch bell sounded. "Come on, greasy pizza will do us both some good."

"You can't unclog your own arteries." I teased, pinching her side.

"Nope." She said with a faint smile as she swatted my hand away. "What I can do is make a super plant that does it for me, and tastes like chocolate."

I froze in place. "No way."

She turned back and smiled. "Be good and I might even share."

I shook my head, chuckling to myself. "You are a cruel woman, you know that?"

She grimaced. "I know, but I don't want to be."

I flinched and pulled her into a hug. "You be whoever the fuck you want to be."

"And if I wanted to subjugate the world?" She whispered.

"Then I would be right by your side, helping you." I said, firmly, to her surprise. "If you felt it necessary, the world obviously deserves it. Now chin up, we have pizza to conquer first."

Her smile broke through again, "Sure thing, Tay."

I would do whatever was necessary to protect that smile.

---

Vicky swooped in with an armful of boxes loaded with cheesy goodness, the table cheered as she set down and began to distribute them. More than a few curious looks were directed at Amy and I as we took our seats.

More than that, I could sense other Parahumans at the table. Dean wasn't among them either, which meant other Wards were sitting with us. I recognized Dennis and Chris from prior visits to Arcadia, but the buff guy two seats down from them, Aegis, wasn't familiar otherwise.

Were they really that obvious about their identities and friendships? It was a wonder any identities remained secret in this city. I knew Amy could sense them too, whatever mental blocks had been restraining her powers were gone, blown away in her weakest moment. She could freely manipulate plants without burrowing them into her flesh, she could even fire her Spirit Energy.

Amy was one of the most dangerous people in the world, no question. She could end countries with a thought, fight back armies with her own power. I doubted even the Triumvirate could bring her down without casualties.

I knew I couldn't stop her if it came to that. I just didn't have it in me to hurt someone I cared so much about. She was there for me, prickly as she could be, a rock in the storm that was my life even as her own soul was adrift in turmoil. I would do everything in my power to protect her, even from herself.

Dean was watching Vicky from a few tables over, and seemed to be glowering at the rest of the Wards that had elected to sit at our table today. It was hard to turn down free pizza, and this was Amy's first day back since the Heartbreaker incident. They were worried about her, I could practically feel the concern wafting off their auras.

Dennis wasted no time digging into the pizza, practically cramming the entire slice into his mouth. We all sat there, watching with a bit of morbid curiosity if he would end up choking on the damn thing.

"What?" He asked, his mouth still stuffed.

"If you choke, I'm making Vicky Heimlich you and I won't heal you after." Amy said dryly, taking a few slices of cheese pizza as she did.

Whatever he tried to say was lost in an indecipherable mess of grunts that earned him no shortage of derision from the rest of the table. I couldn't deny that there wasn't a certain amount of macabre entertainment to the display. I did have to bite my tongue on a joke that might have outed him as a Ward though. There were a few of Vicky's friends at the table that weren't parahumans and I didn't want to risk it. There was far too much faith being left to the 'unwritten' rules for my tastes.

"As amusing as this is, I have to second the sentiment. Amy's still on a break and I'd rather not have to do the first aid necessary to keep someone alive after Vicky crushed their rib cage."

"Taylor, right?" Chris asked.

I nodded. "I also go by Esprit when I'm playing hero."

Aegis snorted. "Isn't your costume just a green domino mask?"

I grinned. "Basically. Ever since the fucking Empire outed me I just didn't see the point of having a proper costume, so I just grabbed a pack of green masks and called it a day. Besides, normal clothes are cheaper to replace than a costume."

Chris laughed. "It's kind of hilarious that PHO still hands out bans for posting your civilian name when you're so open about it."

"Not by choice." I grumbled. "I just don't see the point of trying to downplay it."

"The Empire is a blight on our city." Aegis said. "My family hasn't had an easy time of things."

"They won't be around much longer, Carlos." Vicky said. I was grateful for her saying his name because thinking of him as Aegis was likely to see me slipping up on his name. "With everything they've pulled over the years, they can't hide behind the rules for much longer."

"Easy for you to say." Dennis interjected now that his mouth wasn't stuffed more than the crust. "Say you manage to get rid of the Empire, all that does is invite Lung to take over, or someone else comes in. What's to prevent that?"

"The Protectorate." I said, coldly. "Kinda their job."

"Dennis may act the fool, but he has a point." Carlos said. "A gang war would be a disaster."

"So, you put them down." Amy said with surprising vehemence. "They chose to be villains, so treat them like fucking villains."

"You sound like you want the heroes to kill them." Chris muttered.

"Because I am." Amy snapped. "Groups like the Empire should have never been allowed to become entrenched. The Empire should have died the same day Fleur did."

"It isn't that simple." Dennis tried to say, but I cut him off.

"Why isn't it? The Empire attacked me with the intention of turning me into a sex slave. Look what happened with Rune when they failed. The rules only protect those with power, the villains, all because we need them to show up if an Endbringer attacks."

"That's a rather pessimistic outlook." Dennis said.

"Doesn't make it any less true though." Vicky said. "Just look at the Nine. You can't tell me that a sniper from a mile away couldn't have ended Jack Slash by now."

"Crawler and the Siberian both laugh off bullets." Dennis countered. "Hell, just last week the air force attempted an airstrike against them. The Siberian shrugged it off."

"Where did you hear about that?" I asked with a smirk.

Beside me, Amy was typing out a message to Insight, which I wasn't happy about, but the know it all had been helpful, so I was willing to play nice for now. He had likely seen some classified PRT file at a debriefing and I intended to have some fun at his expense.

A laughing emoji was followed by a 1 sec on Amy's phone before the video popped up. Before Dennis could find his words, Amy had the video playing.

"Huh, she can apply her invulnerability to those she touches." I said, watching the tinker tech recorded video.

We watched as Jack Slash was all smiles, dusting off Bonesaw's ruffled skirt when Amy abruptly stood, leaving her phone on the table as she hurried off. I grabbed it and moved to follow, reassuring Vicky as I did. Something had spooked her, it was obvious with how rigid her movements were as she hurried outside. Amy was barely two steps out the door before she threw up. I was at her side in an instant, a pale blue wafting off me as I traced gentle circles across her back.

"I'm just like her."

The words were a ghost of a whisper between retching sobs and dry heaves, but I heard them all the same. My arms were around her in what I hoped was a comforting hug, holding her tight as she descended into further fits and cried into my shoulder.

We stayed like that well after the bell sounded, the only noises were her sniffles and the occasional sob. I'd handed her a tissue and set her in my lap. Another bell sounded before she finally spoke.

"Carol once told me how Bonesaw could have been one of the greatest healers to walk the earth, but her selfishness drove her to become a monster. Carol made sure all I ever did was heal, and guilted me each and every time I tried to branch out." A choked chuckle followed at the pun, I let myself smile because it was a little humorous. "Early on, she always asked me if I was sure that I hadn't missed anything, that I hadn't made any mistakes… I couldn't take time to rest or relax, the guilt was always too much thanks to her."

"Oh Amy." I pulled her in tighter, tears now dripping off my own cheeks. "Carol was such an ass."

Amy snorted and I didn't even care that she shot snot all over me, I'd managed to get a laugh out of her.

"She really was."

---

Author's Notes:

Okay, so I originally said I wasn't going to restart this until I had Canberra finished... Well, I'm not that patient. Arc 5 is short, 4 chapters with all four clocking in around the length of a longer Inheritance chapter. (Which remains my primary focus) Also, whoops, forgot to toss this up over here.

 

[Pendragoon]

February 22nd, 2011

Once Amy had finally calmed down, we elected to head home rather than attend Amy's last class of the day. I'd been keeping both Vicky and the principal apprised of Amy's status to avoid any potential panic. The last thing we needed was for someone to call another manhunt, just because Amy needed some fresh air.

"Bus or scenic route?" I asked, as we made it to the street.

"Scenic route. I need to feel the wind in my hair."

Her Spirit Energy surged and before I could say anything, she was already in motion. My own energy answered and I joined her in the air. Racing across rooftops wasn't as freeing as flight, but it brought many of the same thrills. I let Amy set the pace and take the lead as we angled in the general direction of my home. We were barely a street away when Amy's aura flared hard and she accelerated in a burst of speed.

I didn't have time to adjust my own pace before I was landing in the front yard and looking up at a grinning Amy, who was seated on my porch and picking at her nails.

"What took you?" Amy asked casually, while I chuckled and shook my head. "You should know better than to keep a girl waiting."

I swept her off her feet into a hug as she let out an adorable squeak, I had to stamp down on the urge to kiss the girl in my arms. I couldn't help but think the feeling was mutual, given the way her eyes flicked down to my lips but I couldn't give into temptation. She sighed and pulled away, I let her.

I did my best to not let my disappointment show.

"You have a key." I said after a moment.

She patted her pocket as she turned back towards the door. "So I do."

We entered the house in a mutual melancholy, putting things away almost robotically as we went. I broke away from Amy to set up a veritable blanket fortress on the couch and put Princess Bride on for us to watch. Amy joined me a moment later with two heaping bowls of ice cream. We settled in and it didn't take long after the ice cream was depleted for the snuggle pile to claim Amy as its first victim.

She always seemed to be at peace when sleeping, none of her burdens there to weigh her down. The girl truly did have the weight of the world on her shoulders, and the power to cast the world into ruin on a whim. It made moments like this all the more precious.

I sat there, just enjoying the warmth of Amy's company while Wesley battled on the cliffside, content in the moment. I let my eyes drift closed for but a moment when I felt a gentle nudge on my shoulder. Dad was standing over me with a finger to his lips and a quick glance at the TV showed the movie had long since ended. Amy had both her arms coiled around my waist and was snoring gently.

"I brought pizza, but didn't want to wake either of you. I'm heading to bed, so I just wanted to say goodnight before I did."

I nodded vaguely and snuggled back up with Amy. "Thanks dad, have a good night."

He smiled. "You as well, both of you."

---

Surging Spirit Energy woke me from my slumber, my blanket falling aside as I jumped to my feet. My finger was glowing as I swept the room, looking for a threat. The last dregs of my sleep addled state were shaken off as I recognized the energy, Amy. I let out a sigh and relaxed, the sun was up and she was likely getting started on her meditations.

That was when I saw Dad in his recliner, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, "still a bit jumpy."

Dad's answering smile was almost painful to witness, the raw pity looking back at me hurt to see. It made sense though, even without Genkai's counsel I would have recognized that Amy and I both had severe PTSD from the Valentine's Day incident.

"I wish you girls didn't have such burdens to bear."

I sighed, a pained smile on my lips. "It comes with the territory, unfortunately."

A couple of stretches caused half my joints to pop as I tried to work through the awkward silence that fell over the room, then I retreated to the kitchen where half a pot of Amy's frankly ambrosial coffee was still steaming. I might have preferred tea personally, but this stuff was almost good enough to make a convert out of me.

Dad could never know how expensive it was, because he would refuse to drink another cup. I stepped out into the backyard which had been transformed into an alien jungle filled with exotic looking plants not found in nature. For anyone else, it was a nightmarish hellscape. For me, it was a comfort.

I found Amy in the center of the storm of calm, controlled Spirit Energy, which manifested as a gentle breeze to those without the senses to perceive it. I sat down across from her, adopting a lotus pose and keeping my own energy suppressed to avoid disturbing the grumpy bio-kinetic.

I nursed my coffee as Amy manipulated the jungle of plants around her. By now our neighbors were quite familiar with the sight, but those first few days had been rather entertaining as the neighbors called in reports of a rogue parahuman attacking the neighborhood. Miss Militia had taken to answering each call personally, if for no other reason than to talk with Amy and let her vent if needed.

Though, I was starting to get the impression that she had alternative motivations, given how often she pulled my dad into private conversations away from our prying eyes. I got the impression they knew each other from way back in the day, but I wasn't sure how I felt about it all. Dad likely knew her civilian identity, which Miss Militia hadn't revealed to either of us yet.

Given the PRT was fully aware that I could sense parahumans, I was honestly surprised we weren't being pressured to join the Wards by Calvert. Militia could have been an olive branch of sorts, but it didn't feel like that, something else was at play but all I could do was sit back and observe, until they felt comfortable telling Amy and I more.

Eventually, Amy's eyes fluttered open and I greeted her with a warm smile. "Good morning, beautiful. Coffee?" I held her favorite mug out to her and grinned as a vine snaked over to gingerly take it from me before passing it to her waiting hand.

"Delicious." She said, after taking a sip.

I took her contentment as a sign to begin my own morning meditation and I dug deep into the reserves at my disposal. Cobalt flared to life around me, dancing like flames in a storm, as I went far beyond the energy necessary to move freely in my Spirit Cuffs. It was like working with any muscle, really. A person's energy would stagnate and decay if not regularly exercised, and it needed to be carefully managed to avoid accidental injury from over-channeling through stagnant pathways.

Even a single night's sleep could be enough to cause issues if pushed too hard, too fast, something I learned the hard way early in my training. Morning meditations had quickly become an important part of my daily routine.

"Hey Tay," Amy asked, hesitantly. I let my aura relax and pulled it back into myself. "Can we blow off school today? I don't think I'm up for dealing with social shit today."

I chuckled at the bluntness of her statement. "That sounds lovely, anything in particular in mind?"

"Something away from the city and people would be preferable." She said, softly. "At least for the daylight hours."

"We could make a camping trip of it." I suggested. "Invite Vicky and Cas out for s'mores if you feel up to hanging out with our friends."

Amy sat in silence for a moment as she turned the idea around in her head. "Would Sophia also be invited?"

My Spirit Energy surged before I managed to clamp it down hard. "Do we have to?"

"No, but Cas is getting attached, and she was one of the few that stood beside you. She was one of a handful that even tried to lift a finger to help me… I don't want to write her off completely, even if she was a monster to you." Amy slammed her hand into the ground. "Fuck, I feel horrible for even suggesting this. The bitch fucking murdered you in cold blood, and yet…"

I pulled her into a hug as she trembled.

After a few moments Amy had calmed down, so I leaned back, letting myself fall onto a bed of moss. Amy chuckled as I pulled her down with me. She then sent a pulse of energy through the soil, causing it to pulsate in a massaging motion that felt amazing on my joints and muscles. Amy had a way of setting me at ease, even when I wanted to be righteously indignant.

It wasn't a pleasant subject to contemplate either, and it was something I had been avoiding dwelling on. Why had Sophia chosen to stand with us? She had every opportunity to slip away, to be anywhere else after I freed her. Why didn't she run?

Amy wasn't anything to her, and aside from some minor injuries after a skirmish with the Empire, Amy hadn't healed Sophia. No favors would have bound her by honor to help Amy, not that Sophia possessed any honor. In a school full of E88 and ABB, Sophia had seen me as an acceptable target.

Even with all of that, the bitch still thought herself a hero. There was no explaining that leap in logic. She was a bully and a thug, she had killed me, and yet… Sophia to me should be an enemy, but as Yusuke demonstrated with Hiei, sometimes an enemy can become one of your greatest friends. I didn't know if Sophia would ever become someone who could be a friend, and frankly I didn't want her to be, but I couldn't just dismiss the fact that she had been there for us.

This is why I hated people, we were so damn complicated.

"Let me call Koenma and see if I can get that chat with Yusuke moved up a bit before I give you an answer?"

She smiled softly. "Of course, Taylor."

---

"Taylor? I wasn't expecting your call until tomorrow evening." Koenma said, stamping away at a pile of documents on his desk. "As you can see, you caught me at a rather busy time."

"Sorry about that." I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "I was actually hoping to speak with Yusuke about something personal, but I don't have a direct line to him."

He paused in his stamping and regarded me. "You know these communications are risky, if whatever entity is threatening our realities happens to notice…"

"I am aware, I just… I'm at a loss on how to handle this, and I know for a fact that Yusuke was once in a similar predicament regarding Hiei."

"Ah, you speak of Miss Hess…" Koenma said, his paperwork now completely put aside. "Wise of you to seek counsel on this rather than simply react. It seems my approaching you was well warranted."

Koenma pulled a keyboard over to himself, typed for a few moments, and then my Spirit Phone pinged. Looking it over, I found my contact list had been updated with multiple new entries. "You're in luck, Yusuke is currently visiting his wife and daughter in the human world and actually has proper reception for once. Much of Demon World is still a reception dead zone, so many of the people you may wish to reach won't always be available."

"I'll be sure to text first." I said with a smile. "Thank you for your assistance."

Koenma shook his head. "No, thank you for not being a pain in my backside."

The call disconnected so I thumbed out a quick message to Yusuke's number and sent it off. I hadn't been expecting a reply for some time, so naturally I was surprised when my phone began to ring almost immediately.

I swiped the green icon and held the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Yo, is this Taylor?" Yusuke asked, his voice barely changed from the archives.

I couldn't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm, it was quite contagious. "You've got her."

"Sweet! I've been hoping to talk with Genkai's newest pupil ever since I heard about you from Koenma."

"Uh, the feeling's mutual?" I said, pausing awkwardly while I tried to think of what to say. "Sorry, not exactly a social butterfly here with new people and you've been a bit of a role model for me after seeing the archives."

"Aw hell, I wasn't exactly the best of role models back then." He said sheepishly.

"Still aren't." A woman's voice yelled from a distance.

"Dammit Keiko, no fair!"

"All is fair in love and war, Yusuke." She answered back.

His chuckling grew closer as he returned to the call. "Women, I will never understand what goes on in their heads."

I couldn't help but smirk. "Why? Because you lack the intelligence to form a coherent understanding of basic logic."

A sharp bark of feminine laughter could be heard in the distance as Yusuke groaned. "I deserved that. You mentioned you had something important you needed to talk to me about? If you're looking for a way to get Genkai to go easy on your training, I don't have much in the way of good news there."

It was my turn to laugh. "She's a drill sergeant from hell, but I wouldn't trade her instruction for the world. No, I had some questions about how you came to regard Hiei as a friend."

"Huh, gotta say, this wasn't the conversation I was expecting."

"I know, but I've got a similar situation on my hands and I needed someone to talk with about it."

"No, I get it, I just never expected to be regarded as the wise mentor type. Genkai would give me so much shit."

I glanced across the room at Amy, who had taken up occupancy on Dad's usual chair. Her legs draped over the armrest while her head bobbed to the beat of whatever song she was listening to. I sent a silent prayer that she couldn't hear me before I spoke.

"If it helps, I could send you pictures of the cougar she chose to possess while my gi— my friend Amy is giving her belly rubs."

"Sold! Ask away."

I was thankful he hadn't noticed my near slip, or if he had, that he elected to ignore it.

So, I explained the last few years of my life, from my mom's death, to Emma's sudden betrayal and Sophia's role in it. I told him of my first death, and judging by how quiet he had become and the lack of joking answers, he wasn't amused. Then I explained Sophia's flight from justice and allying with the shadow broker of Brockton Bay. Finally, I arrived at the day I had finally captured the bitch.

"I expected her to run at the first opportunity, but she didn't. She stayed with us, fought against those that threatened the city, then came with us when nobody else would to help us find Amy." I took a breath to steady myself. "I know it isn't quite the same but you've turned enemies into allies on numerous occasions, do you think I could do the same with Sophia or is it not worth the risk?"

The other end of the call was silent for long moments, the only indication I had that Yusuke was still there was his steady breathing. "What's your gut telling you?" He finally asked.

"Aside from wanting to immolate her in a torrent of raw Spirit Energy?" I countered. A snort was his answer, but he let me continue after gathering my thoughts. "Maybe it's my lack of a social circle, but for some asinine reason I want to give her a chance in the face of all logic."

"Then trust your gut and if it proves wrong, option one is always there." He said, matter of factly as if he wasn't talking about casually executing someone. "I'm all for giving someone a second chance, but there are points where that ship sails. Give her the one if you feel you should, but don't feel bad if she falls back on old ways. Sometimes it is better to keep your enemies closer after all."

"I was afraid you would say that." I said with a grumble, sliding back onto the couch. "Alright, one chance, that's all she gets."

"Hey, trust is never easy, especially when you've lived the life you have. I won't pretend to understand what that must have been like. In the end, it's up to her how she handles any opportunity you give her."

"Thanks Yusuke, I'm glad I called."

"Anytime Taylor. Tell grandma I said hi will ya?"

"Sure thing." I said with a grin. "You do the same for our favorite toddler next time you see him."

He laughed. "Will do, though I don't visit Spirit World nearly as often as Kurama. You take care, there's a battle coming and I want to see you alive and ready to fight at our side when the time comes."

"I plan to be there, and make no mistake, once the dust settles I want a spar with the legendary Yusuke Urameshi."

"You'll have it!" He declared. "See ya around."

The line went silent and I let myself melt into the cushions of the couch. It was the answer I had anticipated, but it still felt good to hear another opinion from someone who had lived through similar circumstances.

Amy finally noticed that I had finished my call and removed her headphones, the sound of heavy metal was loud enough that I doubted she heard a word I had said. At least that prayer had been answered.

"One chance." I muttered.

Amy nodded slowly. "You're going to invite her, then?"

"Yeah, she's earned that much." I said softly. "Tell Cas he can bring his girlfriend along."

Amy barked out a laugh before covering her mouth to muffle her continued giggles. "They would both try to flay you for that and you know it."

"Yup, which is why I intend to tease them endlessly. If I have to put up with Sophia, I'm not going to make it easy for her, and I'm going to enjoy every last second."

"Fair point," Amy said, "worst comes to worst, I can always use her to figure out the sinning tree."

I sat up and looked at Amy, her face had turned pale and I could see her hands trembling while her eyes grew distant. I was off the couch and pulling her into a tight hug in an instant. The dam broke and she wailed into my shoulder. We all responded to trauma differently, and her's was still fresh.

Not that I didn't have my own to deal with, I was using Amy's trauma as a way to put off dealing with my own which was hardly healthy. I could still remember in perfect clarity the expression on Cherish's face when Cas and I had vacated her head and chest of everything that mattered. She had looked me dead in the eye the instant before I fired my Spirit Gun.

The raw terror I had seen would likely stay with me for the rest of my life.

I was perfectly okay with that.

My friends and family were alive because I chose to act, nothing would make me regret my actions that day. If Amy hadn't killed Heartbreaker and his bastards, I would have done it in her stead. Their fates were sealed the moment they came to my city to threaten those I loved.

Genkai had come through for us both, offering closure in a way that no mortal could. She'd given us a recording of Heartbreaker's sentencing with Koenma as well as his being cast into hell itself for the next five thousand years. It had been satisfying to say the least, and I hoped that we would get the same opportunity when it was Kaiser's turn.

My phone began to ring, forcing me to untangle myself from Amy's vice grip to check the caller ID. Huh, why was dad calling before lunch? I swiped the icon and put it on speaker.

"Hey Dad, everything alright?"

A weary sigh was his answer. "Unfortunately not. We have a bit of a situation here and I was hoping you could swing by if for nothing else than to give the DWU a bit more weight with the local heroes."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "What happened?"

"A Medhall shipment was broken into when a small group of the remaining Merchants attacked. They didn't find what they expected."

Amy and I shared a look before she asked. "And what did they find, mister Hebert?"

"Guns." Dad said. "Enough for a small army."

'Or an Empire' was left unsaid.

---

Author's Note:

Tay has a chat with Yusuke about anime tropes involving redeeming villains and Danny has a problem.

 

[Pendragoon]

February 23rd, 2011

Amy and I landed in the dockyards less than ten minutes later. A five minute mile was once considered impressive, we had just cleared eight miles in the same time while barely drawing on our own reserves of Spirit Energy. We were growing in leaps and bounds, and yet I knew that we would have gotten our asses handed to us even against the Saint Beasts.

Even on the outskirts I could sense dozens of people gathered in a small area, and Amy must have sensed them too because she took off towards them without prompting. The scene we arrived at was a disaster, someone had dropped a shipping container all right, but that wasn't an insignificant amount of firearms spilled across the dockyards.

Sensing my dad, I leapt towards him. Skipping across two buildings, I launched myself into a series of flips, before landing two stories below in a classic three point landing that didn't even disturb the pebbles around me. Amy set herself down beside me two heartbeats later.

Several of the officers on site jumped and one even pulled their gun, but we kept our calm. The whispers spreading at the sight of Amy displaying Brute abilities had some wondering if she could still heal. The rumors on PHO were bad enough and it seemed the general population were picking up on them too. I wanted to smack each and every one of those fools for being more concerned that the local healer could still heal rather than worrying if she was alright.

About fifty yards away, Miss Militia was looking over at us, shaking her head. Whatever she had been doing was forgotten in her haste to deal with our arrival. She wasn't the only Cape in the area however, Flechette was with her as was another unfamiliar cape that I could sense in the distance, but didn't have a visual on just yet.

No sooner than Miss Militia had gotten within speaking distance, there was a pop and that distant energy was now right in front of us. Mouse Protector stood proud with her Roman styled armor and helm adorned with mouse ears. The sword at her side had seen combat too. For as cutesy as she liked to present herself, she was a formidable warrior.

"Taylor, we weren't expecting you." Miss Militia said.

"That would be my fault." Dad said, scooting past someone. "I called her to be safe, it wouldn't be the first time the Empire targeted her."

"We aren't sure this was the Empire." Miss Militia said, causing Amy to snort.

"Oh, it's definitely them, all right. I've seen enough of their shitty German guns turned into pretzels by Vicky to know them on sight."

Now that she mentioned it, they did look similar to the guns those who tried to kidnap me carried, but I was hardly an expert. Not that it mattered, Castiel had confirmed for us that the Empire and Medhall were one and the same. We just hadn't told Dad about that discovery… Whoops.

Well, we couldn't fix that right now, not with so many witnesses at least.

Acting on that information before we could decisively crush the Empire would be a fool's victory at best. Half of them would slip through the cracks and make their way back to their European allies to regroup. No, any action taken would only be done when I was sure we could crush them all in one fell stroke.

Castiel had the biggest grudge against them, and I would never dream to deny him his vengeance. Genkai had him training just as hard as the rest of us, and I wouldn't be surprised if she just rolled our training all together in the coming weeks.

Sophia was likely the reason she hadn't already done so. Cas insisted on helping the bitch train, which if the PHO rumors were anything to go on, he had a crush on the girl. Their little stunt in the ice cream shop hadn't been subtle and Genkai was evaluating her to see if the potential was there.

I was sincerely hoping she had none, because at present she couldn't hurt me and we both knew it. If that changed, she would probably go right back to her old ways and while I could fight now, it didn't stop those old fears from rearing their ugly heads.

My breath left me with the sharp impact of an elbow to my ribs. I turned my best glare upon the mousy brunette who returned it with a level stare. Oh, dad and Militia were both looking at me as well, had I been spacing out that badly? Based on Mouse's giggling, I probably was.

"Sorry," I muttered, "it's been a long week."

"That it has." Miss Militia answered. Her eyes seemed to portray sadness but that wouldn't be the first time I had noticed how expressive they could be. PR had to have grilled her on being photogenic since she had her mouth covered, making smiling for the camera a bit tricky. "Would I be correct in assuming you know something but are unable to act on it?"

"That would be an understatement." I said with a wince. "I know multiple Empire Capes' civilian identities thanks to an aspect of my powers."

Dad pulled back in surprise but Miss Militia gave me a look of solemn resignation.

"Well, that sounds like spoiled cheese smells." Mouse Protector said. "You must be itching to go after those vile fiends."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "They deserve death."

"Nobody deserves to die, Taylor." Miss Militia said, mournfully.

"Death comes for everyone, deserving or no." I countered. "Those who kill should be prepared to be killed and the Empire are killers."

"The rules are so damn stupid." Amy forcefully interjected. "They didn't protect Jess and they sure as hell haven't protected you, yet they shelter Kaiser."

"The situation isn't so cut and dry." Miss Militia stated.

"And why the hell not?" She snapped, her aura flaring enough to be felt but not seen. "The Empire only respects the rules for their own. I say it's time they learned the same lesson New Wave did when they stole me from Marquis."

Panic flared in the heroes present as well as my father. That fact wasn't common knowledge and Amy only knew of it thanks to Insight. I remained outwardly calm, but inside I was in full agreement. It was past time for this particular Empire to fall. The challenge was doing it in a way that didn't scare the piss out of everyone in the city.

Sadly that meant I couldn't punt Mr. Anders out of his highrise on national TV like we had daydreamed, cathartic as that might have been.

I looked around the dockyard at all the scattered weapons, Kaiser was directly involving his Empire in my family's livelihood. This had to stop soon, and I was rapidly running out of patience.

"Kaiser has overstepped by dragging my Dad into his dealings today, I can't let this go unanswered."

"You risk dragging the entire city into a gang war." Miss Militia warned.

My Spirit Energy flared to its very limits and in an instant I was face to face with the star spangled heroine. She startled back, but my hand lashed out and had her vest in a vice grip. Her power shifted, but this close she didn't have many options and most would barely tickle when I was pushing myself like this.

"What will it take then? The Protectorate continues to sit idle time and time again. They didn't lift a finger when the Empire attempted to sell me into slavery as a broodmare. The Protectorate didn't even investigate what happened to Rune. I know the truth, but do you? Continue to refuse to act and you forfeit the right to complain when we finally do."

Dad's hands were on my shoulders, trying to pull me back, but failing to even budge me. Mouse Protector's head was hung in shame and Flechette was hurrying over. Amy stepped between us, her own Spirit Energy dancing around her like crimson flames. Flechette pulled back in surprise, it was the first time Amy had shown her own aura in public like this.

Good. It was about time that people started to understand that we weren't to be fucked with. I refused to allow a repeat of what happened to Amy, and I certainly wasn't going to be a victim again. I would do whatever was necessary to keep my family safe.

"You would plunge the city into chaos." Miss Militia said, her shoulders drooping as she spoke.

"If it comes to that, there at least won't be enough of the Empire left to do anything once we're done with them. Anyone attempting to take advantage of that will meet a similar fate."

"Be careful, Taylor." Miss Militia said, her eyes pleading for me to understand. "You risk becoming the very monsters you fight."

"Better to risk it than to sit idle and ensure it." I said sharply, letting her go. "I refuse to remain complicit in the slow decay of my home, I refuse to continue to look the other way."

I didn't wait for a reply. To them, I vanished in a cloud of dust, with Amy only a step behind me. I didn't pay too much attention to the route we took across the rooftops, just letting the wind wash over my hair as we ran and jumped, climbing ever higher as we reached downtown. Soon enough we were atop a building with an amazing view of the skyline with the Bay in the background.

"You sure this is what you want to do?" Amy asked me, as I wrote out a note in sharpie. "You start this and there will be no backing down."

"Oh I'm sure." I said with a smirk, and took the note and tied it to a brick. "If you don't think we're ready, I'll hold off."

Amy gave me a flat look before taking the brick from my hand and turned back towards the nearest skyscraper. Medhall stood proud among the other highrises, and across from us we could see a meeting room where Mr. Anders was addressing a room full of well dressed individuals. To a casual observer it would appear to be a normal meeting, that is, if you could see through the reflective surface of the window.

That was an advantage of Genkai's sight technique, you could see beyond mortal limits and distances. Each individual in the room had the familiar disturbance in their Spirit Energy. It was a meeting of capes. It was an Empire meeting.

Amy's aura flared as her arm pulled back, and she hurled the brick with everything she had. I watched as it sailed half a mile through the sky in a perfect arc and smashed through the offending window. It took everything I had to not cackle at the panic the room erupted into as the brick slammed into Alabaster and lodged in his chest.

Kaiser and Hookwolf exploded into blades and Crusader's ghosts filled the room in short order but it soon became clear to them that no follow up attack was coming.

I couldn't help but whistle in appreciation. "Remind me to never piss you off."

Amy smirked. "Hopefully that's the lesson they take away from this as well."

I watched as Hookwolf ripped the brick free and Alabaster finally reset from the damage it had inflicted. Nobody seemed concerned about the shower of blood and gore as it too vanished with the reset. Kaiser visibly paled as he read the message then looked out the shattered window right at us. I couldn't fault him for not smiling for Insight's drone, nor over the message we had just delivered.

---

Kaiser, aka Max Anders:

Given our past interactions, this method of delivery felt suitable. I'm giving you twenty four hours to divest your interests and leave the city. No further negotiations will be offered, any further actions against me or those I care about will be met with lethal force.

Fuck off and die cold and alone.

~Esprit, aka Taylor Hebert

---

Author's Notes:

One more chapter in the arc to go then it's back onto hiatus for this story and Inheritance comes off it's brief hiatus with arc 4 written to completion. (Minus surprise last minute chapter that isn't delaying anything, I promise. First Friday of November was the goal there since late September. Since that is drafted I'm taking a break to gear up for arc 5 of Inheritance by writing an original story! Look for it on Royal Road in the coming months once I get it drafted and edited.

 

[Pendragoon]

February 23rd, 2011

I dumped another bunch of wood onto the pile beside our fire pit and paused to watch the others. Amy was squatting next to the hot coals, fiddling with and securing the griddle. Vicky was seasoning a plate full of steaks, slicing them up for skewers, while Castiel prepared the vegetables. A half dozen foil pouches rested at the edge of the coals, filled with bacon, butter, garlic, onions and potatoes. It wasn't any wonder why we needed so much firewood.

Genkai was lounging near the fire in her feline form, to maintain her presence while Sophia still struggled to perceive her spirit form. I could tell she enjoyed taking that form, especially with all the enhancements that Amy had given it. I knew the feeling well, considering I also enjoyed the benefits of similar enhancements.

Sophia meanwhile was sitting off to the side, watching me warily. We hadn't spoken since that particular Valentine's Day from hell, and it was causing a tension in the group that desperately needed to be aired. It's not like I was in any hurry, it was more her than me that was being isolated. She could stew a bit longer.

"You sure you're up to taking on the entire Empire?" Vicky asked, while preparing her skewers. "I hate the bastards as much as anyone here, but I don't think we can take them all in a straight fight."

"Scared, Dallon?" Sophia asked, with an amused smirk.

"Drop the bravado." Vicky bit back. "Unlike you, the rest of us can literally sense your apprehension and fear."

"We're all nervous." Castiel said, holding his hands in a placating gesture. "I know better than most what the Empire can do once you've poked the nest, but that being said, I also know just what we can bring to bear. Taylor and Amy are no joke, and the Empire is well aware of that."

"You're pretty dangerous yourself." Amy said, putting some of the meat down to start roasting. "We can keep preparing forever, and only grow stronger for it, but there comes a time where we just have to act. The Empire is too bold, we need to remind them that they don't own this city."

"A straight fight would mean too much collateral." I said, moving over to set up the tents. "We have two frontline fighters that could go blow for blow with their worst. One mid-range and two long range. It's nothing to sneeze at, but we aren't an army."

"Any engagement will need to be decisive." Genkai stated, sitting up on her haunches. "Urban fighting will mean potential civilian casualties as well. Picking your battles will be important, and retreating to regroup will be a necessary tactic."

"Fuck that!" Sophia exclaimed, standing up and stalking forward. "If we do this, we aren't running away like little bitches."

My Spirit Energy spiked and before anyone could blink, I had her wrist in my hand, having moved a dozen feet in an instant. Stunts like this might be taxing to pull off, but they made a certain impression on those around you. Sophia tried to pull away but I may as well have been an immovable object for all the good it did her. She turned to shadow, but my hand remained locked around her otherwise intangible form.

She shifted back into solidity, cursing about how my being able to restrain her was bullshit, and threw a sloppy punch at my face. I casually moved out of the way, releasing her wrist as I did, then took a step back into a fighting stance while she backpedaled.

"If you think you can handle yourself, Sophia, prove it."

Just to add insult to injury, I urged her to come at me like we were in some campy kung fu movie. Sophia snarled but took her own stance, more kickboxer than eastern martial artist. She was pissed and needed to be reminded that she wasn't as hot shit like she thought herself to be. Enjoying myself was just a bonus.

She lunged forward and shifted into shadow as she did so, letting her keep her momentum far better than otherwise. I threw a punch through her, knowing that it would hit only air. My energy needed to be in contact with her before she shifted for me to restrain her and we both knew it.

My foot slid out and I let my center drop just as she swung her arm through the air where my head had just been. My elbow came up at an angle, but I felt her shift back to shadow at the last second. I swiveled, letting my extended leg drag the ground and spun to face her, just as she shifted back and threw a punch at my face.

My wrist snapped, knocking her fist aside and sprung back to smack her jaw, only to find shadow once more. She was slippery in any form of combat, which was fine by me, I had the endurance to keep up with her all night.

"Kick her ass Tay!" Amy cheered.

A savage smile came to my lips at that, glad to see her this animated about something. Another quick exchange followed as her shadow melted across my counter.

"Just don't let the food burn, don't want to spoil dinner over the show."

Sophia didn't appreciate my bantering with the audience apparently, as a knife was pulled from somewhere and she swung it at me. Knowing what I did about her power, I dodged it. The last thing I wanted was for her to phase it just enough then reform it embedded in my arm or worse. It was the deadliest use of her power, and part of what made her so dangerous in her vigilante days.

"You may as well just give up, Sophia." I said, deflecting a few solid blows before ducking another shadowed knife strike. "I'm out of your weight class."

"You're a cocky bitch that needs to be brought down a peg." She countered, with a snarl. "You look down on me like I'm hot garbage, like you're better than me, all because you won the power lottery."

My aura burned like an inferno and I stopped holding anything back. The wind whipped off of me as the trees nearly bent over from the torrent of power I was unleashing. Amy, having seen this coming a mile off, had grown a mass of roots over the fire and food, shielding them from the worst of it. Sophia however, was trying to stand defiant, and failing.

I approached her slowly, casually, all the while she fought just to remain upright. "You don't get to say that. I had to die to get these powers. Two days. I spent two days in that locker slowly dying, it was agony, and you condemned me to it."

Sophia slipped and went tumbling until she smashed into a tree. Gripping her head, she glared defiantly at me. I let my aura ebb down, but didn't dissipate it fully.

"All that dying did for me was let me touch my Spirit Energy, everything else I gained through hard work and the guidance of a good teacher. Tell me Sophia, did I deserve to die? If your philosophy of 'might makes right' is so true, then tell me why I shouldn't just kill you right now?"

She glared up at me, that same snarl still on her face. "You think you're hot shit just because you kicked a bit of ass? I'll admit, you got over yourself pretty well, but you don't get to look down at me. You aren't better than me."

"You're right, I'm not better than you." I admitted. "I killed people, just like you. I've crossed that line, and it was so easy. People are fragile, and it would be as simple as breathing for me to just solve the problem in front of me with force." I raised my finger as it began to glow and aimed it at her. "Just a small flex of my energy, and it's over, a person is gone. That level of power is intoxicating, wouldn't you agree?"

"What are you getting at Hebert?"

I chuckled, lowering my finger as I did. "I'm saying, there is always a bigger fish. I'm stronger than you, but there are plenty who are stronger than me. If I went bad, there are those who would put me down. Amy and I have an agreement to that effect with each other, we would rather die than let ourselves become monsters. So tell me Sophia, why are you so eager to be seen as a monster?"

Sophia looked away, refusing to make eye contact, but I could see her aura waver. "I am not weak. It's not my fault people like to take that to mean I'm a monster."

"And that's okay. Nobody wants to feel weak, but the strong, the truly strong, don't need to target the weak to make themselves feel better. Be better than you were, strive for that each and every day. That is my advice to you, Sophia Hess." I stood up and walked back towards the fire pit. "So, who else is starving?"

---

The mood wasn't as jovial as it could have been, with Sophia reflecting on our spat while Castiel kept close to her. He offered a comforting presence to her roiling emotions, but left her space all the same. How those two had ended up bonding was a mystery for the ages.

I'd let them borrow my Spirit Phone to watch some of the archives, specifically to show her what was waiting in the dark. Needless to say, seeing some of the denizens of Demon World truly cut loose had been sobering for the pair.

It had taken a few hours of discussion while eating, but we had a battle plan for the following day. We would confront the Empire and bring them down in one fell swoop. Castiel and Sophia would bring Insight onboard in full and make sure her people were also ready. It was built around plausible deniability, with her releasing enough information to the media to link Medhall to the Empire, then we would begin by hitting a known Empire safe house.

Plans from there branched out based on the Empire's possible reactions, and while we were hesitant to bring Calvert into the plan, the local Protectorate and Wards were still assets that could be used. It was a plan for war, with enough contingencies to cover many of the possible problems. We just had to put it into action.

Sophia was sitting up in a tree nearby watching the stars while Castiel meditated next to her, floating atop a singular orb while a cluster of others rotated around him. Amy was running her hand over Genkai's fur while the spirit coached Vicky on a potential application of her Spirit Energy.

Vicky could turn her force field off, but she only did so for training purposes. Of more interest was how she could reinforce it with her budding Spirit Energy. Before, any shot of my Spirit Gun would ignore the shield, but when she reinforced it, the shield held. It was incredibly efficient too, especially compared to my own attempts to block energy blasts. Genkai was working with her now to see if there was anything Amy and I could learn from her new ability.

Meanwhile, I was balanced on a pinpoint over a now roaring bonfire. My Spirit Energy was keeping me balanced and aloft, while also shielding me from the heat and smoke. It was a mediation exercise, one she had put Yusuke through for days at a time, and unfortunately the results spoke for themselves.

It was also oddly calming, closing off outside stimulus while focusing inward. I could feel my energy pulsing through me, the gentle pull that was keeping me aloft, and the beat of my heart. My body sang in harmony with my Spirit Energy, which was how I noticed the anomaly. Deep within myself, in a space that I couldn't quite map to any one point in my body, I felt it.

A foreign source of power flowing into me.

It wasn't Spirit Energy or anything of the sort. I hadn't felt Demon Energy or Sacred Energy, but I was reasonably certain it was neither considering my body was slowly converting it into Spirit Energy.

It was the source of my regeneration.

I was tempted to break off my meditation and ask Genkai, but I was afraid if I lost focus it would take me hours to find it again. I hadn't made any headway in figuring it out since first noticing it so instead, I directed a small flow of Spirit Energy into the void within myself, feeling it out at the perimeter, exploring, testing boundaries, reaching out—

I saw stars. Deep, infinite stars that spanned the cosmos a million million times over and folded within themselves. The entire universe was laid bare, all of it within my grasp. It was beautiful, and so full of life. Countless species just waiting to be explored, to see what new ideas they could bring to the question and the never ending quest for the answer that was sought.

Billions of memories flashed through my mind, so far beyond my mortal comprehension. I felt my mind straining to understand the infinite depth to what I was experiencing. I was like an ant suddenly understanding the world as a human would, and already I dreaded the loss of it. Deeper and deeper I plunged, until I felt something reaching out to me, and I reached for it, for her. She was the Queen. She was the Administrator.

She saw something in me, in the powers I had gained. Her gaze was fixed upon me while she communicated with those connected to my friends. They were interested, they were obsessed over what we represented, and they didn't want to let go. One concept was their focus, and they felt they had finally discovered it.

[SOLUTION]

Pain spiked through my entire body as my focus slipped, spinning about as I was once more a mere mortal, and so did I. I fell into the flames, the spike I had used for balancing now occupied part of my stomach, but none of that mattered, for I had seen what the powers were, what they wanted. I had seen that they couldn't be allowed to achieve it, not as they currently were.

Then my world was agony as the burning heat registered. Amy had her hands on me in the matter of moments, trying to pull me out, but the spike was embedded deep in the ground. Castiel forced his power into it, and ripped it free at Amy's insistence. All of this was consciously known to me, but I couldn't focus on it.

I finally knew what the threat Koenma had warned us of was. It was monstrous and eldritch beyond human comprehension. A dark god in the emptiness of the void, and we had gained its attention. Worse, it was an amalgamation of millions of smaller beings that were no less infinitely complex. Fractal and without end.

I had one attached to me.

All Parahumans did. They gave us powers to run tests, to seek the innovation they lacked. To learn, to grow and explore, to improve and iterate. We were a lab test to them, not even as valuable as bacteria. In the end, when their experiments had run their course, we would be exterminated.

Just as they had done before to other countless, nigh infinite worlds.

It was so much worse than Koenma ever dared imagine, and he was right, it was centered on Earth Bet. It was their primary testing ground. There were scattered experiments in other dimensions, and a few others they had closed off access to completely, but this was their primary instance. Whatever was coming would start here, I just wish I knew what form it would take.

The Endbringers were related, I'd gotten that impression, but in what way? Were they the endgame? More and more showing up to push us to the brink to see what we would do in desperation? Was there more to it? What was Scion's role in everything? Was he there to give us hope in the face of these monsters? The name itself spoke of trying to inspire hope, and in the face of the end of all things, what role would he play?

A sharp pain blossomed across my cheek, shattering my focus.

"Taylor, snap out of it!" Amy yelled.

I blinked, seeing her worried face hovering over mine. Unfortunately, the understanding I had was slipping away, the comprehension fading. I had to articulate it somehow, explain in a way they could understand.

"I know what the threat is." I said, my voice scratching as I spoke. "It's slipping away, even now, but powers... Powers are the key! Where they come from, what they are, they're the threat!"

Amy shared a look with Genkai before turning back towards me. Amy pressed a hand to my throat, sending a warm pulse of energy into me. "Whatever that was, it sure as hell wasn't a human language. It shredded her throat to even speak it and gave me a headache."

Shit, that was a problem, I could understand them, but I couldn't articulate what I needed to. Instead I grabbed a stick and started to scratch images into the dirt, something they might understand. The canvas I had chosen was limited, but I had to hope that once the impression had faded, I could explain it better.

It was all I had to go on.

Even Sophia was looking on in concern as I drew the best impression of the infinite worm I had seen. How powers linked to their hosts. It was crude, but crude was what I needed, even as I slowly became human again.

"Can you understand me now?" I asked, being careful to articulate myself in what felt like English.

"Welcome back from crazy town." Sophia said. "You went full Tinker fugue on us there."

Looking at the images, I could vaguely recognize them on some level, but not like I knew I could have. Already it was beyond me and I felt lesser for it. I took my phone out and snapped a few pictures just to be safe and sent them off to Insight. She may have been a bitch, but she had a power that was better at this than I was…

It wouldn't work. Some deeper understanding told me this, but I couldn't nail it down even as my phone rang. Answering it, I was greeted by a yelling voice.

"The fuck are these and why are they giving me an aneurism?" Insight demanded.

Amy covered my mouth with a glare. "Taylor went into a seizure in the middle of her meditation, then experienced some sort of fugue state after. She drew those when we couldn't understand the inhuman wailings that came from her mouth."

"Fuck, just what the hell did you manage to piss off this time?"

"Something beyond us." I muttered. "I can't remember anything else, it's all a mess in my head and is still slipping away."

"Just relax Taylor, we'll figure this out." Amy muttered, pulling my head into her lap and forcing me to unwind with her power.

"We won't…" I muttered, feeling my body falling towards slumber, no doubt Amy's intervention.

I felt the world floating away, drifting on a tranquil sea, only the infernal siren to disturb me… Siren? My eyes flitted open, finding myself in a sleeping bag under the stars. The fire had been reassembled and the others were gathered around it, staring at their phones with haunted expressions. My own phone continued to wail, prompting me to reach for it with a groan.

I was met by an automated emergency alert and I felt the last vestiges of sleep fall away while I read and reread the warning.

EMERGENCY BROADCAST

SIMURGH DESCENDING

CANBERRA AUSTRALIA

What followed was an address near the PRT building that was no doubt the rally point for any volunteers. Sharing a glance with everyone present, it seemed we had a decision to make, and only a limited time to make it.

It was a primal urging, as though every instinct I had was in full agreement. Deep down I knew, whatever the Simurgh was plotting, we needed to be there.

We couldn't sit this one out.

---

Author's Notes:

Sorry to end off here, but if I didn't post this now it would likely be almost a year before I posted anything as I'm not keen on working on two Endbringer fights simultaneously. So, here's a bone for me to toss you all, while I won't be posting anything SDT related this week, this has been the end to the dry spell of content on my end! That's right, Inheritance returns next Friday with Arc 4, completed and ready to go! 80k+ words of content across 12ish weeks of uploads, I hope you all enjoy.

Also, be on the lookout for my first original fiction over on Royal Road in the coming months, if you're a fan of audacious, gay criminals... Well, I hope you enjoy what I have in the oven. Once NaNoWriMo wraps up I'll be back to working on arc 5 of Inheritance, then I'll shift focus back to getting this little gem ready for the public.