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The Ramblings Of A Mat Man: AKA The Obligatory Snippets Thread

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The Hero Of The Bay: A Zelda Crossover
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    • I've started a new job where I am working nights and sleep deprived Matt thought that this would be a fantastic idea and I have been forced to indulge him by writing this prologue. You may praise or curse him as you see fit... He's still better than drunk Matt.
    Elsewhere

    Under ordinary circumstances the years, decades even centuries in between incarnations were times of peace for the spirit of the hero. He and Zelda would rest in the sacred realm and enjoy a respite from the war against evil.

    "HYAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

    The man who was once Link and one day would be him again let out a wordless roar as his blade cleaved into the constantly shifting form of his foe. As his gaze took in the sight of the army he still had to fight and beyond that the true enemy, a massive form that looked somewhat like a large worm it kept shedding shards of itself that were trying to make their way to Hyrule. Link didn't know what the creature hoped to accomplish by doing this but Zelda had decreed it couldn't be allowed and as always, her word was enough for him.

    It had been many lifetimes since Link had been in a battle like this and it was almost a beautiful sight to watch him fight the countless hordes with the myriad of weapons at his disposal. His blade flashed and his bow sang as his enemies fell, his bombs and his mighty war hammers added their din to the song of battle. All the mighty weapons and amazing skills acquired from lifetime upon lifetime of fighting and killing and dying in the service of the good was certainly a sight to behold but it wouldn't have been enough. Link was being attacked from all sides and though he slew many it wasn't enough eventually despite his best efforts the forces of the enemy started to get past him. But they didn't get far and as a song played on the wind and a golden light enveloped the area Link allowed himself to smile. Zelda had succeeded the Triforce would expel these creatures from the sacred realm and the beast would never threaten his people. The shards of the creature whatever it was were flung back into itself and the creature quit the field. It didn't flee at least not in any way that Link could perceive. It just suddenly wasn't there anymore.

    After looking around and confirming for himself that there were no more enemies to fight Link sheathed his sword, slung his shield across his back and allowed himself to rest. He sat heavily upon the ground and leaned back with his eyes closed. He was just on the verge of falling asleep when his peace was stolen from him.

    "Link."

    A worried but still lovely voice called to him. Slowly Link opened a single eye and took in the sight of his princess approaching him with a depressingly familiar look of worry on her face. With a sigh Link rose to his feet and ran over to meet her. Ready for whatever the next adventure would be.

    Through some mechanism Link had never quite been able to understand despite Zelda's regular attempts to teach him she had brought them to a small pool through which they could view the outside realms. As she swirled her hands through the water, she showed Link world after world after world where there had been no one to scare off the creatures. Where those shards were free to be sent down to the world and infect the peoples of these worlds for some unknown purpose. As he saw world after world be infiltrated Link did something rather out of character for him.

    "So, this wasn't just an attack on Hyrule."

    He murmured in a voice rough from disuse. Zelda arched an eyebrow at him and gave him a quick, tight smile.

    "No, it looks like they target multiple worlds all at once." She began slowly. "I think that's why they chose to flee rather than trying to stand against the power of the Triforce. It would have been too much trouble for too little gain."

    Link's eyes widened and he asked a question he had never contemplated before.

    "Do you think they could have overpowered the Triforce?"

    Zelda shook her head.

    "No, the Triforce would have destroyed them eventually. I'm just not sure I would have survived the attempt." She fell silent as she continued to swirl her hands through the mystic waters searching for something. "I don't know the specifics but there's one world that is going to be key, one world that shall decide the fate of many."

    On the back of her hand a triangle began to glow and as if in answer one lit up on Link's hand as well. A victorious grin came to Zelda's face and the image in the pool came to a rest on one specific world.

    "This world is the turning point, it's here that the fate of all world's Hyrule included shall be decided." Zelda intoned gravely. "We can't aid them directly if we leave this realm our own foes will take advantage. But we can give them aid both you and I are going to search through this world and find a… I suppose the closest term would be apprentice, someone who could be worthy of the Triforce and perhaps they'll be able to turn the tide."

    She reached out and grasped Link's hand in hers. As she pulled him towards her, she gazed into his eyes hopefully.

    "This can only succeed if you work alongside me."

    She trailed off leaving her question unsaid. Link as was his custom answered without answering. He squeezed her hand and gave her a smile before turning to the pool and beginning his search. Zelda looked at him fondly before leaving him to his work.

    He searched throughout this world seeking for someone to pass on his legacy to. It was going to be odd being the mentor instead of the hero but he would give it his best effort. There were options, this world had heroes of its own already. There was a master of arms who he considered for a while but there was a strain of pride in his heart that if left unchecked could be his undoing. In other parts of the world there were three who were strong and proud and who had even started to try fighting the true enemy, but when they'd gazed into the abyss they had blinked. No, not them if they gained access to the sacred power, they might become a greater monster than any he'd ever fought.

    It was with a heavy heart that he realized he would have to chose someone who wasn't already a hero. He would have to take someone who could lead a peaceful life and tear that chance away from them as had been done to him so often. With a heavy heart he continued his search and found himself coming to a stop as he found a young woman. He saw that fate already had her in its clutches. He saw that she would play a decisive role in what was to come but whether she would be a force for good or ill remained to be seen. She could be a hero, a villain, both or neither it was all up to her.

    The girl had courage in her own way. She was alone, marginalized and isolated with no friends, family that wasn't any more and no allies to speak of but she refused to break. The hero who had once been the outcast of the Kokiri decided to take a chance and offer this Taylor Hebert a new opportunity. In the city of Brockton Bay the body of Taylor Hebert slept but something else left.
    This might be fun and I love me some Zelda... Damn it tired Matt you got me.
     
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    • The Hero Of The Bay: Chapter 1
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    • Muse: You know what would be fun?
    Me: Working on my existing projects, people seemed to really like green -
    Muse: STARTING SOMETHING TOTALLY NEW!!!!!
    Me: I don't know
    Muse: You'll get to use really pretentious fantasy-esque language.
    Me: Damn it you son of a bitch I'm in

    Timeline it's October of 2010 roughly two months before the locker incident would have taken place in canon. Cool? Cool.
    Someplace Else

    Taylor slowly trudged her way through the forest she'd somehow found herself in with all the grace of a city kid forced into the wilderness. Upon her initial arrival she had found herself awestruck by the beauty of the lush greenery around her. She had happily explored this magical place with joy in her heart as the troubles and tribulations back in her day-to-day life suddenly seemed trivial. Yes, when she had first arrived here this lovely forest had seemed to her a paradise. That is how she had felt when she had first arrived.

    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep." Taylor muttered to herself darkly. "I don't know what woods Frost was thinking of cause it sure wasn't these ones! And I know I've seen that rock before!"

    Taylor ended her rant with a yell as she aggressively pointed at a rock that looked tauntingly familiar. To her growing irritation (bordering on rage) the stone sat unmoved in the face of her righteous fury. With a huff Taylor sat herself down next to the rock and decided to try making friends with her new adversary.

    "Don't suppose you can tell me the way out of here?" Taylor idly asked as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The rock remained defiantly silent. "Didn't think so."

    As she was drifting off to sleep half in the hope that perhaps that would cause her to wake up in her own bed and half for lack of anything else to do. It was then that she heard something just on the edge of her hearing. There was a cheerful song being played somewhere deeper in the forest and where there was music, there would be a musician. With a wild grin on her face Taylor leapt to her feet and began charging through the woods, always following the tune. She got turned around once or twice and found herself back at the rock where her chase had started. But Taylor continued undaunted and as the tune grew louder and closer the scenery started changing. The trees grew less dense and at last Taylor burst out from under the tree cover and saw the mysterious musician.

    He was a young man maybe a few years older than her clad in a roughly hewn green tunic over a white undershirt and pants. Two brown belts which matched the riding boots and gloves he wore. One of them cinched the tunic around his waist and the other was strapped across his chest and allowed him too sling a sword and shield across his back. Completing the ensemble was a long green hat.

    His eyes were closed and he appeared perfectly at peace as he calmly played the light blue ocarina in his hands. Slowly Taylor made her way over to him but before she could say a word his eyes flew open and his blue eyes gazed at her with a fierce intensity. He looked her up and down and in the face of his judgement Taylor felt herself begin to blush.

    "Good, you've arrived." The stranger stated.

    Taylor stared at him in confusion.

    "Were you waiting for me here?" Taylor asked.

    "Yes."

    "Why and where is here, exactly?" she demanded.

    The stranger contemplated her question for a moment before answering.

    "I called you here to test you and thus far you've passed. You managed to make your way to me despite the best efforts of the forest to mislead you."

    "I knew that rock was up to something."

    Taylor muttered to herself. The man in green stared at her incredulously for a moment before doing something that surprised her. He laughed and as he laughed the server expression fell from his face, the intensity and severity that seemed to so define him left his body as he gave himself over to mirth. To her own surprise Taylor found herself swept up in his joy and the laughter of the two of them rang out through the forest which in its own way seemed to be happy for its inhabitants. Sadly, the merriment came to an end as it so often does and as the man wiped a tear from his eye, he attempted to get things back on track.

    "Thank you Taylor I needed a good laugh I suppose." He looked her over briefly and gave a small smile as he watched her try to contain the last of her giggles. "Perhaps we both did. Now as to where we are that's a bit hard to answer. I suppose the lost woods is as good a name as any. Now would you walk with me?"

    With that said he turned and walked back towards the trees without awaiting an answer. With barely a second of hesitation Taylor ran in front of him and flung out her arms as if to stop him.

    "Hey I'm not going anywhere with you until you give me some straight answers!" She shouted getting in his face. "Who are you? Why am I here?"

    The man looked at her once again and finally he answered her.

    "I am the Goddesses champion eternal. As for a name Link shall suffice. You are here because your home is in grave danger and you are being given the opportunity to save it." It was then that he suddenly looked impossibly old and very, very sad. "I am sorry."

    Taylor's eyes grew wide as she stared at him in confusion. He was offering her a dream she'd kept in a hidden part of her heart since childhood and yet… He made it sound like something terrible.

    "Why." She began slowly. "Why are you sorry?"

    He reached out and laid on her shoulders before locking his eyes on hers. It was at that moment Taylor truly began to understand the phrase that the eyes are the windows to the soul.

    "I'm sorry because I am offering you the chance to become someone great. A hero." Link gave her a small sad smile. "And being a hero always costs you."

    A grave silence fell between them and Taylor felt the weight of this moment fall down on her finally.

    "My home is in danger?" She asked in a small voice.

    "Yes." Link answered.

    "If I do this then I can save it?"

    "Possibly."

    "I don't really have a choice, do I?" Taylor said sealing her fate.

    "No, no I'm afraid you don't."

    Taylor nodded to herself for a moment and finally asked the last question that mattered.

    "So, what first?"

    The man looked her up and down. He took notice of her skinny arms so lacking in muscle, he noted the small pot belly that Taylor had watched grow with a detached frustration and nodded to himself.

    "A run should do."

    With that said the once and future hero ran into the trees with Taylor following behind him.

    Time moved oddly in the lost woods, for the life of her Taylor couldn't tell you how long she had been training with the hero who had become her master. All she knew that by this point she had become rather strong and as she blocked a mighty strike with her shield, she was rather grateful for that fact. Moving with a fluid grace that would have once been impossible for her she rolled behind the wolf like creature that was her enemy and with a single slash of her training blade, the beast was slain.

    "You're as prepared as training can make you."

    Link called out from behind her, Taylor whirled around in surprise as her teacher had been gone for quite a while. He made his way into the clearing that had become their training ground with a cloth satchel slung over his shoulder.

    "It's time for you to go home Taylor." Link said. "But first it's time I tell you what I know of the threat before you.

    Taylor bounced on the balls of her feel bursting with excited energy. She had been training for all this time with only the vaguest of notions of what she was preparing for and now it was time for it all to come together. Link recognizing his pupil's excitement patted her on the shoulders in an attempt to calm her down.

    "Now I don't know much. Whoever or whatever the enemy is they've managed to obfuscate our view of your world. All we know is that they are infecting people somehow, changing them towards their own ends."

    Taylor arched an eyebrow at Link and scoffed while shaking her head.

    "That's it. Someone, somewhere is doing the bad thing. Now go stop them."

    "I've done more with less." The hero chuckled. "Fight evil, defend the innocent and in my experiences things will typically come together."

    "If you say so." Taylor said doubtfully before shaking her head and forcing a smile back on her face. "Anyways when are we leaving?"

    "You'll be leaving shortly." Link replied with regret in his voice. "However, I won't be accompanying you. It'll soon be time for Link to once more go to battle in service of his princess." He must have noticed the concern growing on Taylor's face because he quickly continued speaking.

    "You won't be alone I promise you that, I've arranged assistance for you and I'm certain this won't be our final meeting."

    "If you say so." Taylor replied glumly. Link gave her a warm smile and drew her into a hug.

    "Always remember Taylor, a courageous heart can conquer any evil." He whispered into her ear. "A strong sword arm helps of course. Now it's time for you to AWAKEN."

    Brockton Bay

    Taylor bolted upright in her bed and found herself breathing hard as she tried to come down from the oddly real feeling dream that she had been having.

    "No more Tolkein before bed." She muttered to herself as she rolled herself out of the cocoon of blankets she had built around herself in her slumber and prepared to face another day.

    However, she was brought to a halt when she got a glimpse of herself in the mirror above her dresser. For the vast majority of her life Taylor had been a rather sedentary individual perfectly content to stay still and read her books while the rest of the children ran and played. This had led to two major developments for her. First while it wasn't reflected in her grades due to the actions of certain parties, Taylor had a rather sharp and agile mind. Second and much more readily apparent this lifestyle had led to Taylor being in possession of a rather stick like figure. This was no longer the case however, her once spindly and twig like arms had been replaced by lean, corded muscle. Unable to resist the urge Taylor flexed and watched her newly formed muscles bulge.

    "That's weird." Taylor murmured as she repeatedly flexed and allowed a grin to come across her face. "Think I like it though."

    As she gathered up her clothes for the day the smile never left her face. On her way out the door she nearly dropped the shirt she had chosen for the day. A forest green sweater.

    Despite the odd start to her morning the rest of her day mostly proceeded as normal for Taylor. Classes were boring as she sat and listed to teachers who would rather be anywhere else read from the textbook (while they silently contemplated where it all went wrong), she endured a few petty insults from Emma's hangers on. The only real difference was that a few of the boys who had up until been happy to ignore her would give her a considering once over as they passed her in the halls. Taylor was mulling over how she felt about this development as she made her way into the cafeteria and came face to face with a sadly familiar sight.

    Every now and then new families would be forced to move into Brockton Bay and sadly at times due to layout of the school system the children of these families would be forced to enter the hallowed halls of Winslow High School. When this would happen Emma, Sophia and Madison would (and of course this is entirely out of the kindness of their hearts) take time out of their day to impress upon the new arrivals the social hierarchy they were entering into. As Taylor was carrying her government provided slop which claimed to be a nutritionally balanced meal, she idly noticed that such an occurrence was taking place.

    Emma, Sophia and Madison had surrounded the newest member of the happy student body and were informing her of all the ways she failed to be a worthwhile human being. They tore down her appearance, her fashion sense and were in the process of making some rather unkind remarks about her family. There was a time when Taylor would have just meekly tried to work her way around them and not be noticed. All the while fighting off the guilt that she felt at feeling grateful that someone other than her was being targeted. But in some strange way she still didn't quite understand and wasn't sure she'd believed things had changed and a single thought consumed her. All that's needed is the courage to stand up and be seen.

    Taylor marched over to the group filled with determination and righteous anger. As soon as she arrived she slammed her tray down on the table as hard she could and the noise drew all eyes to her.

    "Back off all of you."

    Taylor demanded glaring daggers at Emma who just smirked in response. As she looked at Taylor her eyes were filled with disdain and not for the first time Taylor had to wonder what happened to change Emma so drastically (or worse was she always like this). In the background the unfortunate victim was trying to suppress her tears. Taylor didn't have time to give her much attention though as Sophia charged forward and shoved her. Taylor leaned back slightly with the force of the push but she remained standing firm.

    "You got a problem, Hebert?" Sophia snarled in her face.

    "I think I do."

    Taylor replied with a nasty grin on her face before shoving Sophia as hard as she could. Sophia who was so used to a Taylor who just stood there and endured whatever she would dish out had not been prepared for any kind of physical resistance. As she stumbled backwards and nearly fell over when she hit the bench of the lunch table, her skin flushed with either embarrassment or anger or perhaps some combination both. She stared at Taylor with her eyes full of rage and all present thought it would come to blows but something truly amazing happened.

    "Girls do we have a problem here?"

    A teacher at Winslow High School actually attempted to enforce discipline. A man in a cheap suit who Taylor only vaguely recognized had made his way over to them at some point during the confrontation and was awaiting an answer. Emma looked perfectly calm as if she was perfectly secure in the knowledge that consequences were something that happened to other people. Madison didn't seem to be on the same page as her and was clearly trying to suppress her nerves while Sophia, Sophia just looked angry.

    "No problem." Sophia spat out.

    Seeming to accept that answer the teacher turned toward Taylor and arched an eyebrow in question.

    "No problems here." Taylor replied. "Just a friendly little chat about being nice to the new students."

    The teacher nodded sharply and left seemingly content in doing the bare minimum. The trio made their exit afterwards but not before Sophia made sure to get the last word.

    "We're not done here Hebert."

    She gritted out between her teeth as she left. In response Taylor merely gave the loveliest smile that she could and with a wave of her fingers bid them adieu. With that Taylor was left alone with the girl who had started this all. As she looked her over, Taylor took notice of the girls rather nice long red hair and the tentative but quite pretty smile on her face and understood why Emma Barnes had felt she needed to be brought to heel. Taylor gave her a smile of her own and turned to leave.

    As she was walking down the hallway outside of the cafeteria towards her next class Taylor was feeling rather pleased with herself.

    "Hey, listen." A voice called out from behind her. Taylor turned and found that the red head from the cafeteria was running up to her. "Thank you so much. I was just minding my own business and they came up to me and just started in on me and I didn't know what to do and just thank you."

    The girls excited babbling came to an end as she finally found herself directly in front of Taylor and offered her hand in an oddly formal gesture.

    "I'm Melanie by the way. Nice to meet you."

    Taylor looked at her and returned the handshake.

    "Taylor, glad I could help."

    With that Taylor had exhausted her socialization repertoire and the two stood in a slightly awkward silence. In a desperate attempt to keep the most pleasant conversation she'd had in this school going Taylor said the first thing that came to mind.

    "So, what's with the horses?"

    Taylor gestured to the horses decorating the white blouse the girl was wearing. Thankfully Melanie seemed to find Taylor's social ineptitude charming and with a giggle gave a twirl as she showed off her ensemble.

    "It's cute right?" She replied. "My Grandpa raises horses and I just never stopped loving them I guess."

    "Well, it looks nice." Taylor said awkwardly and silence descended once again until Melanie decided to break this time.

    "Hey, what class do you have next?"

    Taylor consulted her memory for a moment before responding.

    "World affairs with Gladly." Taylor replied. "Why?" Melanie beamed and was bouncing on her toes as she dug out her schedule from her bag.

    "Me too, would you mind showing me where the classroom is?"

    Taylor nodded and started down the hallway with Melanie following after clearly content to carry on the bulk of the conversation by herself.

    The rest of her afternoon at school had been actually fun Taylor reflected as she waved goodbye to Melanie in the parking lot before making her way home. It had been so long since she'd had a friend there that she'd forgotten just how pleasant it could be to walk down a hallway just idly talking about nothing. As she walked into her house being sure to avoid the rotten first step, she allowed herself to hope that maybe things would start to get better. This feeling continued unabated as she worked through her homework and only ended when at around six in the evening, she made her way downstairs to scrounge up dinner.

    The fridge was empty and so was the freezer. A frantic search through the cupboards only offered the nearly empty box of cereal that Taylor had ate for breakfast that morning. Taylor contemplated her empty wallet for a moment before making her way out into the chilly October night.

    "Way to go Dad." Taylor muttered darkly as she made the long trek towards her father's home away from home the Dockworkers Association. "Love it when you forget to get the groceries. Really just makes my freaking day."

    Taylor continued muttering to herself through the bus ride and never noticed the way some of the other passengers seemed… Shall we say concerned when they looked at the teenage girl talking to herself in public. Still, it did do its job of allowing her to work out her anger before seeing the last remnant of her family.

    Taylor sighed to herself as she walked in the doors of the Dockworkers Association before fixing a smile on her face. No point in making anyone wonder if things were all right at the Hebert house. She exchanged hello's with some of the older faces who recognized her and made her way through the halls unimpeded, until she finally found herself at a door decorated with a name plate Danny Hebert. Taylor quickly knocked and waited (im)patiently.

    "Come in." A familiar voice called out.

    As Taylor made her way inside Danny looked up from his desk to see who was interrupting him and made a double take at the sight of her. His little out looked different than he remembered and a part of him wondered if maybe he was spending too much time as Danny Hebert head of hiring and not enough time as Danny Hebert, father to a daughter.

    "Taylor, what uh, what are you doing here?" Danny stammered as he stood up from his desk and made to offer Taylor a hug which Taylor dutifully returned.

    "I went for food, there is no food and I have no money." Taylor replied

    Danny's eyes narrowed in confusion. He'd planned to get groceries yesterday after wrapping up a little work… But then a little work turned into a lot of work and next thing he knew it was two in the morning and he was falling into bed… Shit.

    "Oh lord, Taylor I'm sorry." Danny began as he rubbed a hand over his jaw in a nervous tic. He quickly pulled a couple bills out of his wallet and handed them to Taylor.

    "There that should cover a pizza and some garlic fingers or something. Just order delivery for tonight. I should be wrapped up here in an hour or two and I'll get groceries on the way home."

    Taylor began to make her leave grateful that at the very least her Dad felt bad about the whole thing.

    "Wait, it's getting late I don't want you taking the bus home." Danny stated as he got up and leaned out the doorway. "HEY KURT!!!!" He bellowed.

    "Yeah?" A voice echoed from down the hallway.

    "You and Lacey are heading out now, right?"

    "We damn well better be!" A female voice butted in.

    "Great, can you two give Taylor a lift home?"

    "Sure thing, but why is Taylor here boss?" Kurt yelled back.

    "Just a family thing." Taylor yelled out. "Thanks Kurt."

    Suddenly Kurt popped his head in the door and shortly after Lacey followed suit.

    "No problem, Taylor. Now come on let's get out of here."

    As the three of them made their way to the reception area and from there the exit Taylor caught Kurt and Lacey up on the events of her life. At least a sanitized version of her life.

    "So, school's you know not the best but I'm getting through it." Taylor said trying to sound cheerful. "Think I made friends with the new girl so that's nice."

    "That's good to hear Tay." Lacey said in a voice full of affection. "Just remember if you need anything and you don't feel like you can talk to Danny for whatever reason me and Kurt are just a call away."

    Taylor nodded and grinned at the two of them until the rather nice moment was interrupted by the front doors of the association being flung open and a half dozen men clad in the black and red of the Empire 88 marched in. Following behind was a man clad in armour and carrying a large spear.

    Taylor grabbed on to both Kurt and Lacey's wrists and stopped them from ending up somewhere they could be seen. She quickly hurried them down the hall to a closet and pushed them in.

    "You two hide in here." Taylor whispered frantically. "There's a pay phone outside, I'm going to sneak out and call the cops. You stay here."

    "Taylor, Taylor. We have cellphones." Kurt frantically whispered before the door closed and the sound of Taylor's feet moving down the hall could be faintly heard.

    Thankfully Taylor remained unseen as she made her way to the women's washroom on the east side of the building. The washroom with a window just large enough for a teenage girl to sneak out of if she so desired.

    Taylor, will you fight?

    A familiar voice echoed in her head and as Taylor caught her reflection in the mirror, she saw that her eyes were glowing green.

    "It was real?" Taylor whispered.

    Yes, will you fight?

    Link's voice echoed in her head again and this time it sounded more demanding.

    "Yes, I'll fight."

    Then fight with courage.

    "I will."

    Taylor answered as she closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes once more, she saw herself clad in nearly identical garb to the one that Link had always worn. The only difference was that under the hat was a simple cloth mask the same forest green as her tunic covering the upper part of her face. Slung across her back was a sword and shield. As she unsheathed the weapons, she saw that while the shield was a perfect match for the one carried by Link the sword was not. It was clearly well forged and perfectly balanced for her but it was much less ornate than the one Link carried with a simple cross guard and the only adornment was a single green jewel at the point where the hilt and the cross guard met.

    "Okay." Taylor muttered to herself as she idly swung the sword in circles. "Now how am I going to fight them without killing them and getting the Protectorate on my-"

    "Don't worry Mistress."

    A friendly voice said from behind her. With a start Taylor turned and found herself looking at what seemed to be a child made out of glowing green light. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the jewel in her blade was glowing as well.

    "Master Link and Mistress Zelda considered that you may not wish to kill those you battle." The for lack of a better word girl continued on. "Thanks to the magic of the sword if you don't wish to cause them physical harm you won't. They'll feel the pain of your blows but there'll be no physical damage."

    The girl ended her spiel and looked at Taylor with a happy smile.

    "Okay, that's good I guess." Taylor said hesitantly. "Who are you?"

    "I am the spirit of your blade here to guide and aid you." The girl replied giving a small curtsy. "My name is Saria. Now I believe we have work to do."

    Warren had been part of the Empire 88 for a while now and he'd grown accustomed to how the shakedowns were supposed to go. They march in with one of the capes, the cape goes off to threaten the important people while Warren and the rest of the rank and file keep an eye on things. This late at night there was only a skeleton crew at the Dockworkers Association and they had all been gathered up into the central reception area. Warren stifled a yawn as he checked his watch. It'd been about 15 minutes since Crusader had gone to tell Hebert what was what so any minute now he should march out and say that from now on the Docks were property of the Empire and the DWA would be paying a tithe (whatever that was).

    Yes sir, things had been going precisely how Warren had expected until suddenly they weren't. Some chick dressed in a Peter Pan looking outfit ran out from freaking nowhere and cut down four of his guys with a god damn sword. With a curse he and Will the other member who had been next to him raised up their guns and opened fire. Almost as if she knew what they were going to do before they did it, the girl in green raised a shield and blocked their gun fire. She charged at them and before Warren knew what had happened she had reached Will. The girl stabbed him in the gut and Will fell to the floor. Without missing a beat the swordswoman spun around and slashed Warren through the leg. Strangely he didn't see any blood but he lost all feeling in his leg and collapsed. As he was falling to the ground, she sliced her blade through his neck and it was then that everything went black. The last thing he saw was the girl start to run off down the hall towards the office of Hebert.

    Danny glared at the idiot in armour and desperately wished he had his old friend Mr. Crowbar handy. Sadly, he did not and so he was forced to listen to the racist idiot rant while he pointed a spear at his face.

    "This doesn't have to be unpleasant."

    Crusader wheedled sounding like all the ambulance chasers Danny had been forced to make nice with at one of Alan's parties.

    "The Empire exists to help real hard-working Americans like you. All you need to do is get rid of some of your." Crusader winced briefly before continuing. "Undesirable elements and pay a small tithe every month and things can continue on as they were. Even better you'll find that having the Empire in your corner could be very helpful for a man in your position."

    Danny idly noted the implications of that statement and resolved to try to follow up on it if he got out of here alive before giving the only answer he was capable of giving.

    "You tell Kaiser." He growled. "That I wouldn't kiss Marquis's ring and I'll be damned if I kiss his."

    Crusader frowned sadly and shook his head disappointedly.

    "There's only two ways this goes I'm afraid." He replied simply oozing faux sincerity. "Either you join us, or you fall before us."

    He reared back to stab Danny with his spear, Danny closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable all the while hoping that Taylor would be okay. A second passed and then another and another and another. Finally, Danny opened his eyes and found that in front of him was a green clad warrior holding back Crusader's spear with her shield.

    "How about a third option?" The girl growled before slicing Crusader's spear in two with her sword.

    Taylor glared daggers at Crusader who simply stood there gaping at his broken spear before turning and running for the door. With a muttered curse Taylor ran after him in pursuit, as she entered the hall, she found three of Crusader's ghosts waiting for her. With a wordless roar of rage, she slashed out at the first one and found that her sword caused it to dissipate.

    'It appears that your sword can destroy his apparitions Mistress.'

    Saria's voice sounded in her head clear as a bell.

    'Good to know.'

    Taylor thought back before quickly lashing out with two more slices destroying the other two. She continued running after Crusader destroying his ghosts along the way. As she entered the reception area, she saw him near the door attempting to flee outside. Somehow running even faster than she had been Taylor charged after him. As she got closer, she made a mighty leap into the air. As she was landing she caught Crusader with a vicious overhead slash and he fell to the ground unconscious.

    Breathing heavily Taylor looked up and found herself face to face with two of the more prevalent members of the Protectorate East North East. Assault and Battery stood in the entrance way looking at her bemusedly.

    "Now who might you be?"
    So let's see Taylor has met Link and taken the first steps towards her new destiny. She's met a pretty red headed horse girl. Why yes I did ship Link and Malon in Ocarina of Time why do you ask? Finally, she has faced down her first foe and emerged victorious
     
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    • The Hero Of The Bay: Chapter 2
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    • This story is fun for me, I get to have a bit more of a positive portrayal of the Protectorate/PRT than I do in Wildcat. Going for more of a we're outnumbered and outgunned but damn it we're still fighting kind of a thing.
    Okay now then it's a long weekend. Going to try to knock out a chapter of Winslow 9 and the PHO interlude on Wildcat that has had me banging my head against the wall.
    The Docks.

    Battery was unique among her colleagues in the Protectorate as she actually rather enjoyed when her patrols would take her through the docks. While nowhere in Brockton Bay could really be described as quiet, the heavy hitters tended to stay away from the Docks. While Kaiser and Lung would both try to spin it as concern for the well-being of the people they claimed there. The reality of it was there just wasn't a lot in the docks for them to care about. A few small family businesses and the Dockworkers association scrounging up whatever work they could find. Every now and then the Empire or the ABB would send out a token force to go collect some protection money and show the flag but it was never something the Protectorate couldn't handle. So, on the days when it was hard to feel like they were winning (so most days ending in Y) it felt good to be out here with her husband taking down criminals as they ran across them.

    "Console for Protectorate Patrol 2786."

    Battery was pulled out of her idle musings by a familiarly professional voice coming through her earpiece. Beside her Assault touched his hand to his ear and beat her to the punch.

    "2786 here, what's the story boss?"

    An exasperated sigh was the only response from console and Battery could only shake her head at her husband's satisfied grin and try to suppress her own laughter before speaking.

    "What Assault means is what do you need Armsmaster?"

    "The BBPD have just alerted us to an incident at the headquarters of the Dockworkers Association. Crusader and a small contingent of unpowered gang members arrived and began making threats. You're the closest parahuman forces we have in the area. I need you to intervene, the police should be on the scene shortly."

    Assault and Battery immediately began running towards the direction of the long squat building that served as the headquarters for the dockworkers.

    "What do we know?"

    Assault asked calmly as he ran. There was a brief silence where all the y could hear was the clacking of keys before Armsmaster responded.

    "Intel's sparse the initial call came from a Dockworker who managed to duck out of sight, one Kurt Marshal. All he could tell us was that it appeared to be a small force, he said that he only saw seven and that he believed that Crusader was threatening Danny Hebert."

    "Great we got a hostage." Battery groused as she ran alongside her husband. "Any ideas why the Empire would make a play for the Dockworkers like this. They're pretty small potatoes."

    "The Dockworkers Association was recently awarded a contract to handle freight for a number of shipping companies. The most likely scenario is they wanted to use them as a cover for moving illicit cargo in and out of the city."

    "All right we're two minutes out. Going silent."

    "Good hunting."


    The two heroes paused for a moment as they took in the sight of the building. It was built like a bomb shelter and near as they could see there was only the main way in.

    "Oh, this sucks already." Assault mumbled to himself. "I'll take point I should be able to take anything they throw at me then you and I can handle clean up. Sound good?"

    Next to him Battery nodded silently and the two headed for the door only to be brought up short by a strange sight as they approached. There was Crusader, alright that checked out and he was running away at full speed from a teenage girl dressed in what looked at first glance to be a rather well made costume for the renaissance fair. As if to complete the look the girl was wielding a sword and shield which she put to great effect as she made a jumping slash at Crusader's back and the neo-nazi fell to the ground.

    "New hero on the scene?" Battery whispered under her breath.

    "Here's hoping. Let's take this nice and easy, put on your friendly face puppy."

    Assault responded as he walked up to the door and put on grin #47 approachable yet roguishly handsome adult. As he made his way over, he casually reached up as if to adjust his visor and turned on his mask's camera so Armsmaster back at console could see everything that he saw.

    "Now who might you be?"


    Taylor's eyes darted around frantically as she tried to think of a response to Assault's question. She'd been so focused on making sure no one got hurt that she hadn't given any thought as to what she'd call herself. For a brief moment she considered just giving her own name but no, New Wave had pretty strongly demonstrated that while openness and accountability were admirable, secret identities were still the way to go. As she continued panicking and Assault and Battery continued waiting patiently, she caught sight of her reflection and noticed once again that bar the hair color and ears she looked almost exactly like a female version of her teacher.

    "Link."

    A female voice answered Assault's question and after a moment Taylor realized that the voice had been hers.

    "Link huh." Battery said from where she was crouched next to Crusader. "Looks like you took care of everything for us. I have to ask though I saw you cut this guy down but I can't find any sign that he's been hit at all. If he wasn't unconscious, I'd say he's completely fine. Do you want to tell me how you did that?"

    Her voice which had seemed so friendly at the start got just a bit harder at the end. The now named Link shifted awkwardly as she tried to figure out how to explain magic that she barely understood herself. Finally, she decided to be honest and forthcoming and tell these heroes who had protected her home for years everything that she knew and understood.

    "The sword cuts what I want to cut."

    A silence grew between the three of them and it was verging on awkward when Assault broke it.

    "Fair enough." He chuckled. Battery stared at him incredulously and he shrugged his shoulders. "What powers are weird. I can get hit by a semi-truck and be totally fine. Sword cuts through a Nazi but doesn't kill him, I say let's go with it."

    Battery let out a rueful chuckle and shook her head.

    "You're right, you're right." She replied before turning back to Link and smiling. "Sorry about that but if I didn't ask the bosses would be asking why I didn't. You understand right?"

    Link chucked and nodded in response.

    "That's good, now we just need to ask you a couple of –"

    The two were cut off by a loud voice yelling through the halls.

    "IS EVERYONE ALRIGHT?!" Danny Hebert bellowed as he made his way down the halls towards the reception area. "IT'S SAFE TO COME OUT NOW. THEY'VE BEEN TAKEN CARE OF."

    Assault and Battery both turned in shock and looked at him as he made his way into the room, seeming to not even be phased by the fact that a supervillain had been threatening him and his colleagues. They whipped back towards Link as they heard the sound of running feet and a swinging door but the girl in green was already running off into the night. Battery was about to go after her when she was stopped by the little voice in her head.

    "Don't pursue her." Armsmaster rumbled. "We don't want to make it look like we're going after her especially after she saved these people. Do some light questioning during the interviews but do not push."

    The two heroes subtly nodded their heads in acquiescence before getting back to work.


    Taylor ducked into an alleyway and stopped running while she was panting trying to catch her breath a glowing green form materialized behind her.

    "That went well Mistress." Saria said cheerily.

    Taylor let out a strangled yelp and jumped around to glare at her… ghost companion? Well whatever she was that was something to figure out later. There were more important issues to deal with.

    "Saria where are my clothes?" Taylor whispered frantically.

    Saria frowned in confusion and vaguely gestured towards Taylor's torso.

    "You are wearing them." Saria frowned in concern and moved closer to Taylor. "Were you injured in the battle Mistress?"

    "No, I'm fine." Taylor sputtered. "I mean the clothes I was wearing before all of this happened."

    A look of understanding came across Saria's face.

    "I understand. I am holding them for you. Would you like them to be returned to you?"

    Taylor nodded frantically. The green gem on the hilt of her sword glowed for just a moment and then Taylor was once more clad in her ordinary clothes. The only thing in her possession which would seem out of place was the longsword held in her hand. Taylor absentmindedly sheathed the blade and contemplated Saria's beaming smile.

    "How did you do that?" Taylor asked flatly.

    "Part of my duties are to manage your inventory. Any items you deem worthwhile I can store inside myself for later use." Saria replied. "Your tunic and shield are now held within me, when you desire them once more, I'll summon them for you."

    Taylor's eyes narrowed in confusion.

    "And by held within you, you mean in the sword?"

    "That is correct, Mistress."

    "That's handy I guess." Taylor murmured as she started walking down the alleyway. "Just going to need to figure out how to hide a sword when I lug it around town."

    "I'm not sure I like that word Mistress."


    Taylor let out a grunt of exertion as she landed on the floor of the ladies' room. Weird shadow dimension workouts were clearly the best way to get in shape. It was no trouble at all the pull herself up onto the dumpster, shimmy up to the window and crawl inside. She quickly stashed her sword in the chest where the janitor kept his cleaning supplies. After taking a moment to practice her look of fear and panic in the mirror, Taylor ran out into the hallway. As she dashed towards the main entrance, she saw her Dad being interviewed by Assault and Battery, perfect. Taylor barrelled in and grabbed her Dad in a tight hug before channeling her old chatterbox self.

    "Thank goodness your okay Dad. I tried to sneak out to call the police but they had people keeping a lookout and I couldn't get to it, so I just hid in the alleyway until it was safe and then I saw the heroes show up and I guess someone called them huh?"

    Taylor took a moment to catch her breath and look at her Father with a look of genuine concern.

    "You are okay, right?"

    Danny smiled and patted Taylor on the head.

    "I'm fine hun, I was saved before anything could happen to me. We all were, everybody's fine." Danny's eyes got harder and he fixed Taylor with an inquisitive stare.

    "Now what's this about you trying to sneak outside?"

    Taylor flinched and tried to put on her most charming smile.

    "I just wanted to try and help… Guess I didn't really do that huh?"

    Danny heaved out a sigh and pulled Taylor into a tight hug.

    "I know, I just." He let out a wordless growl of frustration before continuing. "Look after… after your Mom I can't lose you too, just be careful alright. It came way too close today."

    Taylor nodded against his chest and hoped that she was a very very good liar before replying.

    "I promise Dad."

    Danny gave a quick kiss to the top of Taylor's head and let her free.

    "Good, now how bout, tomorrow I take the day off and we call you out of school. We got some catching up to do."

    Taylor stared at him in surprise and just nodded her head yes.

    "This is lovely, really it is." Assault cut in. "But we actually have to ask a few questions, if you don't mind."

    "I guess not." Taylor said hesitantly.

    "Alright what were you doing in the leadup to all of this?"

    "I had to come in and see my Dad, he'd forgot to leave the grocery money before he left for work today. I had just spoken to him and was about to leave with Kurt and Lacey."

    "That'd be Kurt and Lacey Marshal, correct?" Battery interjected

    "That's right, they were going to give me a drive home. When we were on our way out we saw the Empire come in, I left them hiding in a supply closet and snuck out to try to get help and I guess you know what happens after that." Taylor trailed off at the end

    Assault nodded to himself and consulted his notes briefly.

    "Kurt Marshal was the one who called the police actually. Why didn't you just use his cell phone or yours instead of putting yourself in danger.

    Taylor blushed and looked down at the floor.

    "I guess I didn't think of that."

    "Neither of us have cell phones." Danny interjected. "I don't believe in them in all the excitement it must have slipped her mind that not everyone is like us. Right Taylor?"

    "Right Dad."

    Danny reached in to his pocket and pulled out his keys before tossing them to Taylor.

    "Why don't you get the truck started. I'll wrap things up with these two and meet you in a few minutes." Danny glared at both Assault and Battery. "I trust neither of you have a problem with me taking my kid home after all of this."

    Battery gave her most conciliatory smile and answered for the both of them.

    "Of course not."

    Taylor took the escape offered and ran for it and as she made her way to the ladies' room on the east side of the building she heard the fading sound of her Father's voice.

    "Now for the record. I am not part of the Empire, I do not work for the empire and neither does the Dockworker's association."

    Thankfully Taylor was able to hide her sword in an old gym bag of her Dad's before he arrived at the truck and the two drove off through the night in more or less cheerful spirits. Later that night as she snuck from her room to retrieve her sword, she overheard him speaking to someone on the phone.

    "Hey Kurt."

    A moment of silence passed.

    "Good I'm glad to hear that you're both alright. I need to ask a favor. Can you cover my work tomorrow? I don't have much on my plate just ask Janice what needs doing and she'll steer you right."

    Danny went silent as he listened to the man on the other end of the line.

    "Why? Did you hear why Taylor came by today?" Taylor could hear her Dad gulp audibly as he tried to wrangle his emotions. "I forgot to get groceries and she came to ask for money so she could feed herself. I almost died today Kurt and the last thing my little girl would remember about me is that I couldn't remember to feed her. I need to start doing better for her."

    Taylor decided that she'd heard enough and ignoring the odd burning in her eyes she made her way outside and retrieved her sword.


    The Rig

    It wasn't common for Director Emily Piggot to personally conduct the after-action report on a routine patrol. However, a patrol which led to the capture of a fairly high-ranking cape in the Empire 88 and the debut of a probable new hero on the scene was anything but routine. So, she had dragged herself from her bed and planted herself in a cold office with Assault, Battery and Armsmaster to review the footage they'd spliced together from various security cameras and Assault and Battery's own mask cams. Standing next to her Armsmaster gave a small hum of approval as the girl in green sliced down three armed men in the span of a few seconds.

    "She's not bad."

    He said employing that talent for understatement she'd learned to despise roughly three months into this posting.

    "Yes, she's quite good. Possibly a Combat Thinker?"

    Pigott replied as the footage continued playing.

    "It's not improbable." Armsmaster said hesitantly. "Her reaction time is a touch faster then I'd expect of a typical person, possibly an ability to read body language. It's difficult to be sure without testing."

    Pigott nodded to herself as she continued watching the footage.

    "Call it a level two for now. Best to err on the side of caution."

    Assault suddenly straightened up in the chair he'd been (not) dozing off in.

    "Hey, I don't think this kid is any kind of threat." He interjected. "She seemed on the up and up. Right?" He turned to Battery for back up.

    "I agree. The only thing that might be questionable is leaving before we could interview her and that's hardly outside the norm."

    Emily Pigott fixed them both with a stare and slowly they sank back down into their seats.

    "I'm not treating her as a threat but any new factor needs to be evaluated. If either the Protectorate or the Wards end up working with her it's best that we have a rough idea of what she can do. Now are there any further objections?"

    The room was silent and after a moment Director Piggot fast forwarded the tape to what she considered a relevant segment and hit play.

    "The sword cuts what I want to cut."

    The recording of Link said as Pigott fixed a stare at Armsmaster.

    "This interests me. Her sword cuts clean through the human body. We all saw that but seemingly it doesn't cause any damage she doesn't want it to. So, Crusader and his cronies were just left knocked out instead of bleeding out. What I want to know is how? Could we be looking at some kind of Tinker here?"

    Next to her Armsmaster shook his head in disagreement.

    "I doubt it. Her wording was too vague. Young tinkers usually want to brag about their technology. Even if they tried to be discreet, they'd let something slip to show they created it." He shrugged. "Arrogance is the folly of the young I suppose."

    He finished completely unaware of the irony of his statement. After taking a moment to collect himself Assault spoke.

    "Makes sense from what I saw it looked like a pretty normal sword. Some kind of Striker I'd guess."

    With that Pigott turned off the footage.

    "I concur, for now we treat Link as an independent hero. If you make contact attempt to recruit her but use the soft sell."

    And with that she left the room and the meeting was over.
    So yeah we have a not cartoonishly immoral Brockton Bay PRT/Protectorate this time. So that's gonna be fun for me. In the meanwhile I hope you all enjoyed this post dungeon cutscene
     
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    Potential Idea For Another Series
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    • This is just a rough sketch of an idea that's been popping into my head and I'm just curious if you fellas, ladies and non binary buddies would be interested in me pursuing it or if I should drop it.

    Roughly a year after the car accident that took Annette's life Taylor's starting to recover but Danny's still stuck in his grief.
    One day Taylor is out on the town playing with Emma. While the two kids are out Alan goes over to confront Danny about how he's been falling down on the job with Taylor.
    While the two are arguing Danny gets a phone call while Taylor and Emma were out a driver lost control of his car and ended up on the side walk. Taylor pushed Emma out of the way but she got hit. She's in the hospital.
    Danny and Alan rush to the hospital. When they arrive Alan stops to try and comfort Emma who is just bawling her eyes out. Danny doesn't stop he just runs past and barges in. A few minutes later they hear him wailing in grief.
    The hospital had been overwhelmed and understaffed. Taylor died waiting for a doctor.
    Danny runs off in a rage and all Alan can do is try desperately to comfort emma who just keeps repeating Taylor's gone.
    Emma triggers as a thinker who can organize large groups of people to accomplish difficult tasks in the most efficient/effective way. Essentially Q.A jumps to her.
    That night Taylor's body is stolen from the morgue.
    A few days later there are power outages in Brockton bay and the source is a seemingly normal working class home.
    Armsmaster recognizes the signs and along with Miss Militia he rushes off to protect/recruit a new tinker but he's not the only one who recognizes the signs.
    When he arrives members of the empire are fighting these big robots who are protecting the home.
    Armsmaster and Militia engage and eventually drive off the empire. They enter the house and make it to the basement and find a hastily abandoned lab. The only thing left is a large tube. Inside of which is a young girl
    Danny triggered as a robot tinker and transferred Taylor's mind and personality into a robot replica of her but it was incomplete she hadn't been fully powered.
    As Militia is reporting in to the console Armsmaster examines the equipment when it activate on its own. Taylor awakens and for lack of better options the Protectorate takes her in and she becomes a defacto ward she's essentially a brute very strong and tough.
    One day a giant robot (think like zords from power rangers size) attacks. in the chaos of the fight Taylor discovers that she can fly her legs turning into rockets and that her and the robot share a power source.
    Taylor is able to absorb the robots energy and it deactivates.
    Armsmaster theorizes that Taylor absorbed some ambient energy which enabled her to activate her flight systems(in a private meeting there are concerns that Danny who likely sent the robot would know Taylor could absorb the energy and maybe he wants her to for some reason)
     
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    • Christmas with the Protectorate
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    • The computer is repaired. the normal insanity should resume shortly in the meanwhile have some fresh new insanity.

    For once there was nothing that urgently needed the attention of Taylor Hebert. There were no jobs requiring the unique skills of Skitter (or as she was more commonly known oh dear god not the spiders! NOT THE SPIDERS!!!!!), her Dad was working the night away and even if she hadn't had all enthusiasm for education drained away by the actions of her former best friend it was the middle of December and the teachers didn't want to be in school any more than the students did. So suffice to say on this winters evening Taylor Hebert was sitting on her couch, cocoa in one hand and the television remote in the other engaging in a Hebert Holiday Tradition. Watching sappy Christmas specials until you are forced to feel something.

    "Go screw yourself Lucy."

    Taylor muttered to herself in between sips of cocoa as she watched the trials and tribulations of the saddest prematurely bald child in America. She was arranging herself for maximum coziness when the beloved childhood classic was defeated by a force of evil not even the greatest of heroes could defeat.

    "A Charlie Brown Christmas will be right back after these messages."

    Taylor laboriously got up from her dearest and truest friend Mr. Couch and made her way to the kitchen to scrounge up some food. As she was stuffing a handful of marshmallows into her mouth, something managed to catch her ear.

    "This year don't spend the holidays with friends and family. For just the low, low price of $19.95 you can spend Christmas (or whichever winter holiday you celebrate with the Protectorate."

    Not even Saint Nick was as lively or as quick as Taylor making her way back to the couch, her cocoa and the open bag of marshmallows left waiting on the counter. As she flung her body back in front of the television she was greeted with the sight of Alexandria clad in her typical costume and helmet and a tiny santa hat perched on her head. As she walked up to a microphone a recognizable tune began to play.

    "Deck the hall with bound up villains
    Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
    'Tis the season to save millions
    Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!
    Don we now our super slick costumes
    They didn't get to power, fa, la, la, la!
    Troll the heck out of The Elite
    Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!"

    If she had bothered to put any kind of emotion into the song she might have sounded rather lovely, however as it was it was kind of like hearing a text to speech processor attempt karaoke. Whoever edited the commercial seemed to agree with Taylor's assessment as the announcer came back.

    "And if you don't feel like heading to Los Angelas to party with Alexandria." The overly cheery voice cajoled his audience. "Why not come on down to the Big Apple and see how Legend's celebrate!"

    Through the magic of a scene transition Taylor was now looking at a rooftop presumably somewhere in New York. The rooftop was decorated in the holiday finest with tinsels and nutcrackers and Christmas trees covering just about every square inch. There was a group of adorable and appropriately ethnically diverse children playing and frolicking as is the way of televised brats.

    All the action came to a stop however as a flying figure touched down in the middle of the children. Legend who apparently got way more into this than Alexandria did was in a full Santa Claus costume. He fired off a few lasers into the air (red and green naturally)

    "Alright, everyone, come on, gather around, Christmas is here. Time for presents and cheer."

    Legend called out in a voice that positively oozed seasonal cheer. Despite herself Taylor found herself smiling. What could she say this was cheesy in all of the best ways. Finally after a moment of silence she got to hear Legend's big number.

    "Up on the housetop, Zap, Zap, Pow
    In flies good old Legend
    He isn't Santa with all his toys
    He's saving the city for the girls and boys"

    Legend paused in his song to beam at the kids and picking two of them seemingly at random and hoisting them onto his shoulders he continued his song, with his young friends joining in on the fun.

    "Ho ho ho, who wouldn't go
    Ho ho ho, who wouldn't go
    Up on the housetop, Zap, Pow, yay!
    Legend is coming to save the day"

    The edit of the commercial sped through what was assuredly the rest of a wonderfully fun and festive day and as Taylor watched Legend hand out presents and play games a tiny part of her wished her own local heroes would do this kind of thing.

    "Or how about spending some time in Brockton Bay."

    The narrator asked and as the screen of the television displayed Armsmaster in a red and green variation of his normal armour, a smile came across Taylor's face and giggles came out of her mouth. Wishes did come true it seemed.

    "Oh, Armsy Bells, Armsy Bells
    Driving through the Docks
    Oh was fun to swing a halberd
    And take the bad guys down

    Armsy Bells, Armsy Bells
    Tinkering all the time
    Oh what fun to drive around
    Brockton Bay while fighting crime"

    Similarly to Alexandria they hadn't bothered to create a setting for Armsmaster, he was just on a stage strutting his stuff and singing his heart out (with a pretty nice baritone it turned out). As he started on the next verse Taylor started frantically looking for her wallet.

    "Patrolling all the streets
    Of Brockton Bay each night
    Cutting Villains down
    With my halberd so bright
    Charging down the alleys
    Making villains fight
    What fun to make the holidays
    Free from crime tonight."

    As the song faded out and the announcer encouraged the viewer to buy the album so they could enjoy these and other soon to be holiday classics the cell phone (that Taylor most assuredly does not have, she promises) began to buzz in her pocket. As she answered the non existent phone she didn't get a chance to say a word.

    "Did you see it?" Lisa demanded.

    "I saw it. I'm buying one. What about you?"

    "I'm buying two. Regent is going to love his Christmas Present."

    So we're back, just a little bit of fun and goofy before I get started on the real stories again.

    Now for a quick little bonus scene.

    As Colin pranced around in this ridiculous outfit and sang this ludicrous song he couldn't stop wondering how it had all gone so wrong. As is the way with most artists the emotions he was feeling, the regrets, the fears all the things he tried to keep bottled up inside found its way into his heart and so with a single tear rolling down his cheek. He began to improvise.

    "Oh, Armsy Bells, might be swell
    To do more than fight crime
    I got a lotta qualities that don't get much airtime
    I can sing, I can dance
    I tell jokes, I act
    I get big, big... big deal
    My agent, call me back"

    Noticing that the Director of the commercial was starting to get out of his chair. Colin slowed down and gave voice to the deepest truth of his heart.

    "Why did I agree to do this stupid song?
    I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering
    I thought it would be fun to show this side of me
    But now I fear it lacks artistic integrity."

    Colin paused for the briefest of seconds to look at the director and saw that he had been forced back into his seat and was flanked by Carol Dallon and Sarah Pelham who had accompanied Glory Girl to the recording (the duet between her and Gallant had been pretty cute in Colin's opinion). As he caught her eye Carol gestured for him to finish the song.

    "Oh Armsy Bells, Oh Armsy Bells
    Selling out my good name
    For an impulse-buy album
    Oh, Armsy Bells, Armsy Bells
    I'm filled with deep regret
    I'd cancel this songs release
    But the Press We'd get."

    Later that evening Armsmaster was making his way to his bike to begin patrol when he was interrupted by the heroine Brandish.

    "That was quite a show back there."

    She said coyly as she placed a hand on his chest and made sure that the concept of personal space was well and truly ignored.

    "Yes, well, just trying to give the people what they want."

    Armsmaster replied awkwardly as he tried to make his escape from her. Sadly despite his best efforts she cut him off at every turn. With a devilish smile she placed her arms around his neck and snuggled in close.

    "Madam, I believe you're mistaking me for someone else!" Armsmaster sputtered. "I am not your husband!"

    Carol leaned even closer and whispered into his ear.

    "I know." She paused to kiss his jaw. "He and I have an understanding and I like sad men."

    Deciding that discretion was the better part of valour. Armsmaster pulled himself away from her and ran full tilt towards his bike and drove off into the night. Hoping to spend sometime with someone less dangerous, perhaps Kaiser.

    The nest day for some reason all of Carol's electronics refused to work for her and everywhere she looked she'd see the phrase.

    "Stay away from my man."
     
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    • The Winslow 9: Chapter 3: Winslow and Immaculata
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    • Alright lets have some good clean fun... In a worm fanfic. Dear lord what am I doing?

    Bottom of the First Inning

    "And that's out." The announcer stated as Taylor walked on to the field. "It was a slow start for the Wildcats during their first at bat but let's find out how they can do in the field."

    As Taylor took her place in between second and third base she took a deep breath and tried to ignore her nerves and just focus on playing the game. This was made a lot harder by the fact that Immaculata's announcer was being piped into the field. He was a young man who sounded disturbingly like Greg Veder and he was forcibly reminding her that there were people watching and judging her.

    "So, it appears that the Winslow Wildcats have taken their positions and we are just about ready to resume play" The announcer declared.

    "Now as I'm sure we all remember last year Winslow was unable to field a team and were forced to sit out the season. My sources tell me that new coach Roy Harris had been aggressively recruiting players but even so they were only able to register last minute. The most intriguing part of this little drama is of course, number nine Taylor Hebert. Based on the fine research of Amanda Quinn (love you babe he added quickly) it appears that this is Ms. Hebert's first time in organized sports. One must wonder what she has to offer."

    "PLAY BALL!!!!" The umpire roared.

    "And with that the game begins again and now we'll see what we'll see."

    Taylor shook her head briefly to chase away all distractions, she took a moment to exchange nods with her boys and got ready. At the plate the first batter for the Immaculata Saints number 22, Jack Aston looked Taylor up and down, smirked and laughed to himself before getting ready for the pitch. Taylor's eyes narrowed while on the pitcher's mound Will took a deep breath, wound up and unleashed a fast ball. It blazed its way down the line and though the batter swung as hard as he could he missed.

    "STRIKE ONE!"

    The batter spat and cursed for a moment before getting ready once more. Will let the ball fly once more and this time the batter didn't swing. The pitch had gone just a bit wide and it was now one strike, one ball. For some reason the batter locked eyes with Taylor and despite the distance she could swear she saw him smirk. Even if she couldn't see it in his face, it was clearly shown in his entire body. On the third pitch his bat connected, a strong line drive heading between second and third. Taylor darted forward as quickly as she could as she caught the ball on the hop she didn't pause for a moment. Trusting that Jay would know his job she quickly launched the ball towards first base. The ball met the glove and the glove hit the runner. Aston was out. He seemed to be in a daze and as he looked in between Taylor and Jay in confusion Taylor gave him her brightest happiest smile and waved him on his way.

    With the second batter Will had found his grove and with three pitches number 18 on the Immaculata Saints was back on the bench. The third and final batter managed to get a hit out to center field but with deceptive ease number 69 of the Winslow Wildcats, Jason Pierce placed himself right under the ball and caught it mid-air. With that Taylor's first official inning of her high school baseball career was over and it was time to switch positions.


    Top of The Second Inning. 0/0 no outs and no runners on base

    As she took her seat in the dugout between Chris and Damon Taylor leaned her head back and tried to relax. She was thwarted in this endeavor by someone poking her in the arm. As she opened her eyes to glare at whoever had the audacity she was met with Chris's cheerful grin.

    "That wasn't so bad eh?"

    Taylor smirked and winked at him.

    "Getting that guy out felt pretty good."

    "I'll bet." Damon interjected with a grin. "Dumbass thought he had an easy on base with you but you showed him." With a frankly infuriating lack of concern for her unceasing wrath Damon ruffled Taylor's hair fondly and at the sight of her glare he just laughed.

    "We ain't letting that dick get a hit." Jay grumbled from nearby.

    The other three all paused to look at him in confusion and were surprised to see an unfamiliar emotion on the face of Jay Bautista. They'd seen him happy, excited, hungry (that one was fairly common) but they'd never seen the thunderous rage that was now on his face. He looked at them sharply.

    "You didn't hear what he was saying bout Tay. He's a jackass." Jay snarled as he stalked past them for his first at bat.

    Taylor looked between Chris and Damon in confusion.

    "Do either of you know what he said?"

    The two shock their heads.

    "No, but I can guess." Damon replied after a moment.

    "And?" Taylor prodded for more information.

    "And If he's ever coming for second. I might tag him just a bit harder than necessary."

    Taylor made an ahh of acknowledgement and fought off a blush at the thought of how protective they were of her. She then tried to fight off her irritation at them thinking she needed to be protected. Suddenly, they heard a loud crack from home plate, a hushed silence and then scattered cheering and booing.

    "Sounds like Jay got a hit." Chris remarked.

    "What do you think it was. A double, triple or a homer?" Taylor asked.

    "He was pretty ticked." Damon mused. "I'm saying home run."

    At that moment the voice of the announcer piped up.

    "And with the first pitch sent the Wildcats way that's a home run and they are on the board. Top of the Second and the score is one and zero. "


    Bottom of the Third Inning, Two Outs nobody on base. The score is Winslow One, Immaculata Zero

    Taylor was breathing hard as she bent over and tried to get herself under control. The last batter had managed to get a good shot at Will's curve ball and it had taken all the speed she could muster to manage to get to the ball. Her knees were still hurting from the dive. With a grunt she brought herself upright and looked at the newest batter at the plate and felt her heart sink. This guy was huge and as he idly swung the bat back and forth while waiting for the pitch, Taylor had the unsettling sense that he knew how to use all that muscle. Hoping slightly to keep the blood flowing Taylor prepared herself for anything.

    On the mound Will was frantically going through everything he knew about number 16, Jim Kirby. He was a power hitter just like Jay never settling for a base hit when he could hold out for a home run. He has a real knack for judging where a ball was going.

    Behind the plate Christian was calling for the fast ball. Will gave a slight shake of the head. Christian tossed his head back and to anyone else it would look like he was just trying to shake some sweat loose from his long hair but Will had known him a while longer and a mite better than most. That was Christian for "you sure man." Will dipped his chin in what might have been considered a nod. Christian called for a slider and Will gave him a wild grin before winding up.

    At the plate Jim Kirby waited patiently for the pitch to come. That was the real trick to batting he'd found you had to be patient. So much was out of your control when you were at bat. When the pitch would come and what pitch it would be was up to the pitcher and the catcher. Who incidentally were seemingly debating that at this very moment. Then there was where the fielders would position themselves, which way the wind would be blowing, what angle the sun would be at when the pitch came. All of this was out of his hands and so he didn't worry about it. He just smiled a calm little smile to himself and waited.

    The first pitch was a slider blazing fast and was breaking hard. No point swinging at it best he could get was a foul ball. He heard the sound of the ball hitting the catcher's leather and the umpire calling strike one.

    The second pitch came down the way a nice and simple fast ball. At a guess Jim would clock it at somewhere in the 80 mph range. He had a good feeling about this one and took a swing but he just missed it and with that it was two strikes.

    The ball was returned to the pitcher and then nothing happened. Thirty seconds passed, a minute, a minute and thirty seconds. Jim tightened his grip on the bat and stared down Will Kent on the mound.

    'You're not going to psyche me out so you might as well throw already'

    Will Kent round up and threw the pitch. It looked like it was going to be another fast ball and Jim was already beginning to swing when he stopped himself just in time. The fast ball… Wasn't. That clever devil was trying to fake him out. He adjusted his stance waited just a few seconds more and swung.

    As the ball flew past his head Will Kent spat on the ground. He'd almost had him with that change up but Kirby had spotted it just in time. As he turned to look the ball was going hard and fast towards left field. Dave was running for it as hard as he could but it wasn't going to do any good. That puppy was heading into the bleachers. Still ever determined Dave scrambled his way up the wall in a desperate attempt to get his glove around the ball but to no avail. It was a home run and the score was now one and one. As Jim Kirby rounded second base, he caught Will's eye and the two of them exchanged a nod.

    This was going to be a fight.


    Top of the Seventh. Two Outs. A runner on first. The score is One/One

    As she walked her way up to home plate Taylor found herself really, really wishing she had maybe found time to go hit up the batting cages or something on her off time because right now she really didn't feel ready for this pressure. She'd worked hard and done her best but batting still wasn't her strong suit. She looked at Carlos their right fielder excitedly trying to inch his way from first. Trying to get himself in the best position to run once she'd gotten a hit, a very palpable hit off of the pitcher. Taylor arrived at home plate, took a deep breath and got into her stance.

    "Let's go." She muttered to herself.

    On the mound the Immaculata Pitcher begin his wind up and unleashed his pitch. Taylor swung for it but just as she committed to her swing the ball began to curve away from where she thought it was heading. Almost in slow motion she could see the ball maneuver itself so it was mere inches away from her bat. The ball found its home in the catcher's mitt and that was strike one.

    With the second pitch, a nice simple curve ball Taylor managed to connect with it but it ended up going off course and with that foul ball she was now sitting not so pretty at two strikes and no balls. As she was squaring up for her third and probably final attempt, she could hear some familiarly loud and raucous voices from the dugout.

    "You got this Tay!"

    "You can do it!!!"

    "SMOKE HIS ASS!!!!!"

    She turned her head slightly and out of the corner of her eye she could see Chris, Jay and Damon cheering her own and just generally making a nuisance of themselves. With a fond eyeroll she turned her attention back to the pitcher and narrowed her eyes. The third pitch came and Taylor fancied that she could see exactly where it was going as if it was in slow motion. With a deep breath she swung her bat as hard as she could and as it connected, she could feel that it was a good hit. Not pausing for an instant, she dropped her bat and ran towards first base as fast as she could. Ahead of her she could see that Carlos was doing much the same for second. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that someone had thrown the ball towards first and with a desperate rush of energy she dived for the plate. The ball touched the first basemen's glove, Taylor's hand touched first base, the ball touched Taylor.

    There was silence until finally the umpire shouted.

    "SAFE!!!!"

    With that beautiful syllable Taylor could breathe again and take great pleasure in the rage that was plain to see on the face of number 22, Mr. Jack Aston. He took in the sight of her grin and his scowl grew even deeper.

    "Pretentious bitch." He muttered.

    Taylor graciously decided to ignore that and instead locked eyes with Carlos over on third base. He was grinning ear to ear and offered her a thumbs up before they both got ready. Damon had arrived at home plate and play was ready to resume.

    The Pitcher seemed a little shaky and as he threw his first pitch there wasn't quite as much power to it as there could have been. Damon connected with it for a drive out to center field. With that hit he ended up at first, Taylor at second and Carlos rounded home plate to cheers and adulation from his team and curses from the decidedly Immaculata dominated crowd.

    "Alright and that was a nice, clean hit from Damon Hendrickson number 07 of the Winslow Wildcats and with that the score is 2 to 1 Wildcats. I gotta tell you this is not where I thought we'd be at this point in the game."


    The Bottom of the Ninth. One out and a runner on Second. The score is Winslow Wildcats 2/Immaculata Saints 1

    Taylor's eyes darted between the Immaculata runner on second inching his way ever so slightly closer to third base, to Damon who was keeping an eye on the runner at second, Chris was ready for anything at third and finally to Will who stood on the mound like a predator sizing up his next meal. The first pitch he sent to the batter was a fast ball that left the batter too scared to swing. Strike one.

    The runner at second looked like he was just about ready to attempt to steal third when Will whipped around and sent the ball towards Damon. Alas the runner got back to base before the ball arrived so the board remained at one out. Still Will had made his point and the runner was much more hesitant from then on. He fired a curve ball that confounded the batter and put the second strike on the board.

    The third pitch however showed that the batter had taken his measure and number 19 of the Immaculata Saints, one Eric Pelham sent the ball soaring between second and third base. Instinctively Taylor could tell that it wasn't going to go far enough for one of the outfielders to handle so without a seconds delay she darted after it. The ball hit the ground before she could get under it.

    'It's never simple' Taylor thought in a distant part of her mind.

    She dove and caught the ball on the hop and rolling back up to her feel she sent the ball careening towards Chris at third base. The runner was charging towards Chris and the plate, the ball was flying towards Chris. Chris caught the ball and tagged the runner as he was making his way to the plate. Already knowing that the player was out Chris immediately sent the ball towards first.

    Eric Pelham was running to first base as fast as he could go. This was his first game of his first year on the varsity team and he was damn well going to make his mark. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the third basemen throw towards first. Digging deep he tried to make it there first. He heard the ball collide with the basemen's glove, he felt the dirt and rocks scrape against his body as he slid towards the base. He felt the baseball tag his back and then he felt his fingers brush against the base and even before he heard the umpire's call he knew.

    "YOU'RE OUT!!!!"

    He blew it.


    "And with that double play that's the end of ninth inning with the Winslow Wildcats at two and the Immaculata Saints at one. The question of the day was whether or not Winslow could hang after being forced to sit out the last two seasons and I think they've certainly answered that question."

    Taylor faintly heard the announcers voice from where she stood on the field. They won, she'd won. They'd played their first game and she'd won. Almost without realizing it a laugh burst out from her and she turned to look at Chris who was positively beaming at her. As one they turned to look towards Damon who was giving them his typical smirk but the sparkle in his eyes said it all. They turned to look at Jay who was full on cheering. He caught their eye and as one all four of them began to run towards each other.

    They met in the middle of the field and collapsed into a confused mess of hugging, laughing and cheering. Taylor felt something hit her back and heard Will's voice join in the cacophony. Across from her Christian had seemingly jumped Jay and was hugging his back. Shortly afterwards three more blurs had joined the party and Carlos, Jason and Dave were hugging everyone they could and shouting to anyone who would listen that Winslow was here and they weren't going anywhere. Finally, they all separated and Will looked at them all eyes bright and his smile was just a tad wild.

    "We're just getting started."
    Not a 100% crazy about how I presented the game but only way to learn is by doing. Might be a bit easier to get some drama going once I introduce some more serious rivals.
     
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    • Present Matt repeatedly slapping past Matt: NEVER! SAY! SOMETHING! SHOULD! BE! OUT! SOON!!!!!

    You know you'll screw yourself over

    The Hebert House
    7:00ish A.M

    As Danny Hebert slipped out of his bedroom ready to begin his heroic quest to obtain breakfast, he paused for a moment to listen to the house rattling snores of his lovely young daughter.

    "Just like her mother."

    He murmured to himself fondly as he quickly and silently tiptoed past her room. They had the whole day to do what needed to be done. As he was pulling on his coat and about to head into the brisk October morning, he remembered there was one last thing he needed to do. He pulled a battered notebook from the hall table and headed towards the phone.

    "Winslow, Winslow." He muttered to himself flipping through the pages. "There you are." Quickly dialing the number, he prepared for what would assuredly be just a quick phone call.

    "Hello this is Janice Hughes at Winslow High School, please be aware that we accept no legal responsibility for the actions of our students outside the hours of 7:30 A.M and 3:30 P.M Monday to Friday. Now with that said, how can I help you?"

    A bored voice drawled (that somehow managed to sound even more disinterested when asking how it could help him) feeling slightly stunned at how clearly bad things were at the place his little owl spent most of her days, Danny just blinked for a moment and tried to gather his thoughts.

    "Hello, is anyone there?" The voice asked again. Danny shook his head quickly and responded.

    "Yes, sorry weak connection. This is Danny Hebert, I'm calling about Taylor Hebert."

    Danny began to launch into his lie. Saying Taylor was down with the flu should still be a decent enough excuse. Serious enough to keep her out but not so severe that it would be questionable when she was back in class after the weekend. However, he was stopped in his tracks.

    "Oh, are you Taylor Hebert's Father?" The voice inquired.

    "Yes, I just wanted to inform you that Taylor." Danny began again.

    "Perfect." The voice said cutting him off once more. "We were planning to call you at some point this week. We would like for you to come in and discuss Taylor's behavioral issues."

    "Look, if you'd just let me get a word in." Danny gritted out through clenched teeth. "I just called to inform you that my daughter is ill and won't be in class today." Having finally said what he needed to say Danny's conscious mind caught up to the conversation.

    "I'm sorry what behavioral issues?" Danny asked in as calm a tone as he could muster.

    "Missed assignments, disrespecting the authority of her teachers and false accusations of bullying." The voice rattled off without missing a beat. "It's really beginning to get quite serious, would you be available on Wednesday of next week, say two in the afternoon."

    Danny's mind was whirling, remembering halting conversations, quick one off comments that he'd brushed off as just typical teenagerisms and seeing his Taylor who had always loved learning slowly become less and less enthusiastic about school. A picture was beginning to develop.

    "Now that is concerning." Danny replied smoothly. "I assume you've investigated this all thoroughly?" With the ease of long practice, he managed to disguise his demand as a question.

    "We've spoken to the relevant parties."

    "I see, I don't suppose it would be possible to get the names of the people my daughter has allegedly falsely accused?" Danny asked in a deceptively light tone.

    "I'm afraid not." The bureaucrat replied hesitantly as she tried to ignore the strange feeling that she was walking into a trap somehow. "We have to protect the privacy of our students. I'm sure you understand. All the particulars can be discussed at the meeting on Wednesday."

    "Of course." Danny replied before his voice suddenly grew cold. "I assure you that I'll be speaking to Taylor about this. I'll find out what happened I can assure you of that. Afterwards I'm sure that Principal Blackwell and myself will be having a very, very productive discussion."

    "I'm glad to hear that sir. It's best that these things are nipped in the bud." The walking embodiment of a cog in the wheel known as Janice Hughes chirped.

    "I agree entirely." Danny replied in a neutral tone. "Now my daughter is sick. Would you be so kind as to mark her absent for today."

    "Oh, alright then."

    Danny hung up the phone before she could say anything more. Then after scrawling a quick note to Taylor that he was going to be out grabbing groceries, he stalked towards his truck. A few minutes yelling at idiots who didn't know how to drive should help him vent his anger. It wouldn't do to let his sweet and innocent baby girl hear that.


    As the beams of the day star crept into the private sanctuary of Taylor Hebert she frantically grasped for another pillow and having successfully found her quarry used it to block out the hateful light. Across from her bed lay a seemingly innocuous old gym bag. From this bag a green glow emanated and the spectral form of a young girl suddenly appeared and looked over Taylor with a small frown.

    "Mistress."

    Taylor snored.

    "Mistress."

    She said in a slightly louder voice. Taylor continued to snore in blissful ignorance of the outside world. The girl somehow seemed to take a deep breath.

    "WAKE UP!!!!"

    The girl bellowed. With a yelp Taylor bolted upright and in all of her flailing and fumbling, she managed to fall to the floor from her oh so comfy cocoon. Pushing herself up onto her elbows she turned the full force of her glare on the see through visage of the young girl.

    "Saria." Taylor began. "What was that about?"

    "It was time for you to wake up Mistress." Saria replied in an irritatingly cheerful voice.

    "Fine, why did you have to wake me up like that?" Taylor gritted out.

    "It seemed the most effective."

    "But what if Dad heard you?" Taylor asked as she clambered to her feet. "Not sure he's ready for the whole 'hi this is my magic sword. Can I keep her?' conversation."

    "The being known as Dad aka Danny Hebert has left this dwelling. This seemed to be the most opportune time for me to wake you."

    Taylor glared at her and made several attempts to argue the point but each time she thought better of it.

    "I'm not going to win this argument, am I?" Taylor groaned tiredly.

    "There is a 97.8889% chance that your assessment is correct." Saria chirped.

    Taylor gave no verbal response and just began gathering up her clothes for the day. Just before she was about to head to the shower, Saria piped up.

    "Aren't you forgetting something?"

    Taylor paused for a moment to consider the question.

    "Pants, shirt… Other things. I think I'm good. Why are you asking?"

    Saria just pointed at herself and said nothing. Ah yes, Taylor began to see the issue.

    "I can't exactly walk around carrying a sword." Taylor began to explain. "Well maybe if I started acting like Greg." She immediately shuddered at the horrible thought.

    "No, no that won't work." Taylor continued as Saria cocked her head in confusion.

    "You can't carry a sword openly?" She asked in a sweet and innocent voice.

    "Not without getting a lot of annoying questions." Taylor responded with a laugh. Saria frowned in contemplation.

    "So, carrying a blade isn't a universally agreed symbol of adulthood in this culture?"

    Saria inquired. Taylor just shook her head in response. Saria closed her eyes and thought for a moment.

    "I've got it!" She exclaimed. "Put me on!"

    Taylor blinked in confusion. It was far too early for this.

    "Like we were going into battle. Put me on." Saria demanded.

    With a shrug Taylor pulled out the sword and scabbard from the bag and slung it over her shoulder.

    "Now what?"

    "Just equip everything from last night. The Tunic, the Shield. All of it." Taylor began to open her mouth to ask a question but was cut off before she could ask it. "Just think of them and I'll do the rest."

    Taylor closed her eyes and pictured herself clad in the green tunic and hat she wore last night, sword and shield at the ready. When she opened her eyes once more her vision had become reality.

    "Okay now what?"

    If Saria's feet were touching the ground, she would have been bouncing on them in her excitement. As it was, she merely repeatedly raised and lowered the height she was levitating at.

    "Now think of the clothes you were just wearing."

    Taylor thought about the ratty old t-shirt and basketball shorts that had served as her pyjamas and once more when she opened her eyes anew, she found herself clad in them once more. The Tunic, Hat, Shield and the Sword had vanished along with the image of Saria.

    "What the!!" Taylor exclaimed. "Where are y-."

    "I'm still here Mistress." Saria's voice rang in her head. "I'm merely in your inventory waiting for when you have need of me. Same as everything else."

    "Wait." Taylor began hesitantly. "You're basically the inventory, right? Like you store the things in you? Did I get that right?"

    "Yes mistress."

    "So you're storing yourself… Inside of yourself." Taylor asked wondering where exactly her physics had gone.

    "A trifle simplistic but essentially correct."

    Realizing that would be the best she was going to get Taylor headed out of her room but not before muttering one last aside to herself.

    "Magic is so weird."


    By the time Taylor had showered and dressed and made her way downstairs she found a catastrophe in progress. Smoke was rising from the stove and her Dad was frantically trying to wave it out the window before it set off the fire alarms. Moving quickly Taylor dashed to the stove and grabbed the smoking frying pan, dancing around her Dad she managed to dump the charred remains of… Something into the garbage bin. As she did that the last of the smoke was cleared out and thankfully the only thing that had been harmed was the dignity and pride of one Danny Hebert.

    As he tried to avoid his baby girls gaze Taylor just smirked at him and she was a very good smirker. Something else she got from her Mom Danny mused, with just a single facial expression she could make someone feel like a colossal failure in every way imaginable.

    "Soooooooo." Taylor began in as innocent a tone as she could manage. "What happened here?"

    Danny ran a hand over his face and chuckled ruefully.

    "Do you remember those omelettes your Mom used to make?"

    Taylor nodded.

    "I decided I was going to make them for breakfast. Start the day on a good note y'know." Danny looked away. "And then I didn't." He finished ruefully

    As he surveyed the damage he'd done to his own kitchen Danny Hebert showcased the quick decision making and inspiring leadership that had elevated him to the defacto boss of the Dockworkers Association.

    "What do you say we go out for breakfast?"

    Taylor nodded in agreement and with that Father and Daughter headed out the front door in search of copious amounts of bacon and eggs.


    "I'll get the western omelette and a cup of coffee."

    Danny said as he passed his menu over to the waitress with a small smile.

    "Sure thing hon." The waitress replied. "Do you want milk, sugar, cream?"

    "Just black, thank you."

    The waitress nodded and turned to Taylor with a smile.

    "And how about you, sweetie?"

    Taylor frowned as she looked at the menu one last time before finally handing it over.

    "I'll get just the bacon and eggs. Scrambled and if you could get the bacon as crispy as you can that'd be great." Taylor grinned at the thought of breakfast as her stomach rumbled its approval. "Oh and tea with some honey if you got it."

    "Sure thing." The waitress finished jotting down their orders on her pad and prepared to head on her way. "That should be out in no time."

    As she headed off Danny and Taylor smiled at each other and tried to think of things to say. They'd managed to cobble together a polite if shallow conversation about the latest book Taylor was reading (Ivanhoe) when the food arrived. As he was working his way through his omelette Danny screwed up his courage and asked something that actually mattered.

    "Hey." He began as Taylor paused from scarfing down her eggs to look at him. He suppressed a smile at seeing her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk and continued. "I called your school this morning and they asked me to come in for a meeting with your principal."

    As Taylor tensed in the seat opposite him and clearly started preparing herself for an argument. Danny wished and not for the first time that Annette was here. She was always so much better at this stuff than he was.

    "Look whatever they told you." Taylor began heatedly.

    "It's bullshit I know."

    Danny said quickly and as Taylor stared at him in awed surprise he felt another stab of self-loathing hit him. How badly had he failed that him being on her side was a surprising turn of events.

    "Look, I know I've…" Danny hesitated as he tried to find the right words. "Not really been around for the past… While. But I like to think I know who you are at the heart and you wouldn't do the things they're accusing you of."

    Taylor pushed her food around on her plate for a bit and Danny waited for her to decide what she wanted to say.

    "What are they accusing me of?"

    "Missing assignments, disrespecting your teachers." Danny paused to take a look at her face for any clues as to what she was feeling. When he saw nothing he could decipher, he continued. "Falsely accusing people of bullying you."

    Taylor gritted her teeth and started to rise out of her chair looking like she was about to yell at the entire world about the injustice.

    "And since they're clearly getting it all wrong." Danny continued. "I have to think there's something actually going on. So." He leveled a stare at Taylor. "What's going on?"

    Taylor slowly lowered herself back down into her seat and deciding to be brave one more time began to explain.

    "It started on the first day of school. A group of girls picked me as their favorite target and nothing I do can make it stop." Taylor began. "I go to the teachers and they either ignore me or they ask them if they're bullying me, they say no and then everyone just accepts that I'm lying. They break my stuff, steal my work and no one does anything." She paused to take a few deep breaths and try to calm herself down. Across from her Danny frowned in contemplation.

    "Who are they?" Danny asked. "And this might not be the responsible Dad thing to ask." Taylor let out a small chuckle as he waggled his eyebrows at her. "But does Emma know about this. She was always good at the social thing and I can't imagine –"

    Danny trailed off as Taylor looked away as soon as he said Emma's name. He frantically cast through his memories trying to remember the last time he'd seen Emma, the last time Taylor had mentioned her. It was the summer before Taylor's first year of.

    "Shit." Danny growled.

    Taylor nodded and closed her eyes.

    "I can't believe." Danny began. "Emma could, but you and her were." He trailed off. "You were each other's people." He finally settled on as the best reaction he could find.

    "Yeah." Taylor said softly.

    Danny reached out and placed his hand on Taylor's.

    "Let's get out of here."

    Taylor nodded and Danny raised his hand to signal they were ready for the cheque.


    The two drove through Brockton Bay in silence for what felt like hours until finally they arrived at a small hill on the outskirts that had a view of the waterfront. Danny's old pick up truck rumbled to a stop.

    "Here we are." Danny said. "I come out here on rough days when I just need to be by myself. Figured it was a good a spot as any to talk."

    "Okay." Taylor questioned. "But why drive out here? Why not just talk at the diner."

    Danny looked at her with a small fond smile.

    "Because I want you to talk and if there was anyone else around you wouldn't." He reached out and ruffled her hair. Taylor batted his hands away and glared at him but Danny continued as if he didn't notice.

    "You're a private person Taylor. Always have been. If you thought anyone but us could hear what you were saying I wouldn't get much out of you. You get that from me."

    "Really, the way you and Mom would tell it I could talk to anyone about anything."

    Taylor snarked in what was certainly not an attempt to direct the discussion away from her character.

    "Oh you could go up and talk to anyone about a, a book you were reading." Danny answered. "Or some cartoon you were a fan of, or whatever game you and Em- you and the other kids were playing. But the stuff that mattered, the stuff that means something to you."

    He paused and looked at Taylor meaningfully.

    "That you would always keep in here." He poked at her forehead. "And in here." He poked at his chest.

    "Until you knew what you wanted to do with it. So, here's what we are going to do. You and I are going to sit here and rest and relax. You'll do your thinking and when you are ready, I'm right here. Sound good?"

    Taylor contemplated that for a moment and nodded.

    "Sounds good."

    The two sat in silence for about half an hour before finally it was broken by Taylor.

    "Dad, can I ask you something? Before we talk about me, I mean."

    Danny smiled at her and nodded.

    "Of course. Ask away."

    Taylor wet her lips and asked something that had been gnawing at her for a while.

    "For the past. I mean after Mom." Taylor almost stammered trying to figure out how to ask what she wanted to ask.

    "I've not been the best Dad." Danny completed her thought in a somber voice.

    "Yes, that." Taylor said softly. "Why are you? I mean why try to change things now."

    Danny maneuvered himself around in his seat so he was looking Taylor in the eye.

    "Do you know what the three happiest moments of my life are?"

    He asked and Taylor shook her head.

    "The day your Mom agreed to marry me." He started counting them down on his fingers. "The day you were born." Taylor rolled her eyes. "I'm serious, the day you were born. And the day my old man died."

    There was a tense silence and finally Danny continued.

    "I mean that. He was." Danny paused. "I don't really talk about him with you much but he was a bastard, he was well and truly a bastard. Drank too much and hated too easy. Thanks to that the day he died I felt relieved."

    Danny angrily wiped away a stray tear as Taylor just sat there processing.

    "I hated the man." He continued. "I hated him and when you were born I swore to myself, I swore that my little girl would never think of me like that. I'd be someone she could be proud of. A good, decent hardworking man and that she would never ever doubt that I loved her."

    He frowned and looked away from Taylor before continuing on his voice filled with shame.

    "You started growing up and I did the best I could but Annette… She was the natural parent between the two of us. When you were upset or scared or what have you, she always knew what to do and I'd be left scrambling." His frown grew deeper and he continued. "Then one day, she was gone and me and a little girl were left in a world that didn't make sense anymore. I fell back on what I understood. I worked and I kept a roof over our heads and I lied to myself that I was still a good Dad."

    Taylor reached out and took his hand.

    "Hey, you are a good Dad." Taylor said emphatically.

    Danny shook his head and gripped her hand tightly.

    "No, I haven't been." He continued. "But the fact that you said that means maybe I can still do better. Look last night you came to me because I forgot to feed you. The most basic thing a parent has to do and I wasn't doing it and then I could have died." Slowly he wrapped an arm around Taylor and after a moment she settled into the hug.

    "I could have died and the way things were that might have actually been a good thing for you and I hate that thought. So here I am just trying to do better and hoping you'll give me the chance."

    There was a pause that seemed to stretch out for an eternity.

    "I think I'm ready to talk now."

    "Alright."

    Taylor took a deep breath.

    "It started the day after I got back from camp. I went to see Emma we'd made these stupid little friendship bracelets and I wanted to give her one. One I knocked on the door there was this girl I'd never seen before."

    They talked for hours and at the end both Father and Daughter were emotionally drained but things were on the path towards healing.


    Danny and Taylor both felt lighter somehow as they walked along the boardwalk, letting the energy of the crowd wash over them. As they were going past the third barker trying to convince them to step right up and win a prize Taylor's eyes landed on a certain game. It was seemingly rather simple, take the toy bow and arrow, shoot as many balloons as you could in five minutes and win a fluffy, plushy friend. Taylor look at the targets, the bow and a stuffed horse that was displayed in a place of honor and decided she had to do this. Without a word to her Dad she began to push her way through the crowd and as soon as she reached the booth she slammed five dollars down.

    "How many for the horse?" Taylor demanded as her Dad came up behind her.

    "Well little lady." The conman in a cheap bowtie began to say in a frankly insulting attempt at sounding charming. "Now for the horse you just gotta hit twenty of the bullseyes."

    "Sounds easy enough." Taylor said lightly as she picked up the bow and quiver. "Start the timer."

    The barker clicked a button and the clock began counting down.

    "Taylor are you sure about this?" Danny asked as Taylor released her first arrow and hit the bullseye. "Never mind."

    Danny chortled as his question was answered. Not even acknowledging Taylor just continued firing, arrow after arrow after arrow and hitting bullseye after bullseye after bullseye. Finally, mercifully the five minutes were up.

    "That was fifty bullseyes." They stall operator whispered. "A NEW RECORD!!!!" He roared.

    "Take whatever prize you want." He said in as grand a tone as he could manage. "Then never come back here." He muttered.

    Taylor just pointed at the stuffed horse and with her bounty in hand. She collected her Dad/loot hauler and the two continued on their way.

    "So, what's the big deal about this horse?" Danny asked as he moved it to a slightly more comfortable position. "You're a little old for stuffed animals and you didn't like them much when you were a kid even."

    Taylor blushed lightly and looked at anything but her Dad.

    "Oh, I uh made friends with this girl at school and she's into horses so when I saw it. I just kind of figured…" She trailed off as she noticed Danny trying to suppress a grin. "Shut up."

    "Hey I'm not judging." Danny replied cheerfully. "It just took one date with Annette for me to start trying to guess her ring size."

    "I said shut up." Taylor growled before the friendly argument was interrupted by the sounds of screams from behind them. As one they turned and saw a stampede of people running towards them and behind them was quite a strange sight.

    About a half dozen creatures for lack of a better word that looked like some odd cross between a bipedal pig and an ape were chasing the crowd. All of them were armed with clubs and swords and anything they swung at was shattered. A crew of enforcers came from one of the storefronts and attempted to tase the creatures but it had no effect. Even from where she stood Taylor could hear one of the monsters laugh before with a might swing of his club sending the glorified security guard flying fifteen feet away.

    "What are those things?" Taylor wondered aloud.

    "They are Bokoblins." Saria's voice chimed in her head. "Creatures from Hyrule. They are highly aggressive and often used as foot soldiers in the service of others."

    "Who cares." Danny rushed out grabbing Taylor's hand and pulling her along behind him. "Let's just get out of here!"

    Taylor allowed Danny to pull her along after him until finally she spotted her chance. Near an alleyway Taylor allowed her hand to slip from Danny's grasp and using the crowd for cover she ducked into the alleyway and out of sight.

    "Taylor! Taylor!" She heard Danny's cries from behind her as he unsuccessfully tried to fight his way back through the mob to reunite with his daughter.

    "Sorry Dad." Taylor murmured. "Saria suit me up."

    With those words Taylor was once more clad in the green garb of the hero and with sword and shield drawn and at the ready she charged into battle a single thought running through her mind.

    I need a better catch phrase.


    As Taylor arrived on the scene she caught sight of one of the monsters (Bokoblins Saria oh so helpfully reminded her) grabbing a young girl who looked maybe somewhere around ten being pulled away from a woman who was most likely her mother before being tossed through the air to another bokoblin. This one was loading children into some kind of wooden cage being carried on a cart which was pulled by… Skeleton horses. Now this wouldn't do at all. Putting on as much speed as she could Taylor, charged towards the bokoblin who was loading up the prisoners.

    With a diagonal slash across the chest the monster staggered back just as the little girl landed where his arms had once been. Taylor winced briefly at the sight of her landing hard on the ground. As the girl was groaning in pain the creature charged at her club raised high. Taylor stepped in between the monster and the girl and with her shield batted the club away with deceptive ease. Two swift sword strikes followed and in a puff of smoke the creature vanished. Taylor's eyes widened in surprise.

    "It appears whatever magic them to this world is tenuous at best." Saria mused. "If they take enough damage it is forced to dissipate. Interesting."

    "Cut monsters make go away. Got it." Taylor thought back.

    The cart holding the girls began to pull away but before Taylor could go after them, she was cut off by a sword being swung at her head. Leaping away from the blow with a picture perfect back flip Taylor quickly assessed the situation. Four monsters (Bokoblins, Saria insisted sounding progressively more irked.) surrounding her on all sides and armed with carious weapons of the pointy or smashy variety. Lovely.

    The one on her left attempted to strike her with his club but that was easily blocked by her shield, another attempted to stab her with a spear but this was deflected with casual ease by Taylor's own blade. The one in front of her attempted to bring his sword down on her head. Taylor quickly sidestepped out of the way. Before they could attempt another attack on her She quickly spun in a circle, turning her blade into a whirling cyclone of pain. With that these four disappeared.

    Not missing a beat Taylor began to charge after the cart idly noting that the mother of the girl she'd managed to save had pulled her daughter into a hug.

    "Dinah, oh Dinah thank goodness your alright."

    Taylor heard the mother murmur as she ran by. Not stopping to allow herself a moment of pride Taylor continued after the slowly moving cart. She was gaining ever so slowly, foot by foot, inch by inch and was almost in range to where she was sure she could leap on to the cage when one of the captives screamed out.

    "LOOK OUT."

    Before she could even wonder what they meant by that something round and heavy and hard impacted Taylor's side. As she was sent rolling by the impact the driver of the cart came to a stop having decided to watch the show. As she came to her feet she could hear the grating laughter of the bokoblin, the screams of the captives and the enraged roars of the creature that had attacked her.

    Emerging from the alley was a creature, nine feet tall and made of muscle a great pair of horns growing from its head. It looked somewhat similar to the bokoblin's in much the same way as a chimp looks like a gorilla. As it approached her it started swinging the great ball and chain it was carrying back and forth. Taylor moved her shield into a ready position, held her sword low and ready to strike and waited to see who would make the first move.

    With a roar the creature (It was called a moblin, Saria helpfully informed her) sent the ball flying towards her. Not wanting history to repeat a second time Taylor leaped to the right and avoided the hit before charging towards the moblin. It pulled the ball back towards itself frightfully quickly and once more launched an attack at Taylor.

    This time Taylor used her shield to block the iron ball as it flew towards her and sent it right back into the monsters ugly face. As it reared back and bellowed its pain to the heavens, Taylor reached sword range. With two quick strikes at its legs the moblin fell to its knees. Not wasting a moment Taylor jumped on to its back and stabbed her blade through the back of its skull. The moblin vanished in a puff of smoke and Taylor rolled to her feet as she hit the ground.

    The last remaining bokoblin attempted to flee the scene with its captives but Taylor noticed something very interesting. The ball and chain the moblin was using had remained behind and it had somehow adjusted to be just her size.

    "Magic." Taylor thought at Saria.

    "Magic." Saria responded.

    Quickly grabbing her newest toy/weapon and running towards the cart as it began to turn left Taylor swung the ball in a circle once, twice and then she sent it slamming down on the front of the cart. The cart was destroyed and the bokoblin faded away. As Taylor walked over to let the children out of the cage she felt her heart fill with joy at a job well done.


    Winslow High School
    Monday Morning

    Taylor looked left and right quickly before breathing a sigh of relief that the coast was clear. Moving quickly she shifted her treasure from her backpack to her locker and closed the door.

    "Taylor! Taylor! Taylor!"

    As she turned around she could hear the sound of running feet and soon found herself face to face with a newspaper that spoke with the cheerful voice of Melanie Lon.

    "Check it out, check it out, check it out."

    Her new friend said cheerfully. Taylor leaned in and quickly scanned the article.

    "New hero Link saves group of children from monsters."

    Taylor let a small smirk pass over her lips as she looked at the rather dramatic photo someone had caught of her charging the moblin. Allowing her moment of pride to pass she reached out and pushed down the newspaper so she could see Melanie's beaming face.

    "Okay, neat." Taylor said. "But why's it got you all excited?"

    Melanie was bouncing on her feet.

    "Don't get all cynical on me." She pouted. "I move to town and there's a new superhero. It's cool isn't it."

    "Huh, you're right." Taylor looked down in faux contemplation. "You moved to town and suddenly a new hero shows up." She arched an eyebrow at Melanie.

    "You trying to tell me something?"

    "Oh ha ha." Melanie sniffed. "Here I am wanting to share my joy with my dear friend Taylor and all I get is scorn and mockery." She paused to wipe away an imaginary tear and looked at Taylor.

    "This working on you?"

    "Not even a bit. But I do have something for you. Can you keep a secret?"

    Melanie nodded her head.

    "Friday wasn't the first time that Link chick showed up. She saved my dad when the Empire tried to shake down the dockworkers last Thursday."

    "Is he okay?" Melanie yelped in concern.

    "Yeah, he's fine, it just shook him up a little so he pulled me out of school Friday for some family bonding. We ended up at the boardwalk and well."

    Taylor opened her locker and stepped aside to reveal the stuffed horse. The fur was a beautiful red color and the mane was a shock of white. A huge grin came to Melanie's face.

    "Oh, she's so cute." Melanie gushed. "But why are you showing her to me?"

    "She's yours." Taylor replied with a slight blush.

    Melanie squealed in glee and glomped Taylor into a hug.

    "I love her so much, she's wonderful, she looks just like a horse on my grandpa's farm. I love her and thank you so much! You are the best friend ever!"

    Taylor returned the hug and enjoyed the affection it had been a while.
    Taylor: This is how you friend, correct?
     
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    • Okay the next chapter of Wildcat is done. I'm going to give it the final look over and post it sometime tomorrow assuming family doesn't get in the way. In the meanwhile here's the latest expression of my slow descent into madness. That I really wish I had thought up around Halloween. Now Roll the titles

    Edit: I looked the chapter over before releasing it. Realize it sucks. Rewrite it. Realize it still sucks. Grow ever closer to madness
    January 3rd 2011

    As the young heroine Flechette slowly made her way through the cold sterile hallways of the Rig she desperately hoped that she'd correctly remembered the directions to her destination.

    "Up three, down two and take the second left for five minutes."

    Flechette muttered to herself as continued her trek. Shortly afterwards she came to a stop in front of a fairly non-descript door. The only thing that could mark it as something worth noticing was the faint sound a soldering iron, the smell of burning metal and a tiny plaque which read Armsmaster. She knocked on the door. But there was no answer. She knocked again but still no answer. She knocked a third time and was once again ignored. With a sigh she tried the door and found it unlocked.

    She was met with a rather peculiar sight. Back in New York whenever she would have to meet with Legend in his office, he'd make a point of having everything appear professional. The office would be clean, his desk would be well organized with everything in its proper place and he would be in a clean and well-tailored costume (or as was the case on one rather memorable Halloween night a near perfect recreation of the Phantom of the Opera). It would appear that Armsmaster didn't share this philosophy.

    From the look of things Armsmaster had just got back from a patrol. He was still mostly clad in his power armor which was covered in dents and scruffs and burns. He'd removed one of the arms and was using his desk as a workstation to perform repairs. Any paperwork or files that he may have been working on, or (as was seeming more and more likely) ignoring had been haphazardly pushed to the floor. As the door rumbled shut behind her the noise alerted him to her presence and he looked up from his work to take her in.

    "Flechette. Good to see you." He said briskly. "Please take a seat, should be one around here somewhere."

    Trailing off he bent down behind his desk and pulled out an old metal folding chair that had been lying out of sight. He quickly unfolded it and placed it on the other side of his desk. There were no other chairs in the room. As she hustled over to take her seat, she got a glimpse at the old and somewhat falling apart stool Armsmaster was sitting on and a tiny part of her noted that he was at least trying to be a good host. As she sat down and looked at him expectantly Armsmaster lifted his lips into the Protectorate handbook approved smile #489 (for use when meeting new teammates).

    "So, why did you want to see me sir?" Flechette asked anxiously. "Is there some kind of issue with my paperwork or something?"

    Armsmaster shook his head.

    "No, nothing of the sort." He hesitated for a moment. "I have a bit of a favor to ask you."

    Flechette stared blankly at him.

    "A favor? Not to be all teacher do we have homework." Flechette said slowly. "But if you need me to do something can't you just y'know order me to do it."

    "Technically, yes. But I have been informed." Armsmaster began drumming his fingers on the desk and looking a bit awkward. "Loudly and at great length. That it would be inappropriate to order you to do this considering the impact it may have on you."

    Flechette began to have the horrible feeling that she was about to be offered a great opportunity. Trying her best to hide her growing sense of dread, she gestured for her superior officer to go on.

    "Ordinarily our wards of High School Age attend Arcadia." Armsmaster began to explain as he pulled out a folder and handed it over to her. "However, there've been some... odd happenings at another school in the area, Winslow High School. If you're amenable I would like for you to be enrolled as a student there and see what you can discover."

    Armsmaster waited patiently as Flechette read through the files. Odd happenings was definitely the best description of it. Reports of people reporting missing items which turned up days later in strange places, people saying they heard voices when there was no one else in the room. There didn't appear to be anything dangerous going on. In fact it could be just a very talented prankster but there was the tantalizing possibility.

    "You think there's a cape messing with Winslow High School?" Flechette asked.

    "There's a non zero chance. Winslow High School is a difficult envirionment by all reports add in the typical stresses of being a teenager and well" Armsmaster shrugged and continued on. "Whoever they may or may not be they don't appear too dangerous but I'd prefer they be identified and if required be brought on board before things escalate. So, what do you say?"

    Flechette nodded to herself and gave Armsmaster a bold grin.

    "I'm in. Just one question I thought that Sop- Shadow Stalker was already at Winslow, why aren't you asking her to look into this?"

    Armsmaster gave her a bit of a smirk and replied.

    "If there is actually a parahuman involved in all of this I would prefer they are left with a positive impression of the Protectorate. Give them a friendly face as it were. Shadow Stalker… Would not be the best suited for that role."

    Flechette remembered her brief meeting with Shadow Stalker in the wards common area which was shortly followed by a much longer association with Shadow Stalker's shut door and nodded her head in agreement.

    "Good." Armsmaster nodded briefly before returning back to work on his damaged armor. "You're dismissed Flechette."

    Flechette nodded and got up from her chair and turned to leave before pausing.

    "Sir?"

    "Was there something else?" Armsmaster grunted out without looking up.

    "No it's just. Legend always felt it was best for us to use real names when we could, as kind of a team bonding thing so… It's Lily. That's all."

    "I see. Then you're dismissed, Lily."

    Recognizing that team bonding would not be happening today Lily quickly left the room.


    January 6th 2011

    In the cold Monday morning that was to be the beginning of her new life at a new school Lily sat in her new guardian's car and idly listened to him as he yelled at traffic.

    "Come on move!!!!" He snarled slamming on the horn. "If I don't get there in ten minutes my wife is going to kill me!!!!"

    "Ethan it's fine." Lily said exasperatedly. "I'm sure Batt- Sam won't be mad if we're a little late because of traffic."

    "You don't know my Puppy." Ethan muttered darkly before a madcap grin came across his face and he let out a mildly maniacal laugh. "There's an opening."

    He yanked the wheel to the right and Lily opened her mouth to scream.

    Fifteen minutes and three near car accidents later they arrived at Winslow High School. From the outside it didn't look like anything special. A three-story brick building, some mildly racist graffiti was on some of the side walls but that was distressingly common in Brockton Bay. There was nothing that screamed 'Lo a parahuman walks among you' which was probably a good thing for her own secret identity but it would make her investigation a bit harder.

    She was jolted out of her musings by a hand falling on her shoulder.

    "You planning on getting out?" Ethan asked. "Cause look if you're planning on playing hooky the first day no judgement here but I am not being an accomplice."

    "Sorry, just lost in thought."

    Lily gave him a quick grin as she unbuckled her seat belt and hopped out the door of the jeep.

    "Yeah, listen don't get too wrapped up in what the boss asked you alright. He hides it well but the guys wound up a bit tight. It's probably nothing. So, you know just try to have fun."

    Lily rolled her eyes and nodded her head.

    "Fine, Fine. Now get going you're late."

    Ethan looked at the clock on the dashboard, cursed loudly and as soon as Lily was out of the jeep drove out of the parking lot like a bat out of hell.


    As Lily wandered her way through the halls of Winslow High School, she kept an eye out for two things her locker and anything out of the ordinary. As she turned a corner the first of her targets was located as she came face to metal with locker WW41. All in all, it was not a bad location, she was in a central hallway close to all her classes. A washroom was nearby and close enough to be easily accessible but far enough away that she wouldn't be exposed to any… unpleasantness.

    As Lily began to load up the locker with her books and various odds and ends she let the sounds of the hallway wash over her. Down the hall a pretty red head was holding court with her followers, clearly the top of the social ladder Lily noted. The only surprise came when she heard Sophia's voice join in with the popular crowd, she didn't see that coming. As a door slammed shut at the other end of the hall all the typical hustle and bustle of a high school came to a halt.

    Following the lead of everyone else Lily turned to stare down the hallway and was rather underwhelmed by the sight. It was a girl around her age with a long shock of black hair, she was maybe a bit taller than average but nothing remarkable. Certainly not anything that would seem to warrant all this attention. The girl ignored all this and just continued down the hall only pausing to share a smile with the red head and give her a quick wave. She came to a stop at a locker a few doors down from Lily.

    As she was walking past her Lily noticed that the locker was remarkably empty. The jacket the girl was wearing had been left behind and a carton of cigarettes had been removed and placed into the mystery girl's hoodie.

    Down the hall the red head had ditched Sophia and her other assorted crew and was jogging towards Lily. As the girl ran right past her and hugged the mystery girl Lily mentally revised her previous statement.

    "Taylor where were you all break? I tried to call you."

    The red head demanded after releasing her hug.

    "Sorry I was out of town. Had to get some fresh air."

    As Lily walked away she lost the thread of their conversation. (Which was something she would come to regret later).


    On her lunch break Lily quickly scarfed down the sandwich she'd brought in and decided to wander the school. As she was making her way down a hallway on the third floor, she started to think that maybe Ethan was right and there really wasn't anything to investigate. She'd looked over the school top to bottom and hadn't seen anything strange. It was just a typical worn down school in a not particularly great town.

    As she continued down the hallway she exchanged brief nods with that Taylor from that morning. The girl suddenly stiffened up as if she heard something and started to run in the opposite direction. Following possibly humanities oldest instinct the urge to chase after something if it's running Lily followed after her. As she charged down the hallway, she could began to hear fragments of a conversation.

    "Leave me alone."

    "Be quiet."

    "I won't do it."

    Ahead of her Taylor barreled her way in to the room the voice had been coming from. Lily paused for a moment to ponder the boys washroom sign on the door and wonder if she really wanted to do this.

    When she entered the bathroom she found herself watching as Taylor pulled a rather large young man in a letterman's jacket into a hug. The jock was sobbing into her neck as she tried to comfort him.

    "It's alright Pete, it's alright." Taylor murmured into his ear. "It's gone, it can't hurt you. Just tell me what it said."

    "He said I was worthless, that I didn't matter, that I didn't deserve to be happy." Pete stuttered out between sobs. "He told me my folks would be better off without me, I heard my mom say he was right."

    "You know that's bullshit." Taylor stated emphatically as she stood up. "I'm going to take care of this alright. You just remember don't listen to it if it comes back alright, you don't listen to it."

    Pete nodded and Taylor headed out absentmindedly shouldering past Lily who was starting to feel like everyone else in this room knew more than her. Including the victim of whoever this stranger was.

    Lily hesitated for just a moment before bolting after Taylor. She caught up to her in the hallway and grabbed her arm to stop her. Taylor spun around angrily letting out a snarl that barely sounded human.

    "WHAT." She growled.

    For a split-second Lily thought that she'd seen Taylor's eyes change color and her teeth were shockingly long but when she blinked there was just a normal if livid teenage girl glaring at her.

    "Look there's something weird going on around here and it seems like you're the only one who knows what it is." Lily demanded pushing a finger into Taylor's chest. "Tell me everything you know."

    Taylor looked down at the finger that was still poking her and with a smirk reached up and pushed it away.

    "Look, I'm sure you want to help but. Just stay out of the way all right. It's safer."

    Lily huffed in indignation and was about ready to unleash a blistering tirade on Taylor (and possibly reveal that she was a damn superhero) but missed her chance as Taylor just turned and walked away.

    "Oh, could you go get the nurse for Pete?" Taylor called over her shoulder. "Sounds like he had a rough time of it."

    Lily growled in frustration before turning off to follow the obnoxiously reasonable request. All the while wondering when exactly she had become the civilian here.


    For the rest of the day Lily tried to find Taylor and force some answers out of here but alas she remained just out of reach. They either didn't have any classes together (or the other girl was skipping) and in the hallways she was nowhere to be found.

    Until just after her last class when Lily was walking down towards the exit two streaks of red and black hair raced out of the library. Lily tried to follow but Taylor and that Emma girl had vanished into the crowd.

    Fine if they don't want to give me any answers maybe someone else will, Lily thought as she entered the library. As soon as Lily walked in the door it became obvious where Taylor and Emma had been. One of the librarians was desperately trying to clean up a table that was strewn about with books and newspapers and God only knew what else. Lily sidled up and put on her best pure innocent voice.

    "Oh my gosh. Whoever was working here must have been looking for something important." Lily gasped oh so sweetly.

    "I certainly hope so." The librarian grumbled before giving the polite workers smile to Lily.

    "Now what can I do for you young lady?"

    "Oh, I just wanted to ask if I could help that's all." Lily beamed.

    "Thank you dear, but no need for that." The librarian patted Lily on the head who managed to ignore the condescension. "It's just a bunch of old yearbooks I can get them put away in a snap." The librarian frowned to herself. "Wonder why Alvin Draper got them so excited though."

    "Alvin Draper?" Lily asked.

    "Oh, sad story that." The Librarian explained as she began loading up her cart. "He was a student here oh some forty years. He was bullied something awful and the time came that he just couldn't take it anymore. The first day back to school after Christmas he climbed to the top of the roof and well." She paused to wipe at her eyes quickly. "I'm sure you can guess the rest."

    Lily thanked her and started to make her way through the halls to the exit. She had all the pieces of the puzzle she was sure of it but she just couldn't put the pieces together. What did some poor bullied kid from forty years ago have to do with a stranger here and now. The first known Parahumans hadn't shown up until the 80s but could there have been ones in secret maybe?

    No that didn't feel right. If Draper was some kind of parahuman why wait until now to try for revenge? But what could it be if not that. Lily was drawing a blank and as she stood in the parking lot contemplating everything she was pulled out of her thoughts by a scream.

    "Oh my god!"

    "He's on the roof!!"

    "Fuck is that Pete?"

    Lily looked up and could see a figure standing on top of the school. He was moving oddly almost reluctantly and although she couldn't make out the words she could hear that he was yelling something. It felt like everything was happening in slow motion, she saw him jump, she heard Taylor and Emma scream from somewhere behind her, she saw his body land and crumple. She felt the two girls who were somehow at the center of all this rush past her, she saw Emma begin to apply first aid like it was second nature. Immobilizing the neck, attempting to staunch any bleeding and yelling for someone to call 9-11.

    "I'll handle this."

    With those words Taylor ran back into the school and Lily followed after her.


    Lily had always though that she was in decent shape, better than decent shape actually it was part of being a hero but it was a struggle keeping up with Taylor as she ran through the building. She even lost her a few times but luckily she was pretty sure she knew where the final destination was and as Lily made her way on to the roof the voice she could hear told her she was right.

    As she peaked through the door she could see Taylor pacing around the roof agitatedly.

    "Alright, Alvin I know you're here come on out!" She demanded.

    There was a pause and suddenly Taylor's arm lashed out like she was grabbing on to something. A moment passed and Lily began to wonder if she was following a crazy person but then something happened. Above Taylor's clenched fist a translucent face appeared and beneath that a neck and a torso and all the limbs typically carried by a person.

    "How, how did you know I was there?" The stranger asked.

    "You really don't know do you?" Taylor chuckled humorlessly. "Fine some quick lessons for you."

    She released his neck and then immediately punched him to the ground. She knelt down next to him and from where she was sitting Lily could see Taylor's eyes transform from a warm brown to a sharp amber.

    "Lesson one. You my friend in case you haven't figured it out are a ghost."

    The now identified ghost (and Lily would definitely be having an existential crisis about that later) laughed bitterly and with a gesture of his hand sent a bunch of rocks flying at Taylor who managed to roll out of the way of most of them. A single rock caught her on the cheek and cut it open.

    "Not bad." Taylor smirked. "Didn't think you were that far along. Now on to Lesson Two. Ghosts aren't the only things that go bump in the night."

    As she said this Taylor began to grow larger, her muscles bulged and fangs started to show through the smirk.

    "Lesson Three. Ghosts aren't the scariest things to go bump in the night."

    With that her body was now covered in fur, her face resembled that of a wolf but the eyes had the intelligence of a person. She was a –

    "Werewolf." Whispered both the ghost of Alvin Draper and Lily (who was regretting many of her life choice that had led her to this moment).

    "Good guess." Were-Taylor growled. "Werewolves are scarier than ghosts and that brings us to our final lesson. Don't fuck with a werewolf's territory."

    Taylor cracked her neck flexed her claws before giving a smile that would have been reassuring if it wasn't for the fangs.

    "Now I'm a live and let unlive kind of gal so tell you what if you stop messing with people. We won't have any problems."

    Alvin slowly rose back in to the air and contemplated the offer, finally he shook his head.

    "I can't." He said somberly. "Someone needs to make things right. To make them pay."

    Somehow the lupine face of Taylor managed to look distressed and she shook her head in refusal.

    "Alvin, Its been forty years. None of the people who hurt you are here anymore, none of these people did anything to you."

    Despite her reluctance Taylor crouched low almost as if getting ready to pounce.

    "I've watched them." Alvin ranted as he gestured with his hands and behind him a bunch of loose rocks and brick began to levitate. "This place is the same, these people are all the same, the rich and the strong and the beautiful thrive and the rest of us rot. They all need to pay."

    There was nothing more to be said and he sent the rocks and bricks flying towards Taylor who easily leaped over them. She landed on top of Alvin and jammed one of her claws into his chest.

    "Whatever's after this." Taylor whispered. "I hope its better."

    Then with a roar Taylor stabbed him with her second claw and in one smooth vicious motion tore the ghost in two. She remained crouched on the ground for a moment just breathing before finally standing up.

    "Glad that's over with."

    Taylor muttered as she walked towards the door to the school. She opened the door and was surprised to find herself face to face with Lily.

    Taylor looked Lily up and down while Lily for her part tried her best to not look like a delicious steak dinner.

    "Fuck."
    No I don't know why my muse decided now was the time to write this. I am not the one in charge here
     
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    • Bad Moon Rising: Chapter 2
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    • This is the first thing that got finished. Got a couple other chapters of things I'm working on in the works and they'll be up when they're done. In the meanwhile enjoy Lily struggling with her new world and a fair amount of exposition that hopefully stays semi interesting.
    On a chilly January afternoon Lily found herself in an isolated location with a tall and lean teenage girl. One who it must be said was bringing up memories of numerous tv-14 rated bad girls from a number of teenage dramas she'd watched over the years. Under ordinary circumstances this wouldn't be a cause for concern… Or at least not the type of concern that had her trying to subtly grab her phone from her pocket to input the panic code.

    However, these were not ordinary circumstances and as she stood across from the girl she'd seen transform into a nightmare of fangs and muscle Lily tried her best to look non-threatening.

    "Look." The girl began. "I don't know what you think you saw but it's not what you -."

    However, she was going to finish that sentence would remain a mystery for the ages as the door behind Lily flew open. As the pretty red head Lilly had seen around the school walked out into the ongoing confrontation, she failed to notice Lily in favor of the phone she was looking at.

    "Hey Taylor the ambulance finally got here and took Pete to the hospital. They're saying he should be okay. Now did you take care of the ghost or"

    In the middle of her sentence the red head finally looked up from her phone and realized that the rooftop was not quite the private location she'd assumed. Nearby Taylor put her face in her hands and groaned. Emma's eyes darted back and forth between Taylor and Lily before she let out a sigh and began the damage assessment.

    "So." Emma began awkwardly. "Did she?"

    "Yup." Taylor replied.

    "And has she?"

    "Not yet."

    "That's good." Emma paused for a moment. "Have you told her anything?"

    "Not yet."

    Emma nodded to herself quickly and after flashing Lily a quick smile which Lily returned for lack of any other response, she trotted over to Taylor's side. Fishing briefly in her purse she pulled out a pack of cigarettes which she quickly replaced with her phone and held one out to Taylor. Without a word Taylor took it and placed it in her mouth at which point Emma held up a lighter and flipped it on.

    "You dropped this on the way up."

    Emma said casually as Taylor bent over slightly to light the cigarette in her mouth.

    "Thanks Ems." Taylor replied as she idly puffed on her cigarette and contemplated Lily. "So, how much did you see?"

    Lily blinked in confusion at being addressed and as she slowly removed her phone from her pocket decided that her best bet was to keep everybody talking.

    "Well, you came up and started yelling at nothing and then you grabbed somebody invisible and started hitting him. Then there was something about ghosts and werewolves and you transformed and ripped him apart."

    Taylor and Emma both closed their eyes and winced in unison. Recovering quickly Emma gave Lily her sunniest smile and began to do what she did best.

    "Listen, it's Lily right?"

    Emma said softly as she walked over to stand in front of her and at Lily's hesitant nod Emma quickly clasped her hands and leaned in close to her while putting on her best doe eyes.

    "I know that what you saw was confusing but I promise Taylor and I can explain everything."

    "Are you sure that's a good." Taylor began to interject before being silenced by Emma's fierce glare.

    "Never mind. Happy to exposit."

    Emma turned back to Lily and put on her charm face once more.

    "Alright, good." Lily began hesitantly. "So, you're capes right? Why uh, why haven't you joined the Wards I bet they'd be happy to have you."

    "No, not capes." Taylor replied as she strolled over to the two of them. "The world's a lot bigger than just capes and costumes. He was a ghost, I'm a werewolf. I didn't want him haunting the school any longer so I took care of it." She breathed out a stream of smoke and continued. "There, now I need to know are you going to tell anyone about this?"

    As Lily glared at her and Emma stomped on her foot for being so undiplomatic, Taylor just stared back at them unrepentant. Realizing that would be the best she was going to get Emma let out a sigh and went back to trying to salvage this.

    "While not exactly how I would put it." Emma said glaring lightly at Taylor who just smirked back. "That's basically the gist of it and." Emma paused and when she continued on her voice was chocked with emotion. "Look you really do have to keep this to yourself alright. For Taylor's sake."

    "For Taylor's sake." Lily sputtered. "I just saw her kill someone. That's not something."

    "He was already dead." Taylor interrupted. "Alvin Draper died the spring of 61, cause of death suicide. He was the victim of long-term bullying and it was believed that was what pushed him to take his own life. A few days before the break his spirit started to manifest and I figured it would keep until after the holidays. He'd remained dormant for decades I didn't think he would get this powerful so quickly. I was wrong and I dealt with it. He's where he should have gone fifty years ago"

    "Okay, fine." Lily snapped back. "Say, I believe you. You're a werewolf, he was a ghost and you just sent him to the great beyond. Why does it have to be a secret?" I mean someone nearly died here shouldn't the cops or the Protectorate know?"

    Taylor let out a disturbingly loud snarl as she clenched her fists and glared at Lily.

    "I handled it."

    Next to her Emma reached out and grabbed Taylor's hand and with a deep breath Taylor visibly began to calm down. After a quick squeeze of the hand Emma began to try to explain.

    "I know this is nuts but it really is important that we keep this all quiet because if people found out about Taylor." Emma trailed off and looked down with a haunted look in her eyes.

    "Best case scenario is I get conscripted into one of the gangs." Taylor said as she stamped out her cigarette. A pointed silence fell between the trio.

    "And what's the worst case scenario?" Lily asked in a quiet voice. Taylor gave a dark chuckle and replied.

    "Someone gets a Wolf skin rug."

    A shrill ring cut the tension and with a curse Emma began fumbling for her phone.

    "Hello."

    "Shoot, yeah we're on our way."

    Hanging up the phone she looked between the three of them before leaning up to whisper into Taylor's ear.

    "That was Aunt Annette. We really gotta go. They're all waiting on us."

    Taylor gave her a silent nod and turned to Lily with desperation in her eyes.

    "We got to go. Look, we've explained everything we can, if you have any more questions, we'll answer them but please, just keep quiet about this."

    Taylor put out her hand and waited for a response. Slowly Lily reached out and shook her hand.

    "Deal." Lily stated.

    Taylor gripped her hand tightly for a moment before letting go.

    "Deal."

    With that said and the pact sealed Taylor gave a quick firm nod towards Lily and headed for the door. Emma following behind gave Lily a quick wave and fleeting goodbye before the door slammed shut behind her leaving Lily alone on the rooftop. Finally, she turned to follow suit and headed down the stairs idly playing with her phone all the while.


    Once more Flechette found herself making the long slow trek towards Armsmaster's office and as she made her way down the fifth nearly identical non-descript corridor, she began to mutter to herself.

    "Seriously why the hell would he put his office all the way back here?" She grumbled to herself. "In New York Legend's office was right after you got off the elevator, in Chicago Myrddin was right next to Director Murphy. Nice and simple but not Armsmaster oh no, he's got to be at the end of a damn maze."

    "I like the privacy." A voice said from behind her.

    As she turned her head ever so slowly Flechette found herself face to beard with the Protectorate Leader. She gave him an awkward smile and a stuttering apology which he ignored as he leaned against the wall across from her and crossed his arms.

    "I heard what happened at Winslow." Armsmaster said without any preamble. "Did you uncover anything?"

    Lily hesitated thinking back on both the vicious power of the wolf and the vulnerability in Taylor's eyes as she implored her to keep her secret. In an instant she imagined what would happen if she told Armsmaster everything she knew. Flechette would be remembered as the hero who discovered the monsters in the dark and dragged them into the light, who led the charge against the forces of the night, and then she remembered Taylor's bitter joke about a Wolf skin rug.

    "No sir." Lily replied. "There were a few rumors flying about but nothing solid I can act on."

    Armsmaster contemplated her silently and for a moment Lily could swear, she could swear that he knew she was lying. Finally, mercifully he dismissed her with a nod of the head and a few parting words.

    "Understandable, I suppose it was too much to hope to crack the case in one day." He gave her the quirk of the lips that served as his smile. "Just keep your ear to the ground. Now as for your first patrol you're going to be partnered with Shadow Stalker. The south sides usually fairly quiet so this should just be a nice and easy introduction to the city."

    Having said all that he intended to say Armsmaster turned and walked away. After he rounded the corner there was the sound of a door opening and closing.

    "So, I'll just meet her in the common room?" Flechette asked the empty hallway. "Yeah, I'll just meet her in the common room."


    January 7th, 2011
    The wee hours of the morning.

    To Flechette's shock Shadow Stalker turned out to be a surprisingly great patrol partner. She knew the city like the back of her hand, was eager to share her knowledge and was a fantastic partner for shoot the fleeing mugger.

    "And that's that."

    Shadow Stalker said with satisfaction as she watched the would-be criminal fall to the ground thanks to her trusty tranq darts. With evident satisfaction in her every movement she turned on her comm device.

    "Yo, Clock we got a gangbanger needing pickup. Looks like an ABB recruit. Probably an initiation."

    "Got it, good work you two. Just to confirm you're on Chaney drive, right?"

    "That's right." Flechette responded. "Just south of Lugoshi avenue."

    She looked to Shadow Stalker for confirmation and got a nod and a thumbs up as a response. There was the sound of typing from the other end of the line for about a minute before Clockblocker started speaking again.

    "Perfect, I've got a patrol about fifteen minutes out from you. If you guys could just hang out until they get there and give your reports. I think we can call it a night."

    "Sounds good Clock." Shadow Stalker replied as she took a seat on the rooftop. "We'll let you know when we've wrapped everything up here."

    "Sounds good. I'll leave you to it. I got this training module Militia wants me to do and now's the only time I got. If there's an emergency then I'll ding ya, otherwise radio silence from now on."

    "Good luck, Clockblocker." Flechette said before he clicked off.

    On the edge of the roof Shadow Stalker stretched and leaned back on her arms.

    "Come on pull up some roof." She said patting the spot next to her. "Might as well be comfortableish while we wait."

    With a shrug Lily joined her and looked out over the city lost in thought and wondering what to say to Shadow Stalker now that work was out of the picture for a few minutes.

    "So, you and that Barnes girl seemed tight." Lily's mouth said with absolutely no input from her brain.

    "Emma." Sophia replied with confusion clear in her voice. "Yeah, we're buds. Why do you want me to introduce you?"

    Somehow even through a full-face mask Sophia managed to give the impression that she was waggling her eyebrows. Feeling her cheeks begin to flush Lily internally cursed the fact that her costume left her face exposed.

    "No, no, no." Lily stuttered waving her arms in dismissal of the frankly ludicrous notion. "Nothing like that I actually met her and that friend of hers Taylor. I just wanted to know if they were worth getting to know. Y'know."

    "Uhhuh." Sophia drawled. "Like I said Emma's cool I say go for it."

    "And what about Taylor?"

    Lily asked in as casual a voice as she could manage. Sophia looked at her for a good thirty seconds before putting her face in her hands.

    "What did you see?" Sophia mumbled into her hands.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Look weird shit happens around Hebert alright. Everybody knows it, nobody wants to talk about it. Now what did you see?" Sophia demanded.

    "Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the moon is fully and bright."

    "This ain't poetry hour at the grind house just tell me what happened!" Sophia snarled.

    "Fine, fine." Lily rolled her eyes. "There'd been reports of some weird things going on at Winslow and Armsmaster wanted me to keep an eye out. At every step of the way I kept running into Taylor and Emma." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Long story short after that football player jumped Taylor ran up to the roof and I followed her. She started yelling at the air and I thought she was going nuts when she suddenly grabbed onto something and a guy came out of nowhere. Taylor said he was a ghost and that she was a Werewolf."

    As the memory of that transformation and the snarling fangs ran through her mind Lily unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself.

    "Her and the ghost fought and she killed it I guess." Lily shrugged and trailed off. "After all that her and Emma asked me to keep things to myself and I'm just not really sure what to do."

    Sophia took off her mask and looked out into the night.

    "Keep it to yourself." Seeing Lily gaping at her in confusion Sophia continued explaining. "I don't know all the details but Taylor and Emma take care of some nasty stuff and if they're saying it's best that it stays on the down low then I say we trust them."

    "How can you be sure?" Lily asked.

    "You aren't the only one who had a run in." Sophia smirked. "This was bout two years back, before I joined the Wards. I was patrolling and I came across the ABB attacking Emma and her Dad. I was watching what was going down and Emma was… Interesting."

    "How so?"

    "She wasn't scared of them, she just stared them down and it was like they were nothing to her. I took out the idiots and left before the cops arrived. A few days later I tracked Emma down and told her who I was and she and I started becoming friends." A small nostalgic smile came across Sophia's face.

    "She would never shut up about this friend of hers Taylor Hebert. Always talking about books her and Taylor had read, everywhere we went she had some story about the two of them and that place. Eventually I decided that Taylor was prey and Emma needed to cut the deadweight."

    "Prey?!" Lily interjected and caused Sophia to look down in embarrassment.

    "I had this whole idea that the world was divided into Predator and Prey and I was a Predator." Lily gave her a decidedly unimpressed stare. "Look I was fourteen and stupid." Sophia said defensively. "Now are you going to let me finish the story?"

    "Go on."

    "Anyways near the end of the summer Taylor came back from some camp she was at and her and Emma were hugging and squeeing over each other. I guess I got jealous and in my infinite wisdom decided that if I beat up Taylor then Emma would be just my friend. I picked a fight and Taylor kicked my ass and Emma told me to get out."

    "Wow, you were a bit of a bitch."

    Slipped out of Lily's mouth. Sophia stared at her in shock before letting out a small chuckle and with a somewhat fond shake of her head she continued on.

    "Pretty sure that's Taylor." Sophia snarked quickly. "Anyways I was wandering around feeling sorry for myself that night and I saw Taylor and Emma sneaking around the docks. I decided to follow them, figured I could at least get some kind of dirt on them or something. We ended up in this abandoned corner of the waterfront and Emma lit some kind of weird lamp. I remember seeing some weird fish looking people coming out and then there was singing and it all goes fuzzy."

    "What happened next?"

    Sophia shrugged and continued on in a whisper almost as if she was talking to herself.

    "I came out of it and Taylor and Emma were standing over me saying it would all be okay. I remember thinking this was what it's like to be prey for something and they saved me." Her voice grew stronger. "I don't know exactly what happened but I know they're the good guys. If they want you to keep quiet, you should keep quiet."

    The red and blue lights of the Brockton Bay PD came into view as the squad cars took a turn around and began to head towards them. Shadow Stalker put her mask back on and sprang to her feet.

    "And that's quitting time."

    She leapt into the night and a moment later Flechette followed after her.


    January 7th, 2011
    The Afternoon

    As the bell rang out signalling freedom to bored adolescents all across the Brockton Bay School District Lily dashed for the door. Dodging her way around everyone else in the hallway with almost suspicious ease, she remained entirely focused on her targets. Finally, she caught sight of them standing by the exit of the school. Emma talking at a mile a minute about something and Taylor listening with a fond smile on her face as she worked on the last dregs of her cigarette. As Lily got closer she could pick up a bit of the conversation.

    "So, I was thinking this weekend we could go over your Mom's notes."

    Emma was saying before Taylor cut her off with a look.

    "Lily, good to see you." Taylor said cautiously.

    "Look, I haven't told anyone anything but I need to know what's all going on. So can we talk?"

    Lily asked with just a hint of demanding. Emma and Taylor exchanged looks and through the secret best friend language consisting of eyebrow raises, slight nods, rolled eyes and flared nostrils they conferred. Eventually they deigned to switch to verbal communication so that Lily may follow along.

    "Should we do it at your place?" Taylor asked.

    "No, my Dad's got this party with a bunch of his contacts. The house is gonna be full."

    "That's good we'll have cover no one would be able to hear us." Emma gave her a flat look. "If Mom finds out someone saw me she's going to freak."

    "I get that Tay, I do. But Jake's bringing his kid. Do you really want to put up with Paul all afternoon?"

    "We should do it at my place."

    "Yes, we should do it at your place."

    As one they turned to look at Lily who felt rather like a bug under a microscope.

    "Fine, I suppose after what you saw you deserve to know the truth." Taylor said. "Come on my house is a bit of walk."

    With that said Taylor began to walk off leaving Lily and Emma behind.

    "She's not being rude." Emma assured Lily. "At least she's not meaning to be rude. Taylor just kind of looks at things a bit different. I really think she likes you."

    Giving Lily a beaming smile Emma gestured grandly for her to go first and feeling light hearted for a moment, Lily gave her a quick bow and headed after Taylor with Emma following behind.


    As they approached the Hebert household (a relatively well-maintained home in the docks with the only issue a slightly rotten second step on the porch) Lily was blessed to see a rather rare and unique sight. A nervous Taylor Hebert.

    "Okay, cars not in the driveway." Taylor murmured to herself as they approached the door. "That's a good sign, watch the step, lights are off. I think we're good."

    Letting out a sigh of relief Taylor slowly opened the door and stepped inside. As she turned on the light she called out.

    "Hey Mom are you here?"

    Taylor waited for a response and when none came, she let out a huge sigh of relief and waved the two girls in and gestured for them to sit on the couch. As Emma and Lily sat down Taylor sat down in the beat up old easy chair across from them.

    "So, you have questions." Taylor stated.

    "Yeah, I guess to start if Werewolves and Ghosts are real, what else is?"

    "Pretty much everything as near as we can tell" Emma answered. "Sirens, fairies, vampires." Her ordinarily pleasant speaking voice turned into a growl on the last word.

    "Em's you need to let that go." Taylor groaned.

    "No Vampires are a bunch of jerks who lead a girl on only to break her heart." Emma snarled as she went into a rant. "You can't be with me I'm a monster. You don't tell Emma Barnes what to do Damian! My best friend is a monster for crying out loud!!!!"

    Emma swiftly turned and offered Taylor an apologetic smile.

    "No offence sweetie."

    "It's fine hun."

    With that Emma leaned back on the couch with her face in a pout. Taylor turned to Lily and mouthed the words 'long story'.

    "Alright, but how do you keep all this a secret?" Lily asked. "I mean I saw you transform it's not exactly subtle."

    Taylor cocked her head to the side as she contemplated the question.

    "It's a lot of little things mostly." She began slowly. "To start with a lot of the more big and powerful folks left earth back around the industrial revolution. The Seelie courts, some of the nature spirits that type of thing. As for the rest there aren't a lot of us. At last count there were maybe a thousand Werewolves in the world for example. Then of course there's the onset of capes so if we're seen there's a plausible explanation people can go to before monsters are real. Add in the fact that most try to keep a low profile and we're able to be relatively safe. There are people out there who know of course but most of us try to stay away from them."

    "Why stay away from people who know about you?" Lily asked. "Wouldn't they be able to help especially if you are trying to stay out of sight."

    "They aren't exactly friendly." Emma replied.

    "This is second hand but the way it was told to me." Taylor began. "Is that way back in the day Werewolves lived in the wild places. The places humans wouldn't go. They stayed to their towns and villages and we stayed to our woods. That didn't last though humans began to expand pushing deeper and deeper into the woods. At first, we would just fall farther back figuring that would be enough and there was still plenty to share. But the humans always wanted more."

    Emma and Taylor both looked down their face solemn and Lily began to feel like something of an intruder before the story resumed.

    "At some point we realized that if we wanted to keep our home we'd need to fight back and a war began. We attacked human settlements and they attacked us and it continued on for years. Lives were lost on both sides until eventually the elders of the pack realized that the humans had the advantage of numbers. Werewolves don't breed quickly but you people make rabbits look slow. For every human we killed there would be three more to take their place. It would be long and drawn out but eventually we would lose. So, the order was given that the pack was to separate. Scatter ourselves to the four winds in the hopes that smaller packs could slip through the world humans were creating without being noticed. The plan worked and Werewolves faded into legend but some of the human warriors past down the stories to their children and the hunters were formed."

    "The hunters." Lily prompted for more.

    "The original idea was that they would just be a protection for humans in case a Werewolf or something else tried to start a war again. When that didn't happen, I guess they got bored. They started hunting Werewolves and anything else they could find for sport." Emma explained. "They um."

    Emma hesitated trying to find the right words to continue.

    "They killed my Dad and left Brockton Bay thinking he was the only one." Taylor said in a robotic voice. "I was still just a pup, I couldn't even transform yet but if they ever find out I'm here they'll come back for me."

    "That's why it's so important that you stay quiet about this." Emma implored Lily.

    "I swear I won't tell anyone. But if it's so important that no one knows about you, why did you fight that ghost and from the sounds of it that wasn't the first time."

    Taylor shrugged helplessly.

    "This is my home. What else could I do?"

    A somber silence fell over the group. As a loud clap rang through the room Taylor and Lily both stared at Emma in confusion.

    "Alright this has just gotten depressing." Emma chirped. "Let's move onto something more fun please. Lily, do you have any questions that won't bum us all out?"

    "Sure, I guess." Lily replied. "Do you have to transform on the night of the full moon?"

    "That's a bit of an exaggeration."

    A mature woman's voice said from behind them and as Emma and Lily turned around a look of horror came across Taylor's face.

    "Their power is tied to the moon so when it's full they get amped up so to speak and it becomes harder to stay human but it's not forced upon them." The lady continued before fixing her eyes on Taylor. "Now why don't you introduce me to your friend sweetie and tell me why she's hearing all of this."

    "Well, uh Mom." Taylor stuttered. "This is Lily and do you remember that spectre we told you about?"

    Annette nodded and motioned for Taylor to continue.

    "Over the break it became a full-fledged ghost and it was targeting Pete. We couldn't track it down before it convinced him to jump from the roof."

    "Oh no." Annette gasped covering her mouth in horror.

    "Yeah, I went up to the roof and could still smell the ghost there. We fought and well Lily saw us."

    "I'm not going to tell anyone." Lily said quickly. "I just wanted to know all of what was going on. That's all."

    "She swore Mom." Taylor said gravely.

    Annette nodded in acceptance of this but there was a small frown on her face.

    "I see. I have some work to do in my office I'll leave you girls to it."

    With those words she headed up the stairs leaving the three of them alone.

    "So that was your Mom?"

    Taylor and Emma both nodded.

    "I get why you were nervous about this."

    "It's not anything personal." Taylor said. "After what happened with Dad she's just a little protective."

    "I get it." Lily replied. "So, on a less awkward topic I get why you do all this Taylor but how did you get caught up in the craziness Emma?"

    Emma let out a dramatic sigh and walked over to be next to Taylor where upon draping herself over her long-suffering friend she began her tale.

    "Once, I was but a perfectly normal girl." Taylor let out a snort of disbelief and after taking a moment to glare at her best friend Emma continued. "I was once a girl who was at least 85% normal but then I made friends with Taylor. For the first few years there was nothing that would indicate there was anything strange about her but on one fateful day everything changed."

    Taylor cupped her hands to her mouth.

    "Get on with it!"

    "Fine at the request of the plebians in the crowd I won't bother with any flourishes or stylistic descriptions of the story."

    "We thank you." Taylor and Lily said simultaneously.

    "Jerks." Emma muttered before continuing on. "Three years ago, I started doing modelling on the side and on one of my shoots things just kept going wrong. The lights would break, clothes would go missing and when they were found they'd be shredded. Just a lot of weird, weird shit happening all at once. One day I was telling this one about it and Taylor insisted on coming with me the next day."

    "You really should have suspected something was up when that happened." Taylor said idly.

    "Yeah, but I was just oh so excited that my best friend was finally taking an interest in what I was doing." Emma swooned while batting her eyes. "Anyways while they were getting their shots of me, I saw Taylor slipping away. After it was all finished, I tried to track her down. At some point I could hear some weird sounds from behind one of the doors. When I opened the door, I found Taylor surrounded by a bunch of fairies."

    "Pixies." Taylor corrected her.

    "What's the difference?" Emma asked.

    "Look on the scale Pixies are way down here." Taylor said as leaned over and put her hand on the floor. "While Faeries are way up somewhere round the attic."

    "Fine, fine you were surrounded by Pixies." Emma said while rolling her eyes. "I still don't see what the big deal is."

    "The big deal is that if one of the Fae hears you say that they are going to get offended." Taylor fumed. "And they are going to come here and I'm the one who's going to have to fight them and I really don't want to do that."

    "Fine, fine. If any of the Fae are listening I sincerely and humbly apologize." Emma intoned.

    "Thank you."

    "Can I finish my story now?"

    "Go on."

    "Much appreciated."

    Lily was raptly watching this back and forth and found herself wishing that she'd brought a score card.

    "Anyways like I was saying I found Taylor surrounded by Pixies." Emma gave a pointed look at Taylor who just smirked back. "I panicked thinking it was some kind of weird cape or something and charged in yelling at them to leave Taylor alone. That was when I realized that she'd turned and was beating up the Pixies."

    "It Wasn't tough." Taylor said. "The hardest part was tracking down the little jerks."

    "I'm sure." Emma replied. "Anyways Taylor told me pretty much what we told you and I've been tagging along on these capers ever since."

    "Capers." Taylor raised an eyebrow. "What are you a thirties detective?"

    "Unlike some people I have sophistication." Emma sniffed before turning to Lily with a grin. "So any more questions?"

    "Just one." Lily replied. "Can I help?"

    "What do you mean?" Taylor sputtered.

    "I mean I figure that Ghost isn't going to be the only weird thing that happens. Heck you two pretty much said that and so when the next spook shows up. I want to help deal with it."

    Once more Emma and Taylor began to silently confer with each other but this time Lily tried to follow along. Taylor wrinkling her nose either meant research or she was disagreeing with a red card being issued, Emma raising an eyebrow mean she'd agreed with whatever Taylor's pursed lips meant. At some point Lily gave up and just hoped that continued exposure would lead to fluency. Finally, the two turned back to Lily.

    "You're in." They said simultaneously.

    "Don't see that we got much of a choice." Taylor snarked before letting out a grunt as Emma elbowed her in the ribs.

    "That's nice." Annette's voice said from the stairs. "I just love to see you making new friends Taylor, but it's getting late and I think it's time that Lily went home."

    "Of course, Mrs. Hebert." Lily said as she got up from the couch. "I should really get going to make my bus."

    "Oh, there's no need for that I'd be happy to give you a lift." Annette replied airily. "I'm sure these two can entertain themselves for a little while."

    "Really there's no need-"

    Lily stopped speaking when Annette gave her the glare all mothers instinctively know and gave the only appropriate response.

    "Yes ma'am. Thank you very much ma'am."


    The two had driven most of the way in a silently tense silence save for Lily's occasional direction. This tentative peace was broken about four blocks away from their final destination when Annette pulled over to the side of the road.

    "Now Lily I think we should have a little chat."

    "Okay, what did you want to talk about?" Lily asked nervously.

    "I'm human." Annette began. "Just like you and when I found out my Danny was something else I did what any self-respecting academic would do, I started studying everything I could. I learned about the history of the Werewolves, their customs and culture, their myths and legends. It's sad really, we've reduced them to nothing more than beasts in our minds but they have a society as rich as ours."

    "That's fascinating but what's it got to do with me?"

    "I'm getting to that." Annette snapped. "One of the things I noticed is that they were more uniform in personality than humans tend to be. Oh, they are still all individuals, Taylor is very different than Danny was but there are certain constants. I think it's a result of them being products of magic. But I digress. Wolves are proud, honorable and forthright. You'll never find a truer friend or a more dedicated enemy but no matter which you are they'll always be honest about their intention. They'll meet you fang to fang and claw to claw as Danny liked to say."

    Annette paused for a moment to wipe away a stray tear before continuing on.

    "They can be cunning in a fight but subterfuge, lying, intentional deception from someone who claims to be a friend. That's not something they can conceive of easily." She looked Lily dead in the eyes.

    "That's how the Hunters got Danny, they'd never be able to take him in a straight fight and so they lied. One of them infiltrated the faculty at Brockton Bay University and became my friend and eventually Danny's friend. He claimed to be an anthropologist studying myths of Werewolves throughout the world and eventually he wormed his way into our trust and Danny told him what he was. The two of them went off into the woods alone together so Danny could show him everything and it was a trap. There was a fight and thankfully Danny was able to kill the bastard who sold us out so none of them knew about Taylor or myself. It seemed he had enough decency at least to not want to murder a child."

    "That's horrible." Lily gasped.

    "Yes, it was." Annette replied. "We humans always were good at being cruel and conniving but now we come to my point. I trusted someone with the knowledge of who the people I loved are and it left me with a dead husband I couldn't bury and a little girl asking why Daddy couldn't read to her anymore." Her face went completely cold. "Taylor and Emma trust you and I'm willing to take their lead on that for the time being. However, if I suspect even for a moment, that you are a threat to those girls… Well like I said humans are very, very good at being cruel and conniving. Do you understand me?"

    Lily nodded her head and Annette gave her a brilliant smile.

    "Wonderful now let's get you home."
    And so our team is assembled and the real fun can begin. In the meantime roll the credits.


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfvYHUWuq9k
     
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    • Bad Moon Rising: Episode 3 part 1
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    • I had too much fun with this and couldn't stop thinking of the next part of the story. Now for just a little bit of house keeping.
    For this one I'm trying something different with it being a two parter. I want to set it up so the first half is the introduction to whatever the mystery/monster of the week is and the next is investigation and confrontation. We'll see how it works when the experiment is over. The second part of this should be up by the end of the week, start of next at the latest.
    After that the next thing I'm working on is Hero of The Bay, followed by a chapter of Winslow 9 and then back to Wildcat. Going to be an Armsmaster chapter so we can see how his investigation is going (I worked out a bit of a better roadmap so hopefully I can start picking up speed on the pacing a bit). Afterwards I want to get some of the other snippet ideas I've talked about down on a word processor so we'll see which comes first there

    January 10,
    Far, Far, Far too early

    As Lily sat in the cold, dim office room that had been put aside for the Wards weekly briefing she pondered numerous questions of various import. The three most pressing of which were in this order. Where is Armsmaster? Who the hell decided this meeting should be held so damn early when they were all in school and as a follow up could she maim them without being caught? The last of which wasn't directly relevant to what was happening but Lily felt it still deserved investigation, are Tieflings real? Later to her disappointment Taylor would inform her that as far as she knew they were merely the invention of very lonely designers of Tabletop RPGS.

    It was only when she was contemplating just storming out and taking the hit to her reputation that the door opened. Surprisingly as she turned her eyes to where she expected to see the helmeted head of the Protectorate's illustrious leader, she found nothing but air. She looked down and further down still until finally she saw a short though very broad figure. This figure arched an eyebrow at her and offered a surprisingly friendly and pretty grin.

    "Flechette?" The unnamed lady said.

    "We haven't been properly introduced. I'm Armsmaster's executive assistant, you can just call me Arrin." With that said she turned to look at the room as a whole and her voice took on a more authoritative tone. "Sadly, Armsmaster is preoccupied today so I'll be taking over the briefing."

    At the far end of the room Shadow Stalker leaned in to whisper something to Vista.

    "Working on a new toy?"

    Vista elbowed Shadow Stalker in the side and tried to supress her giggles while Arrin carried on as if nothing had happened.

    "As the head of the East North East division, he has many responsibilities which he must see too. For the moment this one has been delegated to me. Now if I may continue."

    Her steely tone and slightly disapproving frown caused everyone to turn their attention to her and sit just a little straighter in their seat.

    "Thank you, now truth be told there's not much to say so let's just get through this quick, shall we?"

    She produced a small clicker from somewhere and a map of Brockton Bay was projected onto the wall across from Lily. With another click two sections in the east end were highlighted.

    "To start we've noticed an increase in Empire activity in sections 7 and 8. The cause for this seems to be the actions of a new arrival on the scene. One Rachel Lindt alias Hellhound."

    A picture of a rather thuggish looking girl surrounded by large and monstrous looking dogs replaced the map of the city.

    "It would appear that she has decided to settle in Brockton Bay for the time being and has taken exception to Hookwolf's dogfighting rings."

    "What are her powers?" Vista interjected (Lily suppressed a smile at her young coworkers attempt to deepen her voice probably to sound more professional).

    "Good question Vista. The long and the short of it is that she can enhance canines to make them more vicious and seems to be able to assert some control over them. They are your only physical threat. If you can get past them to her, she's just your garden variety teenage girl. At the moment you are cleared to engage her if she is alone although I strongly recommend you wait for back up."

    Sophia had raised her hand at some point and having come to a natural halt in her speech Arrin gave her a small smile and gestured for her to speak.

    "What's our goal with her? Are we trying to bring her in or take her down?"

    Arrin seemed to contemplate the question for a moment, almost nodding to herself as she worked through it before answering Sophia's question.

    "Officially Hellhound has been designated a villain." She began. "However there have been some questions raised about how her case was handled initially. If it's at all possible please attempt a diplomatic resolution to this. I, that is to say Armsmaster would very much like to speak with her. Still if she gets violent you are of course free to defend yourselves. Our first priority is you all getting home safe."

    There were nods around the room and seeing that there didn't appear to be any follow up questions Arrin continued on.

    "A more detailed briefing and dossier on Hellhound is going to be sent to your emails within the hour. Now to continue the standard Empire engagement protocols are in place and I'm sure we all remember what those are." Arrin gave a pointed look to Vista who gave a sheepish grin and shrug. With a mildly fond eyeroll Arrin carried on. "Hang back, call for back up, do not engage on your own. Understand." The entire room nodded their understanding and she carried on.

    "Look guys." She sighed. "I don't want to run a refresher training session on threat assessment and engagement protocols and you don't want to sit through one. Just don't be stupid out there. Now for our last new piece of business a few nights ago Shadow Stalker and Flechette brought in an ABB member who was just going through his initiation. He confirmed in interrogation that they are doing an aggressive recruitment campaign so keep your eyes open on patrol and keep your ears to the ground. Any new information well be passed along to you as it is discovered. Now let's go over the duty roster for the next two weeks."

    For the remainder of the hour the meeting dissolved into background noise with Lily only coming out of her stupor when her name was mentioned it seemed that for the next few days, she'd be undergoing training and onboarding procedures every day after school. Starting the following Monday she would be working the console).


    Some time later Lily found herself in the passenger seat of Sophia's truck being driven to Winslow. Turning her gaze from the window she offered Sophia a small smile and tried to break the silence.

    "Thanks for the lift. I wasn't looking forward to figuring out the bus schedule from here."

    At the steering wheel Sophia gave a casual shrug as she signalled left and immediately started turning the wheel.

    "No worries, we were headed the same place anyways." Sophia paused for the moment and began to drum her fingers on the wheel. "So, what happened with you and Hebert?"

    "We talked." Lily said slowly. "I think we're good for now."

    "Cool, cool. Does she know about uhh the after school job?" Sophia asked.

    Lily shook her head.

    "No, not yet. It's kind of a big thing, right? I mean it's not just me it could put Sam and Ethan's identities at risk too."

    "How do you figure that?"

    "I mean a new ward transfers into town and gets placed with a foster family. It's not too much of a leap to they must be connected with the Protectorate and Assault and Battery aren't shy about the flirting soooo."

    "I guess." Sophia said with a bit of a chuckle to her words. "Still neither of them are stupid, it's probably going to come out eventually. Especially if you're on team weird."

    "You're probably right." Lily nodded. "I just need a bit of time is all. I never really had to tell anyone before. Everyone I knew was either PRT, Wards or in the Protectorate." An awkward silence fell over the cab of the truck as Sophia looked her over with something dangerously close to sympathy in her eyes.

    "So, what's the deal with that Arrin person?" Lily asked in a desperately cheery tone. "Even if Armsmaster couldn't do the briefing I would have figured Miss Militia would handle it."

    Sophia grabbed onto the offered subject change with both hands and Lily felt a sudden burst of affection for her colleague.

    "There's some tension between Armsmaster and Militia, none of us really know how it started but outside of sometimes giving her field command on a big operation he really doesn't give her much to do."

    "Any guesses why?" Lily asked.

    "I overheard him talking to about it once." Sophia replied. "I was meeting with him about my… recruitment into the Wards and I must've got there early. I just heard him grousing about how she would do exactly what he told her. No more, no less and he couldn't be directing her all the time. But I don't know if that's how Militia would explain it so." Sophia shrugged and continued driving.

    "Alright, so Armsmaster and Miss Militia don't really work together but what's the deal with this Arrin?"

    "She's been Armsy's assistant for years." Sophia explained. "At least since he was with the strike teams and he's seriously reliant on her. Stay on her good side, trust me on this. If she's got an issue with you that's all Armsmaster needs to hear."

    "He trusts her that much."

    "He lets her help him work on his tech."

    "Wow."


    Lily rushed through the hallways of Winslow High School ducking around jocks, weaving through nerds and slipping through cheerleaders (at a respectful distance) to make her way to her first period. As she slid into a seat behind Taylor mere seconds before the bell rang and noticed that the teacher hadn't arrived yet, she breathed a sigh of relief. From her customary seat next to Taylor Emma turned around and gave Lily a playful grin.

    "You didn't need to rush here. It's the tenth."

    "And what does that mean?" Lily snarked and finally having finally deigned to take notice of the conversation Taylor cocked her head to the side in confusion. Having gained the audience that she was looking for, Emma puffed herself up and prepared to bestow her wisdom on these poor lost souls.

    "You see, on this very day one year ago a certain Mr. Jason Issacs served divorce papers to one Mrs. Penelope Issacs, maiden name Ducharme who happens to be an English teacher at Winslow high school. Who in fact should be coming through that door in." Emma looked at an imaginary watch on her wrist and began counting down. "5, 4, 3, 2,"

    The door flung open and a haggard woman stormed in and slammed herself down behind the large oak desk at the front of the room. She took her sunglasses off of her face and looked around the room with bloodshot eyes.

    "Aright, the first unit is going to be on Shakespeare and I think it's best to start things off easily." She said doing a rather remarkable job at keeping her voice steady and in control. "So, we're going to watch an adaptation of one of his plays to get us started. Now I just need a volunteer to go get a tv from the AV room."

    She paused and looked around the room to see if there were any eager hands raised from students who desperately wanted to help out teacher. There were none and so with a subtle scoff and roll of the eyes she scanned the room.

    "You new girl." She said pointing at Lily. "Go get them for us and then we can watch the Scottish play."

    "Sure, no problem." Lily said in surprise. "If you could just tell me."

    But there was no response as the teacher put her face down on the desk and proceeded to ignore everything that was happening around her.

    "Come on." Taylor whispered as she stood up. "I'll show you where it is."


    As soon as they were outside the classroom Taylor looked left and right and upon seeing the hallway was devoid of people breathed a sigh of relief. She immediately reached into her pocket and pulled out her ever-present carton of cigarettes and proceeded to light one up in full defiance of the laws of God and the board of education. With a small smile on her face, she turned and offered one to Lily who silently declined. As they began on their epic quest Lily remembered a question she'd forgotten to ask when she was over at Taylor's place.

    "So why all the smoking?" Taylor just cocked her side in confusion and Lily tried to explain. "I mean I know they're addictive and all but most of the smokers I know could at least wait for lunch."

    As they walked down the hallway Taylor mulled over the question.

    "It's the smell." Taylor said suddenly.

    "Excuse me?"

    "The smell, they help with the smell." Taylor explained. "It's hard to understand if you're not part of the pack but I'm not a human who becomes a wolf and I'm not a wolf who becomes a human. I'm both and I'm neither, so, the senses they don't fully go away when I'm like this." She gestured down at herself. "Not much gets away from this nose and there's a lot of stink in a city. These help me filter out the scents, it keeps it bearable."

    "This place smells that bad huh?" Lily asked for lack of anything better to say.

    "Oh, you have no idea." Taylor sighed. "This Christmas I was able to get out of the city and it was freaking magical."

    "Hey, hold up. Stay right there, girls." A whiny impotent voice which was desperately trying to sound authoritative.

    "Shit."

    Taylor growled as she flicked her cigarette to the ground and quickly stomped it out. As soon as that was done, she pivoted around (keeping her foot covering the cigarette) and glared at the oncoming man. Lily in confusion followed suit and watched as a man who clearly hadn't realized that his middle age was closer to him than his high school days approached them.

    "Mr. Gladly, good to see you." Taylor drawled and met his glare with indifference.

    "Now, Taylor." He began putting as much authority into his voice as he could muster. "You know there is no smoking here."

    "I'm aware." Taylor replied. "Why are we standing here talking about things we already know?"

    "Ms. Ducharme asked us to go get a tv for the class." Lily interjected in the hopes of bringing this all to an end.

    "Taylor, I saw smoke coming from you."

    Taylor shrugged.

    "It's cold my breath must have been steaming."

    "You expect me to believe that." Gladly asked incredulously. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

    "Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers too." Taylor replied "Look if you want to give me detention or something just do it. I'm sure my mother would love to talk about all of this with you at the parent teachers conference when I let her know."

    "Your, your mother?" Gladly stammered before clearing his throat. "No, no I'm sure there's no need for that. We'll just call this a friendly warning, shall we?"

    With that he offered a pained smile to the two girls and turned to walk (not run) away.

    "What did your mom do to him?" Lily asked in awe.

    "I don't know and I don't wanna know." Taylor replied. "Come on it's just a few doors down."

    A few moments later they had nabbed a tv that was only semi ancient and a VCR which looked like it should still be functional and were on their way.

    "Hey does this feel light to you?"

    Taylor shook her head as she continued pulling the cart.

    "Feels 'bout the same as ever. Now c'mon let's get this over with. I want to tell mom how much the bard gets butchered in this.


    The two rolled the cart into the classroom and were given a hero's welcome, or at least a few people gave them a half-hearted smirk or a wave.

    "Good, you're back. What was the hold up?" Ducharme asked as she stood up from her desk and headed over with the video.

    "Gladly wanted a word." Taylor grunted as she and Lily maneuvered the cart into its proper position. Once they were successful the two headed back to their seats. "The guy's on a power trip."

    "So, what really happened with Gladly?" Emma whispered as the two of them sat back down.

    "He saw Taylor smoking." Lily whispered back.

    "Yeah, he was getting all geared up to give me a detention but soon as I mentioned that Mom would want to talk to him about that, he backed down."

    "Your Mom is the woman I want to be." Emma said only half joking.

    Taylor was chuckling and about to respond when she heard something from the front of the room.

    "What in the world???"

    Taylor perked up in her seat and called out to the front of the room.

    "Ms. Ducharme is everything okay?"

    "Yes, yes." Ms. Ducharme said as she crouched down in front of the VCR. "Just a little technical difficulty. I just need to get a look." She paused for a moment. "Girls did you check if it was in working order when you picked it up?"

    Lily and Taylor looked at each other in confusion.

    "No ma'am we just grabbed one and left." Lily replied. "Is something wrong with it?"

    "Yes. It's gone." Ducharme responded absentmindedly.

    Taylor exchanged a look with Emma and Lily and headed towards the front of the classroom.

    "What do you mean it was all right there?"

    Taylor asked as she crouched next to her teacher and peered into the VHS slot. To her amazement when she looked inside it was empty, the little bits of metal and technology weren't there.

    "It's like someone stripped it." She muttered to herself. "Maybe someone should go grab another one?"

    "Yes, yes of course." Ducharme nodded. "Madison would you and let's see Emma go get us another one. I'll need to go see Principal Blackwell and let her know what's going on." With that said she headed out into the hallway and was shortly followed by Emma and a short blonde girl. Finally with a shrug Taylor headed back to her seat.

    "Do you have any idea what's going on?" Lily whispered.

    Taylor shook her head.

    "No clue, maybe someone just stripped it for a prank let's just wait and see what happens."

    Despite her calm voice and reasonable suggestions Lily could see Taylor flexing her hands and aggressively tapping her foot. For some reason she was reminded of Shadow Stalker in those moments just before they would spring an ambush on some unsuspecting thug.

    At the front of the classroom the door opened suddenly and Emma and Madison barged in. Emma immediately made a beeline for Taylor while Madison stood at the front of the room looking around in confusion.

    "It's every one of them." Emma hissed.

    "Wait what?" Lily began before yet more people came through the door.

    "Ah Madison, were you able to find one that would work?" Ms. Blackwell asked from next to Ms. Ducharme.

    "No, Ma'am we looked but all of the VCR'S were empty." Madison said sounding completely and utterly baffled.

    "We picked up some of the TV's and they felt light too." Emma said from her seat.

    "I see." Blackwell said. "And Ms. Hebert you and Lily were the first ones to discover this correct?"

    "Yes." Taylor said slowly as she wondered where Blackwell was going with this.

    "And you didn't see anyone who might have done this?"

    "No." Lily replied. "What are you getting at?"

    "Nothing, just trying to get my head around the order of events. Now when the AV room was locked last night everything was in working order and now after you two were alone with them this has happened." Blackwell shook her head in a frankly insulting attempt at feigning sympathy. "I'm sorry girls but as it stands it doesn't look good for you."

    Almost as one a number of voices rang out through the room.

    "I really don't think that's fair." Ms. Ducharme began.

    "So, what in five minutes I did all of this!" Taylor scoffed.

    "I can get a lawyer here so fast!" Emma seethed.

    "Let's just calm down." Lily implored.

    "I just want to watch a movie!!!!" Numerous voices exclaimed.

    "ENOUGH!!!!!" Blackwell screamed and the room fell silent.

    Principal Blackwell kept her gaze firmly on Taylor's who met her with a glare of her own and a slight baring of the teeth.

    "Now clearly, we don't know exactly what happened here." Blackwell began. "But school property was vandalized and the culprit." Here she intensified her glare at Taylor. "Well, be identified and punished appropriately. Good day to you all."

    There was silence through the class that was only broken by Ducharme clearing her throat.

    "I suppose our movie day has to be postponed." She began. "So, if everyone could just take out their copies of Macbeth we'll start from the top and we can watch the movie another time."

    As the class all busied themselves with either pulling out their course work or preparing a suitable napping place. Taylor took the opportunity to whisper a plan to her friends.

    "Meet me at lunch. We need to figure out who did this before Blackwell pins it on me."
    And there's part one. Join us next time for the exciting conclusion. Same wolf time, Same Wolf Channel

    In closing I leave you with the song I was listening to on loop while working on this.


    View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxNoE7aBHH4
     
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