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The Taste of Peaches (Worm AU)

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Laurell K. Hamilton had an interesting point on celebrities. Precisely what is the difference between how they get treated, and the worship we give gods? Sacrifices? Movie and acting profits. Adoration? Their names spoken all over the place? People acting and dressing specific ways because of them?

Seems to me that becoming a well-known hero would do most of what she needs.
 
Hello everyone~ A new Chapter inbound sometime tomorrow since my Adorable Editor has gone to sleep and won't be able to edit tonight. Tomorrow's feature: Power Testing.
 
The chapter is done being proof read, just waiting for @Grounders10 to get home and go over the last few rounds of edit's and typo's.
 
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Oooh, an excuse to re-read from the beginning, excellent.
Seriously love this fic, it reminds of Queen of Blood in how well you are integrating both gods (though in this case local) and the entities. That and foxy ladies FTW.
 
Dwyz said:
Oooh, an excuse to re-read from the beginning, excellent.
Seriously love this fic, it reminds of Queen of Blood in how well you are integrating both gods (though in this case local) and the entities. That and foxy ladies FTW.
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That is a brilliant idea! I will follow suit.
 
Come to think of it, I have to wonder if Taylor might be able to get any of the goodies/weapons/artifacts that the previous generation of gods used. Becauce while they all died, at least some of their equipment remained:
"That. Also while I may be just a spirit now, I can still operate the many great machines we left behind. Including those designed to watch for such threats. Two more like the entity we defeated were foreseen to approach the planet. One had a collision with the previous entity we had encountered and then crashed and died on another Earth. I have no idea where the other one is or what it is doing. Unfortunately maintenance requirements became a bit more than a lesser spirit with paws like myself could maintain alone."
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And now Inari has a god with the all-important digits to help with said limitations.
 
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Chapter Five
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    A Worm Fanfic

    The Taste of Peaches

    By: Grounders10

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    5

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    "Take it slow. In with the breath… and out… in… and out. Good, keep up that rhythm."

    Taylor paused, the water in the bathtub held in a wave at one end of the ceramic basin. "The first fifty times were helpful. Now it's just annoying." She said as she swept her hand back across the tub, dragging the wave behind it. The week had seen her stuck inside, and during that time she had made a point of practicing her new abilities with somewhat more responsibility than before.

    There had been no further exploration of 'lightning' or anything that required her to try and draw out new aspects of her power. Much to the disappointment of Inari who seemed utterly undaunted by the Living Room Flood. Her dad was still complaining about finding salt between the cushions.

    Inari rolled her eyes from where she was flopped on her side by the radiator. "You've managed to master this little demonstration days ago. Repeating this isn't just boring, it's literally pointless." The fox said.

    Taylor sighed and gestured upwards. The entire body of water followed her directions and lifted from the tub as a single mass that floated in the air above the tub. It took less than a thought for the water to split apart into streamers that twirled through the air, spinning around and through each other in a display that amazed her with how easy it had become in only a few days.

    "I guess." She sighed, leaning back against the counter. She entertained herself spinning the water into ever more complex shapes. It was a simple, almost mindless action that she only really noticed when she focused on it. Not like when she had first tried. It was a good thing she'd moved to the bathroom after that first attempt, the tile was much better at dealing with water than the carpet had been. As she had demonstrated repeatedly for the first three days. She had spent more time those first few days mopping up the results of her attempts than actually attempting to master her power. There was still a faint crush of salt in the corners she could spot if she bothered looking.

    A knock on the open door dragged her attention away from the water. It flowed back into the tub as she turned away. "Hey, Little Owl." Her dad greeted as he looked in.

    "Hey, dad." She smiled. Her tails waved back and forth in response to her mood.

    "Not making a mess?" He teased.

    She pouted. "I haven't done that in a few days now." She sighed as he chuckled. "This has gotten too simple now though. I don't feel like I'm learning anything new."

    Danny nodded. "Well, then I guess you'll like the news. The PRT wants you to come in for power testing tomorrow." He said.

    "I thought that we were waiting on a contract first?" Taylor asked, frowning.

    "Well, we've hit a bit of an issue when talking about costumes. The PRT made the point that they base a lot of their designs on someone's powers. You don't need to dress an Alexandria-lite up in armour the same way you do others." He sighed.

    "Oh. I guess not." She frowned, "But I don't exactly have super strength or anything like that." She replied.

    "You're a goddess. You're a lot more capable than a mere mortal in every area." Inari interjected from her spot on the floor. "That includes the physical. We haven't exactly been practicing since we don't have the room for it, but that doesn't mean you don't have it."

    Taylor shot her a look. "We have weights." She pointed out.

    "And that might have been enough if you were just a demigoddess. You aren't a demigoddess. Capital G, no demi-anything Tay-chan~" Inari hummed smugly.

    "And they've heard about some of our… misadventures from the team they have keeping an eye on our house." Her dad continued before Taylor could get into another argument with the Fox Spirit. "They've offered the use of their facilities for any practice sessions you and Inari wish to undertake, and transport to and from said facilities."

    "A bribe, but an aspect we were hoping to get access to eventually." Inari hummed.

    "And, they've offered to cover the costs of new, tailored, clothes for yourself. I know you've been complaining about the fit of your clothing since the change and, well money being what it is…" He trailed off, giving her a hopeful smile.

    Taylor winced and self-consciously readjusted her pyjama bottoms. Ever since the event, it had been like she'd started putting on weight at an alarming rate. None of her regular pants fit her as of the day before and even if she hadn't had to wear them lower than she'd like to account for her tails her pyjamas would have been almost uncomfortably tight. As it was they fit, but they were far from comfortable.

    Her dad nodded. "I thought you'd like that idea. They'll have people and clothes on hand tomorrow. I'll be accompanying you in when they come to pick you up. We'll meet Mrs. Dallon there." He said.

    Taylor adjusted her pyjamas again and nodded.

    Inari sighed loudly. "Finally! We can move on from the basics. For this anyway."

    Taylor rolled her eyes but smiled. It would be nice to get out of the house after spending a week cooped up inside. Feel the breeze, see the sky without a window between her and it… and maybe get to do something more interesting than find ever more complicated ways to create a 3D figure eight.

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    The next day, Taylor stepped out of the black featureless SUV that the PRT had sent to pick her up into the underground secure parkade. Yawning, her father climbed out after her, pushing aside a couple of her tails as they waved in his face.

    "Sorry about that." She said sheepishly to her dad, swinging her tails to the side. There was an 'oof' as they struck something. She winced and sent an apologetic glance at the PRT Trooper who had just been bulled over. "Sorry." Her dad chuckled.

    "It's fine Taylor. The ride wasn't that bad." He said with a smile. She wasn't sure how it had been since he had spent the entire ride pressed up against the other side of the SUV because of the space her tails took up.

    "You sure?" She asked.

    A scoff came from ankle level and she glanced down to find Inari sitting by her feet. "Your tails might as well be clouds. It's like getting crushed by pillows, he'll be fine." She said.

    "Still…" Taylor grumbled, turning her attention to the people waiting on them as the vehicle that had dropped them off pulled away, presumably to either its next assignment or to find its parking space. Carol Dallon was standing by the door leading into the building along with another woman who Taylor recognized. Dressed in camouflage pants, a green tank top, with a pistol at her hip and a star-spangled bandana across her face was Miss Militia the most well known, and popular, heroine in the city. She did not squeal as the two heroines, one in costume and one not, walked over to them.

    "Mr. Hebert, Taylor, welcome to the offsite testing facility." Miss Militia said holding out a hand to her dad.

    "Thank you for bringing us out." Her dad said, shaking the hand. "I hope this hasn't inconvenienced anyone?"

    "This is precisely what this facility is meant for, Mr. Hebert." Miss Militia said with a shake of her head. "Helping a young parahuman-"

    "Goddess," Inari interjected from nearby Taylor's ankle. Other than a sharp glance downward Miss Militia ignored the fox.

    "-discover and master their powers." Miss Militia finished. She may have been smiling behind her mask, but well… mask. It was impossible to tell. "Now, you are a bit early, but we have everything waiting, so shall we get started today?" She asked, looking to her dad.

    "That is why we're here, isn't it?" Her dad commented. Taylor nodded. The sooner they got started the sooner they'd finish. Her tails wagged enthusiastically, accidentally buffeting her dad a couple of times before she reigned them in.

    "Then we should get started." Mrs. Dallon said, smiling to Taylor. "Ms. Hebert, I'm happy to meet you in person finally."

    "Hello, Mrs. Dallon," Taylor said, waving a hand shyly. She ignored the amused snickering from her ankles.

    "This way then." Miss Militia led the way inside, swiping her ID at the security pad by the door. It beeped and she stepped through, holding the door open to let them in. The inside was a sterile reception area with white tiles, white walls, and those mineral board ceiling tiles you see everywhere. There was a woman at the far end of the room sitting at a desk with a glass partition across the front.

    The woman behind the desk glanced up and raised an eyebrow. Taylor's ear twitched as she heard the woman mumble, "They were serious," under her breath.

    Miss Militia led them over to the counter. "Ms. Miller, our guests have arrived." She said to the receptionist.

    "So I see." She replied, fishing a three-ring binder out of the desk along with two guest passes, the type you clipped onto your clothes. "Name and pass ID." She said simply as she slid the binder through the gap in the partition. Taylor and her Dad signed in, marking their names and the numbers on the IDs down in the book before clipping the passes on. Miss Militia slid the binder back through the divider and the woman nodded as she looked it over.

    "Alright. Good to go. Enjoy your time Ms. Hebert." She nodded to Taylor with a smile.

    "Thank you." Taylor nodded to her, waving as she followed Miss Militia out the door beside the desk and down the hallway.

    As they walked Miss Militia explained what their plans were. "First on our agenda is taking care of your clothing issue, Taylor." She said, addressing Taylor as they entered an elevator. She tapped the button for the second floor as soon as Miss Dallon stepped into the elevator. It was a tight fit, not because of how many people were there, there was only the four of them, but because of Taylor's tails. The three adults had been forced to one side as Taylor tried to squeeze into the other, with her tails wrapped about her like a cloak of black clouds.

    "Maybe the stairs would have been a better option?" Taylor asked her dad, who chuckled.

    "We're well under the weight limit Taylor, this is fine." Miss Militia said soothingly, even as she brushed off the tip of one of Taylor's tails which had somehow gotten stuck in her uniform.

    "A bit crowded though." Her dad chuckled, getting a pout from her. Beside him, Mrs. Dallon gently pushed away a tail that was brushing her face whenever it twitched. Soon the door opened and they all piled out into another sterile white hallway, though this one had windows overlooking a swimming pool. The pool was larger than those you might see at a public pool, closer in size to an Olympic pool, though even that seemed to be smaller than the one in front of her.

    "This way please." Miss Militia said after she spent a moment adjusting her tank top and mask. They walked down the hallway away from the swimming pool. The superheroine ushered them into a room a couple of doors down the hall from the windows. Inside was what might have been a small classroom. The far corner was concealed behind a cloth screen. In the other corner across the room were racks of clothes in many fashionable styles. There was a large table with comfortable chairs set up around it in the center of the room. Several mannequins were set up to the side along with several sewing machines, racks of material, and several women and a couple of men whose eyes seemed to light up the moment they landed on Taylor.

    She took a nervous step back through the doorway as she listened in on their excited analysis of her… 'approachability', 'preciousness', and 'elegance'? There was a soft 'oof' as she stepped into Miss Militia. "Sorry." She apologized. Blushing as she quickly went back inside where the group to the side were now chattering about fashions and styles as they flipped through ringed binders and pointed things out on them. More than a few fingers were pointed briefly at her as well.

    "You okay Little Owl?" Her dad whispered as she joined him.

    "Fine." Her left ear twitched as she listened in on the group as their conversation grew a bit louder before one of their number cleared his throat.

    "Stick to what we have prepared. Don't get too out there." He instructed. They nodded and quieted down a bit before he extracted himself from the group and turned to them. The man was… Taylor figured eccentric was generous. He squinted through thin glasses and wore a tacky Hawaiian shirt and tan shorts that seemed a bit too short. His hair was combed like he's gotten half-way through a mohawk and had to run off before he could finish. He looked like he hadn't a clue about dressing himself, let alone dressing others.

    He smiled at them. "Welcome. Mr. Hebert, Glenn Chambers PRT Head of PR. A pleasure to meet you." He said, offering his hand to her dad.

    "Good to meet you as well." Her dad shook his hand. He frowned a bit as he gave the man a look over. She had to agree he looked… unqualified.

    "Miss Militia, thank you for bringing them here," Glenn said, shaking the Heroines hand before turning to Mrs. Dallon. "Carol. It has been a while." He said politely shaking her hand as well.

    "Quite some time Glenn." She said professionally, "I see you still haven't learned to dress yourself properly."

    The man chuckled. "Well, you know how it is. Bouncing around managing heroes all the time leaves no time for shopping. I'm just lucky there're gift shops in airports." Ignoring her snort of disbelief he turned to Taylor, who wrinkled her nose at the man. She could smell the cologne the man wore, a sweet tangy odour that bothered her nose.

    He didn't seem to notice as he took a step towards her. The scent got stronger, tickling her nose fiercely. "And the girl of the hour herself. Glad to finally meet y-"

    "'Choo!" She sneezed, hard. It was loud enough it could have been compared to a cannon. The effects were certainly impressive, even if not quite on the level of a cannon. She had been, unfortunately for Glenn, looking at his face and when she sneezed a blast of air caught him in the jaw, knocking his head back as he was thrown back several feet. He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.

    For a long moment, the room was silent except for the groaning of Glenn as he shook his head and blinked slowly at the ceiling. Then a certain white fox started cackling with laughter, falling on her own side as she howled.

    "It's not FUNNY!" Taylor shouted at the fox by her feet as Miss Militia and Carol Dallon ran over to help Glenn as he shook his head and tried to sit up.

    "Ow." He said, rubbing his jaw. "That… ow." He repeated as Miss Militia pulled a flashlight from her pocket and shone it into his eyes. "Stop-stop. Damn it, it wasn't that hard." He grumbled waving the two women away.

    "Are you alright?" Taylor asked, her tails and ears limp as she stared at him worried that she'd accidentally hurt him.

    "He looks fine." Mrs. Dallon said as she looked him in the eye.

    "I am fine." The overweight man grumbled, "Someone help me up." He ordered and a couple of his assistants came over to help him to his feet. "Thank you." He said to them as he got back up. He ran a hand across his jaw and hissed. "That is going to leave a mark tonight." He mumbled, though not quiet enough to escape her hearing.

    "I'm so sorry," Taylor said, her cheeks feeling like they'd just caught fire. Her dad chuckled from where he had taken a seat at the table. She nudged Inari, who was still snickering away, with her foot.

    "It's fine. It's fine." Glenn sighed, "I assume that whatever that was it was new?"

    "Yes…" She said quietly.

    "Come here Taylor," Her dad said, letting his chuckled trail off. Blushing furiously she took the chair beside him. He hugged her. "It's okay. This is why we're here, right?" She nodded and sighed, leaning against him.

    "Well, don't worry too much about it," Glenn said, shaking his head and wincing. "I've been hit much harder before this. I don't think I'll even need anything more than Advil when I get home tonight. And it was an accident, right? Of course, it was." He continued without waiting for a response. "Now, please, everyone take a seat, well except for Taylor. Please head to the changing area we set up. Marcy, help her find something to wear for today's tests. And get some measurements while you're at it." He said the last to a blonde woman wearing a blue blouse who looked up from where she was making notes on a pad.

    Slipping it into her pocket she smiled at Taylor. "This way dear." She said, heading across the room to the makeshift changing room.

    Taylor looked up at her dad who nodded and she slipped out of her chair to follow Marcy. Behind her, Glenn sat down at the table and had his assistants bring over the binders they had been pouring over while making annotations.

    "You sure you're alright?" Miss Militia asked again.

    The PR man chuckled. "I've had more than one ward take a swing at me in the past Miss Militia. At least this one was an accident." He chuckled, "Probably my cologne or something."

    "So that's what that smell is." Inari snarked, "I thought something had died." Taylor snickered into a hand as she caught up to the older woman who was standing beside the opening in the curtain.

    "In here please," Marcy said politely, "Onto the step."

    Stepping into the changing room Taylor found a foot high platform in the center. As she stepped onto it she frowned. "Isn't there a proper changing room here?" She asked.

    "Well… Yes actually, however, you would need to be either Protectorate or a Ward. Since you haven't signed anything yet…" Marcy shrugged. "This is more than enough for today. Now, measurements. Shirt off, pants off. We need them as accurate as possible."

    "Um…" Taylor shifted awkwardly. "There's a slight problem with that…"

    "Nervous? It's okay, we're both girls here." Marcy said with a smile.

    Taylor shook her head. "Not that but…" She sighed and ran a finger along her hips where the material of her pyjamas was digging into her side. "I barely got these when I got up, now…" She tried to slip a finger underneath and there was an ominous creaking sound from the fabric as it strained.

    Marcy blinked. "Oh. Oh dear." She frowned and worried her lip with her teeth. "Yes, that is an issue. Excuse me a moment." She ducked out. A few moments later Taylor felt her blush, previously on the withdrawal, redouble. "April, can you bring me some scissors please." It really didn't help that Inari seemed to find it the funniest thing ever as she started howling with laughter.

    A moment later Marcy reappeared in the doorway with a set of scissors. "Now, let's get that off you and get those measurements." She said far too brightly.

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    Fifteen minutes, two broken scissors, a lost measuring tape and some quiet swearing she probably wasn't supposed to hear later, Taylor pulled on some comfortable sweatpants that had been modified with a small hole for her tails. She sighed as managed to fit the new limbs through comfortably, though with some difficulty. Adjusting the tank top and light jacket they had given her she smiled at Marcy who looked a bit windswept, but happy as she looked over her notes.

    "Excellent, though if this growth of yours continues we're going to need to take these measurements again." Marcy frowned, "Oh well, at least you're coming along beautifully."

    Taylor blinked. "Really?" She asked, frowning at the woman as she looked for some sign the lady was trying to sugar coat things. She had never even been given one compliment over her appearance… at least not since Emma had turned on her.

    "Oh yes, I'm sure if this keeps up you'll fill out nicely," Marcy said perkily humming as she made a couple more notes.

    "Fill out?" Taylor muttered, turning the words over in her head before sighing. Yeah, at the rate she was going she would 'fill out' alright. Right into the shape of one of those ancient fertility statues. That was one of her 'domains' wasn't it?

    "So, let's go see what everyone has gotten done so far," Marcy said with a friendly smile.

    Taylor nodded and nervously adjusted the jacket she was wearing. Despite the jacket she felt a bit out of her comfort area wearing a tank top, it just left too much skin exposed for her tastes. Still, apparently they hadn't had much in her current size. Something about excepting less of her.

    Following the humming woman out she walked over to the table where her dad and Inari were talking with the rest of the adults in the room. "Sir," Marcy said, walking up to Glenn with the pad of her measurements.

    The man took it and glanced over at Taylor. He smiled. "Ah, isn't it amazing how much difference a few properly fitting clothes can make isn't it." He said, nodding to her dad while gesturing with the pad.

    Her dad smiled. "Little Owl, you look amazing." He said, getting another blush from her. Her tails wiggled happily despite her half-hearted attempt to stop them. A soft d'aww came from somewhere in the room.

    Taking a seat at the table, she asked, "What did I miss?" in an effort to get the conversation off her appearance.

    "Not much. We've merely been discussing themes for your costume." Mrs. Dallon said, looking up from her tablet. "It has been rather more productive than the last couple meetings amazingly."

    Taylor blinked and then narrowed her eyes at Inari. The white fox smiled innocently back up. "Yes?" Butter couldn't have melted in the former goddess' mouth.

    "Your fox had few suggestions to add," Glenn noted as he looked at the notes. He frowned. "From yesterday to today you say?" He asked Marcy, who nodded. "Hrm… We'll need to hold off making the final one until this growth spurt ends I suppose. Still, we can prototype."

    "Which you will get on with right away I assume?" Mrs. Dallon asked.

    "We'll be attending the tests today and making notes of her powers. From there we will begin working. No point in making designs that won't work with her powers." The PR man noted, pocketing the notepad. "Well then, shall we get started?" With a murmur of agreement, everyone stood up, chairs scraping across the floor.

    Sighing, since she had just sat down, Taylor followed their lead. "This way, and we'll be taking the stairs this time I think." Miss Militia said, leading them out of the room and down the hallway to the nearby stairwell. Taylor blushed and snickered. The elevator had been a bit crowded.

    The hallways on the first floor were much wider and less sterile than the second floor or the basement. The hallways were carpeted with pictures and posters hanging from the walls. Benches sat every few meters down the corridor with potted plants, mostly ferns, and a couple of water fountains in alcoves. They passed the doors for the pool, a shooting range, and an 'endurance test chamber'. The last one sounded a bit ominous actually.

    They reached the end of the hallway and went through a set of double doors into a reception area. A few people in lab coats were gathered around the desk going over clipboards when they entered. As one they looked up. A tall black-haired woman in the back smiled and stepped out from the crowd.

    "Miss Militia," She said, her voice a bit high. "We were starting to wonder."

    "There were a few minor delays." The heroine admitted, "However, we're here. Dr. June Chambers this Danny Hebert and Taylor Hebert. Your testee today."

    "Chambers?" Taylor asked.

    The doctor nodded as she turned her eyes to Glenn. "Yep. Hello dad." She said brusquely.

    "June, I- I hadn't realized you were here," Glenn said, visibly taken aback.

    "I assume you and your people can keep out of the way while we do our thing?" She asked. Taylor blinked at the thinly veiled hostility in the doctor's voice. She glanced down at Inari who looked up at her and shrugged. Well, being a goddess didn't exactly make you omniscient.

    "We can," Glenn said, gathering himself.

    "Good. Hello Taylor." June smiled at her. "If everyone is ready, let's get started." With that, she turned and walked down the hall passed reception, her lab coat billowing impressively behind her.

    "Rather rude," Inari noted.

    "I'm afraid that's my fault." Glenn sighed. "I hadn't realized she would be responsible for today's tests. My apologies." Taylor sighed and rolled her eyes. Family drama, just what she wanted to deal with during her, possibly dangerous, power testing. Internally she let out a sarcastic cheer.

    "Hmm." Inari sniffed and sped off down the hallway. Everyone followed close behind. The room they entered was a large gym with a wide variety of exercise equipment from treadmills to racks of weights that went from small one pounders to an absurdly large set whose weight she could only guess at. A set of double doors stood open at the back of the room, through which Taylor could smell the scent of chlorine. It probably led to the swimming pool.

    Ms. Chambers was off to the side at a desk that seemed to be made from a rack of devices whose purpose Taylor could only guess at. Sure, for some reason the one stacked on the left looked a bit like it was set up to temperature readings. And that one was probably designed to take readings of obscure particles she had no idea what the names of were, but really it was hard to tell when they all looked like black featureless boxes.

    Besides the computer set up was a changing booth, a much more professional and permanent set-up than the one upstairs. The doctor looked up from her computer and nodded at Taylor. "Ms. Hebert, we will need to attach monitors to you before we proceed. Step into the booth and one of my assistants will help you get ready." She said

    She hesitated for a moment before her dad tapped her on the shoulder. "Go on." He said softly, giving her a smile.

    She nodded and followed the assistant, a young woman in a lab coat, who stepped forward to lead her into the booth. More than a few somewhat awkward minutes later, she couldn't believe how many little sensors they had tied to her tails, she stepped back out with an increasing sense of nervousness.

    Ms. Chambers turned from where she was talking with her dad and Mrs. Dallon. "Ah, good. Come here please, Taylor." She said, waving her over to where they were standing beside a rack of moderately sized weights.

    "So, I'm going to be lifting weights?" Taylor asked as she stepped up, glancing around for Inari. The white fox was lying on a table near the back of the room, looking annoyed as several assistants poked at her with a device that looked a bit like a brown mushroom made of plastic. She was fairly certain it was turning up nothing, and really did they expect that kind of exotic radiation from a fox?

    "We will be starting with that, yes." Mrs. Chambers nodded. "There are three different rooms where we shall be testing your known abilities, and seeing if we can spot others. You will be recorded during these. Some things are only obvious when viewed through recordings especially when dealing with stranger powers."

    "I don't have stranger powers," Taylor said after a moment's consideration.

    "You wouldn't be the first person to say that and be wrong." The doctor noted.

    "Well, we should get out of your way Doctor." Her dad said, "I've taken enough of your time with questions."

    The doctor nodded "Not a problem Mr. Hebert. Most parents have questions concerning the process, and on that note. Ms. Hebert." She turned to Taylor, "Any questions before we begin?" She asked.

    "Um." Taylor glanced about the room. "Why is everything here exercise related?" She asked, curious. Power testing didn't normally bring to mind an exercise gym.

    "This is the first part of testing. Regardless of whether or not a parahuman confesses to being capable of superhuman physical feats we do test for them. Sometimes they are simply unaware. Or trying to hide." Mrs. Chambers said,

    "Hide?" Taylor asked incredulously. "But, you have to agree to this don't you?" Why bother agreeing to this if they were just going to try and downplay things?

    "Usually younger parahumans who were signed up by their parents." The doctor said as though it explained everything. "Once we are done here we will move on to another room. I believe the swimming pool is next on the list. Any further questions?" Taylor shook her head no. "Excellent. Now, please go find the largest weight you think you could have lifted before developing powers and wait for our signal." With that the doctor turned and left, taking Taylor's dad and Mrs. Dallon with her. Her dad flashed a smile and a cheesy thumbs up.

    Taylor rolled her eyes and sighed. Right, biggest weight she could have lifted. She glanced around. What was her limit? Ten pounds maybe? Twenty? Those bags of potatoes were always a pain, though not exactly something that pushed her to her limit. So, heavier than that? Walking down the racks of weights she frowned as looked at them. The simple truth was she had never tested herself in that manner before, it hadn't been important. Who cared if she could lift half an annoying teenage girl. If she'd gone around bragging about something like that Sophia would have probably broken her arm or something just to make a point.

    So, the question wasn't really what was the most she could lift before, it was what did she think she could lift at all.

    Finding a particularly heft looking weight, one of those ones meant for use when doing bench presses. The weights on either end were listed as thirty pounds. It was probably too much, but at least they couldn't say she wasn't optimistic.

    "You sure about that one?" The Doctor called from across the room.

    Taylor shrugged. "I've never done this before." She confessed.

    "You are not the first to say that. Well, if you're sure then please, go ahead." The Doctor told her.

    Taylor looked down at the weights sitting in their rack for a moment and considered that maybe she should grab something a bit smaller. They were rather large after all and really throwing out her back at her age would just be embarrassing. Of course, Inari would probably take the opportunity to tease her about being indecisive if she did that, and living with a smug fox would be unbearable. Sighing, she reached down, bending at the knees like she'd seen people on TV say you should do when lifting heavy loads. She gripped the metal bar, took a deep breath and heaved with her entire body.

    A second later Taylor stared up at the ceiling from halfway across the room wondering exactly what had gone wrong as a cloud of dust filled the room from the hole in the ceiling the weights had left when they had slipped out of her hands in a ballistic arc that was roughly vertical. Coughing because of the dust she sat up with a frown.

    "Well," She said, "that wasn't supposed to happen." That seemed to be the last straw for Inari as the fox began laughing her ass off from where she was in the corner. Sitting in his chair her dad sighed and rubbed his forehead. Beside him, Mrs. Dallon chuckled to herself. Right, one of her daughters had super strength to. This was probably bringing back memories. Glenn, sitting in his corner with his assistants, quietly crumpled up several sketches and passed them to a colleague who dropped them into a bag.

    "Well, I believe we have a rather interesting baseline to work with." Mrs. Chambers said dryly as Taylor glared at the white fox.

    "Suddenly I'm very happy you started with water Taylor." Her dad called to her, causing a blush to form.

    "One time." She muttered as she got to her feet.

    "Perhaps a larger one next time?" The Doctor suggested, getting a nod from Taylor. "Try again please." Over the next twenty minutes, Taylor worked her way through the racks of weights until she was standing at the end of the room holding what had to be a half-ton of steel and iron over her head in one hand. Twirling it slowly while watching it with a curious and disbelieving stare.

    The doctor made a note on her tablet. "Right. Anything more will require special equipment." She paused to stare at the steel bar which was ever so slowly bending under the weight on either end. "I think you can set it down now." She instructed.

    Setting it down on the ground, the last time she had placed it on a rack the arms of the rack had failed, she stared at it for a long moment. She hadn't noticed her strength was any greater than before. Sure she hadn't exactly been testing her strength, but she should have noticed how light everything was now.

    "Onto the treadmill please." Mrs. Chambers ordered, pointing to the treadmill.

    A bit worried about breaking things after her accidental discovery of her own super-strength Taylor carefully stepped onto the treadmill. She ran a hand over the handlebars carefully. After the last few minutes everything just felt… she gave them a slight squeeze and winced as the metal complained. Fragile. Far too fragile all of a sudden. Attempting to take her mind off the fact that everything was now made of glass she turned her attention to the controls on the machine, or rather the lack of controls.

    "Uuuum…" She looked to the Doctor.

    "We will be controlling your speed. All you have to do is tell us to stop and we'll start bringing you down again." Mrs. Chambers said, "Please do your best to keep up."

    "Okay?" Taylor glanced down nervously at the treadmill. Who knew how fast this thing could go.

    "Ready?" The doctor asked. She nodded. "Excellent. Starting in three, two, one…. Beginning." The treadmill groaned and Taylor stumbled as it started moving beneath her.

    The test started slow, barely a walking pace, but it soon picked up speed. From a walk to a jog, to very light sprint where it, oddly enough, stayed for quite a while. Taylor just tried to focus on keeping up as the noise of the spinning belt beneath her grew to a fevered pitch. Her mind, however, wandered onto the topic of what other tests they had in store. They had to be planning something to test her water abilities and they'd probably try to get her to call up lightning, but beyond that, she really couldn't think of anything. Maybe an interrogation? Or perhaps they had someone invisible in the room to test to see if she could spot strangers.

    Her ears twitched and twisted, unconsciously scanning for someone unseen. Her nose wrinkled. Was that smoke she was smelling? And why did her feet feel a bit… warm?

    "Okay, we're going to back off now." Mrs. Chambers said as the treadmill began to slow. A minute or so later it came to a stop and she stepped off it lightly. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

    Taylor shrugged and adjusted her top. "A bit winded I guess? I mean it was a bit of a jog." She said. She glanced at her dad who was palming his face. What was with him? She flicked her tail to the side in annoyance. So what if they hadn't turned it up that far, it wasn't like she was that out of shape.

    "Mhmm." The doctor made a note. "Okay, that's a good baseline." She paused as one of her assistants whispered into her ear. "Well, it sounds like the repair team for the ceiling is here. Why don't we move onto the pool for now?" She suggested, stepping out from behind her desk and heading for the pool.

    "Sure." Taylor shrugged, joining the doctor. There was a scramble behind her as the other adults hurriedly stood up to follow.

    It was the same swimming pool she had seen from above, larger than the Olympic standard with a side room full of equipment behind a panel of what might have been glass. She paused at the poolside and considered. It was probably tinkertech glass, especially since they expect to be dealing with teenagers with powers they didn't quite understand.

    "So… Do you expect me to swim?" Taylor asked the Doctor as she stared down at her reflection in the water. The smell of chlorine from the pool was practically oppressive, though not in a particularly unpleasant way. Though, it was making her feel just a tad lightheaded.

    "Hardly." Mrs. Chambers said, "We're here to test the limits of your hydrokinesis."

    Taylor nodded. That was what she had expected. Stepping up to the pool she sniffed the air. Something was definitely making her feel a bit lightheaded. Maybe she should have asked them to slow down the run earlier?

    "Can you hear me Ms. Hebert?" Mrs. Chambers asked from the booth, her voice booming out of the speakers above the glass wall.

    "Yep." She waved back to the people inside the enclosure.

    "Excellent. Now, I understand you have been practicing manipulating water for the last week. If you wouldn't mind demonstrating what you can accomplish with the water in front of you. Do note that we don't expect you to use all of it, but we would like you to manipulate as much as you feel able to." The doctor instructed.

    As much as she was able to? Taylor tilted her head to the side as she considered the significantly-larger-than-her-bathtub pool. She could feel the water in the pool, had since before she had laid eyes on it when they arrived upstairs. She could sense all the water in… well, it wasn't like she had tried to measure it, but was quite a ways away. There was, of course, the ocean in the distance, a pressure she had finally recognized on her third day of practice. An always-present writhing entity on the edge of her consciousness. It wasn't alive, but she could feel the forces at work within the currents that swirled through the bay and off the coast.

    The pool was a drop in the bucket, but it was still distinct enough in her senses to distinguish from the ocean in the distance or the aquifer beneath the city. She could feel it just like she could feel the dozens of pipes full of water crisscrossing the facility. Clearly, as though her hand was laid right upon it.

    Taking a deep breath she reached out for the feeling she had gotten so used to while playing in her bathtub and pressed her will upon the water. It was heavy, not physically, but in a mental way. Like her head had grown heavier, if only by a pound or two. Holding a hand out she gestured upwards.

    Streamers of water spouted out of a dozen locations, twisting and twirling through the open air in ever more intricate patterns, all the while the pool steadily drained. Thousands of gallons swirled into the air in a complicated display that took ever more of Taylor's focus as she tried to do something far beyond anything she had yet to practice. By the time half the pool was in the air everything beyond the water had slipped into the background as Taylor made it dance. Rainbows glittered in the air as the light was refracted through a thousand shimmering streamers of water. The smell of chlorine was stronger than ever.

    Taylor shook her head a bit and frowned as she tried to call up more of the water. Focusing seemed to be getting harder, still there wasn't much left in the pool. Just a little more… a little… one of the streamers slipped, splashing towards the ground before she desperately grabbed it and tried to twist it back up into the dance once more. That led to another sliding from her grasp and in a spectacular chain reaction, as she tried and failed to regain control, the entire display exploded with the force of a small bomb.

    The force of the water knocked her back a step and she accidentally inhaled some of it, hacking and coughing as she shook herself. Droplets of water sprayed everywhere, joining the thousands of rivets of water that streamed down the walls and dripped from the ceiling. And the scent of chlorine was absolutely overpowering.

    "Are you alright Miss Hebert?" The doctor asked, worriedly.

    She turned to the window and waved. "I-" she coughed, spraying a bit or water. "Um, I'm fine." She said, shaking her head. The weight of the water was no longer pressing on her mind, but it seemed to have been replaced by an airiness that seemed to be trying to carry off her thoughts.

    "Are you sure?" The doctor repeated.

    Taylor nodded absently and swayed for a second. "I'm fine." She said again, though her voice sounded a bit… odd? Was it odd? What was odd? She shook her head. A flicker in the corner of her eye interrupted that line of thought. There was something moving to her side. She turned, catching a glimpse of it. She turned again, it kept moving. She spun, trying to chase it. A giggle came out of her mouth. It was like she was chasing her tail or something, but she wouldn't do that. She was smarter than that.

    Then the world went sideways as something got in the way of her feet. She thudded to the ground and blinked up at the ceiling. The lights seemed so bright. She giggled. Bright like Staaaaaaaars~

    Something flickered in the corner of her eye and she pounced, her hands closing about its fluffy… soft… She blinked. Oh, it was her tail. She giggled and nuzzled it. Ooh~ It was soft. So soft and fluffy and wonderful.

    She barely noticed when her dad knelt down calling her name. She blinked guilelessly up at him before putting her tail into his face. "FLUFFY!" She declared loudly, giggling all the while. She was still giggling to herself as her dad carried her out of the room.

    -0-0-0-0-0-​

    The infirmary on site was a well equipped for dealing with most injuries that occurred on site. Most, not all. There were some things you just could not prepare for. Like, Danny reflected, a giggling and quite clearly high foxgirl who was sitting in the chair beside him snuggling her tails and whispering things like "Who's the fluffiest of them all" and "Fluffy, Fluffy, Fluffy~" every few seconds while giggling.

    "Well, this has been an informative day," Glenn said cheerfully from the far corner. The one closest to the door. In a way, Danny had to envy the PRT's Head of PR. He clearly realized just how dangerous a high and barely coherent hydrokinetic could be and had taken the opportunity provided by not being related to said hydrokinetic to secure his exit route. "I think I have more than enough to go on for now."

    "We haven't yet gotten to the combat tests yet." His daughter noted, shooting her dad a look that could freeze ice over the top of her tablet.

    Of course, there was that little issue for Glenn. Danny smirked and ran his hand through his daughter's hair. She made a purring like noise and nuzzled into his side.

    "Well, are we going to? Our young ward is clearly in no shape to continue." The poorly dressed man pointed out.

    "This is just another part of the test." The doctor replied simply, looking up from her tablet. "Where is Russel? He should have been here-"

    A young man stumbled into the overfilled room. Dressed in a lab coat he had a box under one arm. "Apologies Dr. Chambers. I had to go looking for the brute strength syringes. They weren't in the normal place." He gasped.

    "Take a moment to collect yourself then if you wouldn't mind taking a blood sample from Miss Hebert." Dr. Chambers said.

    "Yes, yes of course." The man found a chair beside the nurse's desk.

    "Bit of a run?" Danny asked him.

    "A bit. They were in sub-basement three." He sighed, "The elevator leading down there hasn't worked in a week. They're still trying to figure out what that new gizmo of Armsmaster's did to it."

    "Oh?" Danny raised an eyebrow.

    "Classified I'm afraid." Dr. Chambers interrupted. The conversation fell away for a couple of minutes before Russel sighed and stood up, his breathing even again as he popped open the box of syringes and pulled on latex gloves.

    "Does she have an allergy to latex?" He asked as he adjusted his gloves.

    "Not that I'm aware of," Danny said, sparing a glance down at Taylor. She was staring at the syringe with wide dilated eyes. Her eyes twitched back and forth as she stared. He couldn't blame her. The 'syringe' that Russel had pulled out had more in common with a nail gun than a normal syringe.

    "Right, that's good to hear. Any fears related to needles?" He asked, loading a magazine into the bottom of the 'syringe'.

    The dockworker glanced down at his daughter. "Not until now." He answered honestly as he watched her ears lie flat.

    Russel blinked, looked at his gun that wanted to be a medical instrument, then looked to Danny's daughter who was hiding behind her tails. "Erm…" He said.

    "NO!" Taylor shook her head. There was a moment of fuzziness and Russel reflexively closed his hand on the syringe gun. There was a loud squeak.

    Every eye in the room went to the gun, which was now clearly a plastic squeeze toy. Russel squeezed it again. A high pitched note like a dying duck came out of the end. He carefully set the gun on the desk and reopened the box. "Right let's…" He trailed off as he lifted what was clearly a well crafted, perhaps by hand, wooden statue of his syringe gun. It joined the squeaky toy on the table. He looked back into the box and sighed before lifting out a cardboard cut out with the word 'Syringe' written in messy orange crayon on it.

    Turning to his boss he sighed. "Ma'am, I'll need to go get another box." He said simply.

    "Don't bother." Dr. Chambers sighed. "I have no idea how she is doing that, but I think it's clear she doesn't want to be stuck with a needle."

    Taylor giggled and snuggled with her tails, leaning against Danny as she hummed sleepily.

    "Well, as strange as this is, it could be worse," Offered one of Dr. Chambers' other assistants.

    "Dare I ask how?" Dr. Chambers asked, resignedly.

    "At least nothing is on fire." The same assistant replied.

    "Fire?" Taylor perked up from where she was nuzzling one of her own tails. A second later the potted bush in the corner decided to answer a higher calling and burst into flames. Everyone stared for a long second before Taylor giggled. "Burn." She cooed in a tone that was at once adorable, and bone-chillingly terrifying.

    As the sprinklers went off Danny sighed. "Any other miracles you would like my daughter to perform Doctor?" He asked sarcastically.

    Dr. Chambers pursed her lips. "Perhaps we should move to the firing range. I believe that is non-flammable." She suggested as two of her assistants took fire extinguishers to the bush.

    "A sound idea," Glenn said calmly, pocketing his damp notebook. "Let me know when she is no longer high as a kite." With far more dignity than a man dressed like a lost tourist after a bender should have managed he ducked out of the room.

    "This way, someone bring a bed and find out where that fox of her's is." Dr. Chambers ordered as she led the way out of the infirmary. Danny followed her. In his arms, Taylor giggled and nuzzled into his side with a sigh, her tails dragging along the floor behind them.

    -0-0-0-0-0-​

    Taylor blinked slowly as the world came back into focus. She yawned sleepily and shook her head. It felt a bit fuzzy. She hummed and nuzzled her pillow, her tails flicking side to side idly. There was a rustle and thump as her blanket hit the ground, exposing her to the cool air. Shivering slight she yawned again and stretched, wriggling as she worked the kinks out of her back before blearily looking around.

    This wasn't her room.

    Not quite panic set in as she looked about wildly. The room she was in was concrete. The walls, floors, and ceiling, everything was concrete lit with harsh white fluorescent lights spaced evenly around the room. Her frantic look about stopped as she spotted her dad sitting in a chair beside her bed, watching her with a bemused expression. He looked rather… damp. Actually, she felt a bit damp herself, like she'd been soaked in water… recently… oh.

    "Finally awake?" Her dad asked.

    She nodded, trying to figure out what exactly had happened. "Y-yeah. Um… Where are we?" She asked, looking about. There were a couple of others in the room, including Dr. Chambers and Miss Militia. A moment later she spotted Mrs. Dallon on a laptop at the far end of the long room she was in. Right by the door, in fact.

    "How are you feeling Miss Hebert?" Dr. Chambers asked.

    "Fine." Taylor shrugged, still looking about. Her dad was here, but where was Inari?

    "I told you she would be." There she was, sitting under a table eating a stolen sandwich.

    "What happened?" She asked.

    Her dad chuckled. "It seems you had a bit of a reaction." He said, reaching over to give her a hug. She returned it, feeling rather confused.

    "Um?" She verbalized.

    "The chlorine in the swimming pool got you high as a kite," Inari said, snickering around her sandwich.

    "What?" Taylor asked, staring at the fox for a long moment before turning to look at Dr. Chambers.

    The woman sighed. "There is a documented reaction amongst foxes and certain other animal species with chlorine." She paused, "However, I cannot say for certain that it was the chlorine. We were unable to get a blood sample."

    Taylor frowned. "Why?" She asked.

    "The last box of brute grade syringes we brought up is over there." The doctor pointed to a scorch mark on the floor about halfway up the room.

    "Oh." Did she do that? "Was anyone hurt?" She asked.

    "Nothing more than pride in this case. A frequent injury around here." The doctor replied dryly, "Now, are you up to continuing?"

    "Continuing? How long was I out?" Taylor asked, stretching and yawning again. She tails flicked back and forth. Her brain was feeling less foggy all the time.

    "It has been about an hour since your exposure." The Doctor said, "We still have several things to take measurements on."

    "It's barely noon." Her dad said, getting up from his chair.

    "Well…" Taylor picked at her damp tank top and frowned as she ran a hand through her hair. "Can I get a shower first?" She asked.

    "That can be arranged." Dr. Chambers said with a smile.

    -0-0-0-0-0-​

    A shower and another fresh set of clothes, also taken from the second-floor room, later Taylor stepped into the 'Enhanced Physicality Test Lab' feeling refreshed, though still wrapped in sensors. The room, located on the first floor near the elevator that led to the parkade entrance, was mostly concrete like the firing range, though much smaller. The room was heavily padded in an alternating pattern of red and blue squares. There were training dummies, what appeared to be a hydraulic press large enough for a human to stand inside, and a selection of rather ordinary exercise equipment.

    "Taylor, welcome back." Glenn greeted her as she entered the room from where he was sitting by the door. "Feeling better?"

    She shrugged, adjusting the new tank top beneath her jacket. "Didn't exactly feel that bad before?" She shrugged. She couldn't recall a thing after her display of water exploded in her face before she woke up on a bed in the firing range. "Not smelling like a pool is probably a good thing though." She'd have to remember to avoid chlorine from now on. No more public swimming pools for her. Not unless she wanted 'interesting things' to happen as her dad put it.

    Her dad smiled from where he was chatting with Doctor Chambers and Miss Militia. "Taylor. Feeling better?" He asked.

    She sighed. "I'm fine." She said walking up to him. She accepted his hug with an eye-roll. "Hello, Miss Militia." She said.

    "Hello, Taylor." The superheroine replied. "Ready to begin?"

    Taylor looked about. "I suppose? What are we doing here?" She asked. The room seemed like it combined the first room with a workshop.

    "Testing you with equipment that can actually keep up." Dr. Chambers said as she fiddled with her computer interface. "I'm afraid the first room was insufficient to get accurate readings on your capabilities."

    "Really?" Taylor blinked as she considered. In hindsight, the run they made her do was a bit easy for what should have been a physical exam.

    The doctor looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "The treadmill you used was designed for top-level athletes. The type who train for the Olympics. Its maximum speed is twenty-five miles an hour. Your run stripped the motors and nearly set the belt on fire."

    "Oh…" Taylor blushed. So her run had been something impressive.

    "Goooooddess~" Sang Inari from… Taylor glanced around. Where was her 'spirit guide' anyway? She finally spotted the spirit fox hanging out in the booth of scientific equipment… on top of the tallest rack where a couple of assistants were trying to coax her down. Taylor snickered, covering her mouth with a tail.

    "You know its true!" Inari pointed a paw at her.

    "You keep saying that." She replied, rolling her eyes. Her dad patted her on the shoulder. She glanced over to see him sending severe look to Inari who rolled her own eyes but quieted down. Though not before the fox stuck her tongue out childishly.

    "Well, divinity or not this is hardly the first time we've had someone burn out equipment." Dr. Chambers said, "Everything in this room is tinkertech on some level. It is more than capable of taking measurements from even the most superhuman parahumans we have encountered. That includes the likes of Alexandria and the rest of the Triumvirate." The Doctor said, "Now, we are running a bit behind now, so in the interests of time, are you ready to begin?"

    "Sure?" Taylor said hesitantly, looking around the room with nervous curiosity. This place was a bit more than she had expected. She was just Taylor, just… She frowned. That wasn't really true anymore, was it? She nibbled her lip as she thought.

    "Taylor?" Her dad's voice broke through her introspection.

    "Hmm?" She turned to him absently, her tails flicking from side to side, echoing her nervousness.

    "We could stop for today if you want?" He offered.

    She shook her head. "No, no I'm good." She said, casting away her thoughts. She needed to know what she could do before she started worrying about what she was.

    "Very well, let's start with the press test then." Dr. Chambers pointed to the hydraulic press whose top-end disappeared through the ceiling. "Please step under it."

    "What is this for?" Taylor asked, eyeing the massive steel block with a bit of worry.

    "This is for testing your strength. Tinkertech hydraulics hold it up at present. We will gently lower it onto you until you tell us to stop or we decide you can take no more. We expect you to use your arms. This is not a headbutting test." The Doctor said dryly.

    Taylor tilted her head to one side as she tried to guess the weight of the load she hadn't quite stepped beneath. "Has anyone done that?" She asked.

    "There are some odd powers out there." The doctor said with a sigh.

    "And how heavy is this?" Taylor asked, giving up on guessing since she had no idea how far into the building this went.

    "Two hundred and fifty tons of steel. The hydraulics are rated for twice that." The doctor replied absently, "Please step underneath."

    "Nothing bad has happened with this test before, has it?" Her dad asked worriedly as Taylor stepped under the giant hammer.

    "We go slowly specifically to avoid hurting the participant Mr. Hebert. You have nothing to worry about. The system is technically safe for ordinary people, though vastly overkill for testing an ordinary person." The doctor replied, "Beginning in five."

    Taylor looked up at the meter square block of steel above her head and swallowed nervously.

    "Four, Three."

    She set her feet apart and raised her hands.

    "Two."

    This was probably going to suck.

    "One."

    The steel groaned and began to fall. It met her palms with a slap and stopped. It felt light and she was easily able to push it up if she wanted to. That changed rapidly as the weight continued to increase.

    "Good, you're doing quite well Taylor." Miss Militia called from where she was looking over the shoulder of the technicians operating the equipment.

    "Wha-what am I at?" Taylor asked, gritting her teeth as the sweat started to appear in small drops. The block was really getting heavy.

    "Do you really want to know?" Inari snarked before anyone could reply.

    Considering for a moment Taylor shook her head no. "Not really?" She offered, readjusting her grip to better push against the giant block of steel. Silence fell except for her strained breathing and the sweat that had started to trickle down her forehead in more than just drops. Finally, she dropped to one knee bracing herself with her tails to keep herself from being pancaked. Her dad shouted in alarm.

    "Hold!" Dr. Chambers ordered and the weight disappeared a moment later. The steel block held where it was before retracting into its starting position. "Excellent work Miss Hebert. Approximately fifty-one and three-quarter tons, give or take a couple of pounds."

    Taylor blinked as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel that Miss Militia tossed her. "Fifty-one?" She repeated, surprised. She looked down at her hands and formed a fist with a worried expression.

    "And three-quarters." The doctor confirmed, "Now, the treadmill. This way."

    "I don't see one," Taylor said as she followed the doctor across the room.

    "Stand here please." Dr. Chambers directed her to a black metal square in the center of the room.

    "This is a treadmill?" Taylor asked as she stepped into the center.

    "A Tinkertech one, yes. Turn in on please." The doctor directed the last line to her assistants. There was strange thrum then a snap and a blue forcefield appeared underneath Taylor's feet. She stumbled and felt the floor slide to keep her centred. "Please, feel free to run as fast as you can on it, any direction you wish. The forcefield will try to keep you centred."

    Taylor stood up, wobbling as she felt the floor shift under her. "Okay, can I have a second?" She asked. She was still a bit tired from the lifting exercise.

    The doctor shook her head. "I'm afraid not. These series of exercises are also meant to test endurance. Please give it your all." She ordered, walking back to her desk.

    Sighing, Taylor looked down at the forcefield. She gave it an experimental tap with her toe and watched as it flickered and rippled. It seemed fairly stable. "Any direction?" She asked.

    "Any at all." The doctor confirmed.

    Taylor glanced about the room and eventually her gaze came to rest on one of those large cushions used to catch gymnasts at the far end of the room where the ceiling abruptly raised in height. If she somehow outran this thing it would probably be better if she ran straight into a cushion rather than a wall or a person. Taking a deep breath she faced the cushion before falling into the start position she'd seen athletes use on tv.

    "One." She whispered, "Two… Three." She blasted forward, overshooting the edge of the treadmill before her feet could touch the ground again and slammed into the cushion face first. Bits of foam, leather, and dust sprinkled themselves across the room.

    The good news was that the cushion had stopped her, Taylor reflected. The bad news was that she had to drag herself out of the seven-foot deep hole she had dug into the foam-like material, which was on close inspection made of a strange spongy substance that felt damp without being wet. Probably tinkertech like the rest of the room. Who knew how far she would have gone if she had hit something harder.

    Popping out of the hole in the cushion she shook herself off, sending more foam and debris around the room. "Was that good enough?" Taylor asked, earning herself a bemused look from the Doctor and a chuckle from Miss Militia. Her dad just looked relieved.

    The fox was snickering away on her perch.

    "I did say run Miss Hebert, not leap." Dr. Chambers gently reprimanded. Taylor blushed.

    "Sorry," Taylor said, walking back to the treadmill.

    "You are not the first to have done that." Dr. Chamber sighed, "Perhaps start slowly this time, give the treadmill a chance to keep up?"

    "I- Sure." Taylor's blush grew enough that she brought up one of her tails to hide her face as she continued to pick bits of foam out of her hair. She stepped onto the treadmill and let it carry her to the center again.

    This time she started off slower, building speed over time. It took a minute, but she reached what felt like the fastest sprint she could manage. She continued running at that speed, sweat pouring off her. Eventually, Dr. Chambers called a halt. She stumbled and slowed, falling to her knees as the treadmill deactivated and placed her back onto the metal sheet that marked the device.

    "How, haaaaa, how did I do?" Taylor gasped, her breath coming back to her quickly.

    "Quite well, you broke seventy miles an hour, quite well indeed." The Doctor hummed. Taylor blinked, that was a lot faster than she thought she could manage. "Let's see… Just, just the strike tests and jump test and we'll be done with this room. This way please."

    Taylor groaned but picked herself up off the floor and followed the doctor to the giant cushion. The original had been hauled out by a forklift and replaced while she was running. She looked up at the ceiling. "So, jump test?" She asked.

    "Yes. From a standing start, I want you to jump as high as you can and land on the cushion please." The doctor said, "Stand here." She pointed to an X on the floor beside the cushion.

    Standing there Taylor sighed. These tests were hard, but jumping wouldn't be that hard… though... She had just jumped rather hard forward so if she wasn't careful she'd probably smack into the ceiling. She cast a look at the padding that covered the ceiling. Clearly she wasn't the only one to do that. Shrugging, and hoping this wouldn't hurt, she bounced on the ball of her feet as she tried to judge how hard she would need to jump to avoid hitting the ceiling, the issue was she hadn't a clue how hard she could jump in the first place. It wasn't like she'd spent the last week bouncing off the walls back home.

    "Oh well." She sighed and bent down, passing the towel she had been using to dry off to Miss Militia who pointedly stepped back right after. Counting down again she pushed off with as much force as she could muster and blasted into the air, flying straight for the ceiling like a ballistic missile.

    Instinct led to her twisting in the air so the bottoms of her feet were the first things to hit the padded material of the ceiling. Feet digging into the material she knelt on the ceiling for a full second, staring down at the five-story drop with dread. Sure the fall wouldn't hurt, but just the distance was rather daunting and frankly, she'd rather not watch the ground get closer. Closing her eyes she really wished she didn't have to fall back. Seconds passed. The distinct feeling of air rushing past her failed to appear and the ceiling beneath her feet seemed to still be there.

    She opened her eyes and stood up, upside down on the ceiling. She blinked down at the floor and the people standing around the cushion. She frowned and looked up at the ceiling beneath her. An experimental kick to the padding cause her to leave the ceiling behind for one very heartstopping moment of terror before Taylor realized something. She was floating, unattached to walls, or floors, or even the ceiling she had just been standing on like it was the ground.

    "ARE YOU ALRIGHT TAYLOR?" Her dad called up.

    She nodded, then realized it would probably be hard for them to recognize it. "Um… Yeah, just…" She trailed off as she looked around, unconsciously turning on the spot. "How do I get down?" She called back. There was silence as the group below conferred.

    Finally, Mrs. Dallon sighed and stepped away from the group. "Try wanting to come down." She called up to Taylor.

    Well, that wasn't exactly helpful, Taylor did want to come down. Being stuck on the ceiling like a superglued Christmas ornament wasn't exactly what she would call a life goal of hers. Still… She frowned and tried to imagine getting back to the ground as she floated in the air, slowly turning like a misaligned disco ball. Idly she wondered if Alexandria had had this sort of issue at first. It took a bit, but eventually, something clicked inside her and she, wobbling the entire way, managed to float down to the ground.

    Taylor had a second to sigh happily before her dad scooped her into a hug. "Dad!" She protested.

    "You had me worried Little Owl." He said.

    She sighed. "I don't think a fall like that would have hurt… too much at least." She said.

    "You would have been entirely fine I believe." Dr. Chambers said, "Interestingly, I suppose the question is no longer how far you can jump, is it?"

    "Flying kinda makes jumping rather pointless, doesn't it?" Taylor replied thoughtfully, a grin forming. As scary as that had been, it was mainly due to the surprise. This, she had always wanted to be like Alexandria. Now she could say that she had the classic package of powers. She giggled, burying a face into her tails.

    "Now," Dr. Chambers interrupted again after a minute, "We do need to finish up. I can say with certainty that your endurance is quite good. Now, striking power. Please come over to the training dummies." She turned and walked over to the heavily padded training dummies lined up along one wall.

    Taylor made to followed, but sighed as she realized her dad was hanging onto her for dear life. "I'm fine dad." She said quietly, "Really. I was more surprised than scared."

    "I know. I know." He sighed and let her go. He gave her a wane smile. "The right of a parent, hmm."

    She gave him a quick hug before heading over to join the doctor. "The last bit?" She asked.

    "For this room." The Doctor replied.

    "And how much more is there?" Taylor asked.

    "In theory, one other set of tests. All related to your less physical abilities. We have a few puzzles, quizzes, and theoretical problems for you to tackle. Then we just need to test the effects of your known powers, such as your ability to control water, against a few targets to determine how capable they are. We have something optional after that. Now, the target here. Please punch it as hard as you can. Once I'm away." That clarified the doctor beat a retreat back to her booth where the other adults had moved to.

    Looking the dummy over Taylor sighed and drew back a fist. There had been a time, many years ago, where Taylor had gotten into a fight while at school. It had ended with her getting sent home with a black eye and several bruises that took weeks to go away. While her dad was furious at the time it had been her mother who had taken her aside and had shown her a few small things. Like how to throw a punch. It wasn't much, really it had nothing on proper martial arts, but it had been enough to cheer her up at the time.

    She slammed her fist into the face of the dummy with the exact form her mother had shown her years before and watched as the top half of the dummy disintegrated.

    "Good, how is your hand?" The doctor asked.

    "Fine." It didn't even hurt a little.

    "Excellent. Please kick the next one. Hard as you can." The second dummy lost its head before a second strike blew the torso off the heavy concrete stand. Taylor stared. Well, this was definitely driving home how ridiculous her strength was, as if she wasn't worried about it before.

    "Good, good. Now, with your tails." Taylor's head snapped around to the booth.

    "What?" She asked. Her tails?

    "Your tails, they are large enough to be a weapon. Please, use them to strike the dummy." The doctor gestured to the third dummy.

    Taylor walked up to the next one and frowned. It was one thing to say 'hit it with your tails' but how exactly? She whipped a tail forward awkwardly, stopping it before it struck. No, using them like that just felt awkward and might get in the way… She frowned and tapped her bottom lip with a nail. How could she… oh. She tilted her head to the side, ears twitching as she thought. She mimed twisting on the spot, her tails swaying with her hips. Perhaps that could work.

    Stepping back a couple feet she took a deep breath then bounded forward, twisting into a spin that brought the collected weight of her tails to bear on the dummy. If her punch had been violent, and her kicks brutal, the strike with her tails was simple overkill. As the dust settled Taylor stared at the spot where there had been a test dummy… and the holes in the wall where the debris from it had shotgunned through the concrete and steel-reinforced structure without slowing down. In the distance, an alarm went off. It turned off a few moments later after Glenn pulled out his cell phone and made a call.

    Taylor's tails twitched back and forth as she stared. They didn't hurt, but it was rather clear whoever was on the end of that strike would be lucky to be buried in one piece. "Well," She said in a choked voice with forced cheer. "That worked well." She turned to the booth.

    "Are we done here?" She asked with a falsely bright tone that she realized probably fooled no one by the way the doctor just raised an eyebrow at her.

    "We have what we need for now." The doctor confirmed, unplugging her tablet from the system. "Now, we have a few tests waiting. Please, this way." She led the way out as her assistants descended on the hole in the wall with tape measures and scanning devices.

    With a look back at the wall, and the fact that it now resembled swiss cheese, Taylor quickly followed, quietly wondering if she would be charged for all the damaged she seemed to be doing.

    -0-0-0-0-0-​

    The tests and puzzles took up less time than Taylor expected, though it wasn't because she magically understood them well enough to complete them. Each one was, as the examiner had said, 'intended to test for superhuman intelligence by placing unachievable scholastic goals on an individual'. There were a few odd logic puzzles and creative problem-solving questions. She actually managed a couple of those somehow, though that wasn't anything unheard of apparently. More than a few non-parahumans happened to be good enough to manage in those areas.

    Still, the evening was just beginning as she followed Dr. Chambers out of the back doors of the facility into the enclosed park beyond. A tall concrete fence enclosed the yard on three sides, tall enough even the nearby office buildings couldn't see over, and the facility itself formed the last wall with a windowless side. The yard had a large pond, a track field and a small forest's worth of trees along the back. A permanent concrete bunker sat in the middle and it was there that the Doctor led Taylor and the rest.

    Dr. Chambers stopped by the bunker door where a pair of PRT Troopers in full gear, including the face-concealing helmets, stood guard. She turned to the group. "It has been a long day, however, we do have two tests left to attempt. The first we had planned to attempt in the swimming pool, however, after the unforeseen events that occurred I have decided that it may be better to perform it out here with the pond instead." She said.

    Inari snickered from Taylor's shoulder where she had retreated once they had stopped trying to poke and prod her with various devices. "They could have asked me about how that would go." She whispered to Taylor who rolled her eyes.

    "And why would they?" She whispered back.

    The fox, on her shoulders shrugged. "They could have~" She sang softly before quieting down as the doctor glanced their way.

    "Over there," The doctor continued, pointing to a group of workmen were working with sheets of metal and cinder blocks. "They are setting up targets for Miss Hebert to try and damage. Miss Hebert, we would like you to make use of water for this test. Try and use it to break the sheets. You have as many tries as you feel you need."

    Taylor nodded, frowning at the metal sheets. Some of them had to be several inches thick. Break them with water? Could she do that?

    "Pressurized water can cut rather well," Inari whispered to her and she nodded. Maybe she could then, though again maybe not. She hadn't practiced hurting things with water over the last week.

    "Miss Militia, please escort Miss Hebert to her starting position. Everyone else, please come with me inside." Dr. Chambers ordered before turning to the guards and showing her ID.

    "This way Taylor." Miss Militia said, doing this thing with her eyes that seemed to imply she was smiling. Taylor fell in beside her as they slowly walked across the yard. "So, how have you been finding things?" The older heroine asked.

    Taylor blinked and tilted her head. "Tiring I guess." She said after a moment.

    "Well, you have been running around for the last eight hours," Inari said, yawning far too close to Taylor's ear for her comfort. She flicked the fox's nose, getting a yelp and grumbling in response.

    "Power testing always is. Though I will admit today has been a bit more exciting than usual." Miss Militia said with a chuckle. "You have certainly surprised us quite a bit. Brute, mover, shaker, blaster, master, and trump. There are very few people with as diverse a powerset as you have shown today."

    Taylor blushed and fidgeted. Inari made a snuffling noise and buried her nose in Taylor's shoulder, twitching a little. "Thank you." She said awkwardly. The conversation fell silent until they reached the spot.

    "You know I'm surprised." Miss Militia said, watching the workmen finish up.

    "About?" Taylor asked.

    "You never asked for a mask." The Heroine said, looking at her curiously.

    She shrugged, her ears twitching. "Well, I can't exactly hide can I?" She asked rhetorically.

    Miss Militia turned her attention to Taylor's tails before her gaze slid up to her ears. "No, I suppose not. How are you handling it?" She gestured to the extra appendages that were swaying behind her.

    "It's been okay." She said, wondering why they were having this conversation out here on what amounted to a firing range. "Not sure how well I'll do with the whole crime-fighting thing, but…" Sure she sometimes had the urge to lash out at Emma and Sophia, but that always ran into the fact that doing so would have led to consequences from both the school and what the two would have done to her in response.

    "I think you'll do fine. You're going into this with a much better outlook on it than most do." Miss Militia replied, patting her on the head, getting a blush from her. "At least you didn't try dressing up in spandex before running off to fight gangsters in the middle of the night." Taylor's blush doubled at the thought of running around the docks in spandex of all things. Oh god, the embarrassment of wearing something so revealing would kill her.

    Miss Militia chuckled. "Looks like they're done." She nodded to workmen who were packing up their things. "I better get over to the bunker. Try not to punch too many holes into the landscape while I'm gone, would you?" The older heroine chuckled at the mortified look Taylor set her before walking back to the bunker.

    "Well," Inari said thoughtfully, "I like her."

    Taylor glanced over at her advisor and, with great dignity, pushed the fox off her shoulder. "You would, she has your sense of humour." She sighed, still blushing.

    "Miss Hebert." Dr. Chambers' voice echoed over the yard, "You are clear to proceed." A glance around confirmed that the workmen were booking it at a dead sprint out of the firing area. They probably had experience with wards and poor aim.

    "Pressurized water, hmm?" Taylor asked Inari, tapping a nail against her lip thoughtfully while looking at the plates. Well, they hadn't said she couldn't get closer to them, though they probably wanted to know how accurate she could be as well.

    "I've seen it used for cutting before," Inari replied, scratching the dirt out of her fur. But that would require her to compress water, wouldn't it? She seemed to recall something in her science class about that being impossible, or at least very, very difficult.

    Taylor reached out to the lake and pulled a stream of water from it, just the one. She wasn't showing off now, this was different than a display of her control, though perhaps not. Volume wasn't the issue, precision was. She brought an orb of water the size of a family car over to her. Compared to the pool from earlier it didn't weigh on her mind the same way. She reached a hand out towards it in a gesture to help her focus and slowly squeezed, applying her will to the water before her.

    A ripple ran around the orb. Then another. It quivered and shook like the surface of the sea in a storm, but it shrank. She could feel the force that was restraining the water's natural inclination to take up as much space as possible as it pushed back against her. It pressed on her mind like she was holding a far greater volume than she had called up. She pushed more. The orb shrank, wavering erratically as it reached the volume of a basketball. It quivered, a spot bulging before flowing back to the roughly smooth orb it had been. This was her limit. For now.

    Now she just had to direct the forces. She looked passed orb to the steel plates. Feeling the orb she made a guess and imagined a line from the orb to the first plate on the left. Then, picturing that line in her mind, she pulled on the orb, drawing from it a stream of water that tracked back along that path. The orb vanished in an instant, the entire pressurized orb of water flooding down the pathway she had created faster than she could have imagined. There was a loud bang and the first plate flew into the air, spinning end over end until it crashed to earth a hundred feet from where it had started. The angle kept her from spotting the damage to the plate, but she could see the man-sized gouge that was ripped straight through the backstop.

    She breathed out and stretched. That had been hard, but she could do it again.

    "Nice shot!" Inari cheered, bouncing on the spot. "A beautiful first strike by my lovely apprentice!" Taylor rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless.

    "Are you able to continue Miss Hebert?" Dr. Chambers asked from the bunker. In response, Taylor called up another orb of water. She came here for practice, now she had it.

    With the second target, she tried splitting the strike in two in an effort to punch two holes through the metal plate. The orb destabilized before she managed to project more than half the contents downrange. The force was still more than enough to send the target flying, but it was clear she needed more practice before she could try something like that again.

    The third she tried walking the strike across the surface of the target. Again, her efforts to control the sphere rather than let it expend itself in a single strike led to it falling apart, splattering the ground with pond water. Still, she had gotten more than half downrange and it had managed to carve a line on the target. She continued to improve with each target until, with the last one, she managed to draw a very shaky happy face on it.

    She even managed to do it while there was still light in the sky.

    "Well done Miss Hebert." The loudspeaker crackled, pulling her attention to the bunker. "I assume you have no other means of attacking from range, yes?" She nodded, certain she wouldn't be heard. "As expected. Please, turn your attention to the track field."

    Turning Taylor found a couple of workmen finishing setting up some pillows in the center grass. They waved and left. "You have reported that you discovered your hydrokinesis while trying to summon lightning. Your father tells us that you have held off on attempting to summon it out of fear of the damage it would cause to your home. We would like to take this opportunity to observe the method by which you discovered your hydrokinesis and offer you an opportunity to practice without setting your house on fire."

    Taylor twitched. She had thought about what might have happened if she had summoned lightning in her house more than once. In hindsight, it really hadn't been a smart move.

    "Well, let's go," Inari said, trotting off towards the pillows. With a sigh, Taylor followed her, stretching as she did so. She picked at her tank top. Somehow, despite it only being six hours since lunch, it was feeling tight like it had shrunk or something. Then again, that was a problem she had been having for days so really nothing new.

    A yawn worked its way out. "Bleh. This has been going on for way too long." She groaned as they reached the pillows.

    "Hey, we're almost done," Inari said, taking a seat on a smaller pillow set to the side. "Are you ready to try bringing forth lightning again?"

    "Hmm…" Taylor hummed, sitting cross-legged as she leaned back to look up at the clear twilight sky. The sun was hovering on the edge of disappearing, casting the world into shades of purple and orange. "Today has been a day of firsts for me I guess. Figured out how to fly."

    "You figured out how to float. Flying is going to take a lot of practice." Inari replied, "Just like you've had to practice with controlling water."

    "Hmm… I guess." She sighed and straightened, closing her eyes. "Right, lightning…"

    "Lightning, think of electricity, of energy flowing from place to place in arcs and lines. Jagged, sharp and sudden…" Inari said, her voice weaving a description of lightning into the air. It sounded right to Taylor as she tried to find the same feeling as had led to her revelation concerning the Sea. They sat there for fifteen minutes before Inari fell silent, a frown on her face unnoticed by Taylor.

    "Are we sure I have lightning powers?" Taylor asked after another ten minutes.

    "I know what I saw." Inari said, "They bounced between those fluffy clouds of yours."

    Taylor snorted, pulling a tail into her lap to run a hand through as she thought. "They really are soft and fluffy like everyone wishes clouds were." She smirked, sighing as she ran a hand through the long hairs of her tail.

    "Yep." Inari sighed.

    They fell silent again as Taylor continued to pet one of her own tails. It really was like a cloud… Cloud? Something tickled Taylor's mind. Clouds. Lightning was always depicted as coming from the clouds. The physics of it weren't the exact same, but the symbolism was always a bolt from a cloud.

    Her hands stilled.

    Lightning came from clouds, but clouds were never in the state to create it unless there was a storm. Lightning was the fury of the storm, crashing to the ground to venting the rage of the beast into the cold earth. Had they been thinking about this wrong?

    A gust of wind rolled through the yard, ruffling her loose hair and tickling her ears.

    Storms, what did she know of storms? She knew the rains that came with them, Brockton Bay always had at least one storm a month even in august. Usually, a lot more and the rain could come down in sheets so thick you couldn't even see. An ocean in the sky. The currents of air that pushed the clouds across the sky, driving them across the world like shepherds with their flocks of sheep.

    Something rumbled in the distance as another gust of wind rumbled through the yard, the air it carried biting with the chill of the early evening and the hint of something heavier.

    The storm was heralded by its hounds. The winds, rushing across the surface of the world, grasping, clinging and pulling at whatever they came across. Beasts with no jaws, but so many teeth that they could not be counted. They swept across the land, through every crack and every crevice, smacking into every window and stealing everything they could from paper to your heat.

    Drops of water splattered across her nose.

    She knew the thunder, the drummers that followed the winds, shaking the world with every strike of lightning, letting all know the rage of their master. The storm.

    Taylor stood up, her eyes still closed, and her tails spread out pointing to the sky as a biting wind lashed at her. Drops of water ran down her form in rivets even as she turned her head skyward. She could smell energy in the air, a harsh acrid smell that resonated with something.

    She knew little of lightning, but then what mistress needed to know the intricacies of her weapon. She was not lightning. She did not flash and jump. She did not arc and crackle. She laughed, her voice booming across the sky as her hounds nipped at the heels of those beneath. As her army blotted out the sun and the moon and drowned the world beneath.

    Taylor opened her eyes as the world turned white, lightning binding earth to storm as hurricane winds pounded the yard, ripping branches from trees and sending waves splashing through the pond. For five seconds the world was cast into shadows as lightning arced from tail to tail to and back again before arcing into the sky and repeating the process. Then the shadows retreated as the might of the storm dissipated. The winds grew weak and the rain slowed to a drizzle.

    Taylor blinked, looking down at her tails as sparks leapt from hair to hair and from tail to tail. She held out a hand and they jumped from her tails to it, bouncing and bounding playfully about it before she closed it and with a brief application of will the bounding arcs of electricity faded.

    She shook her head. She felt tired. Tired, wet, and cold. But she had done it.

    "Well." Taylor glanced up to find Inari slinking back through the rain. "Do I need to run for cover again?" The fox spirit asked.

    "I think you'll be fine Inari." Taylor sighed, shivering a little. "I'm cold." She complained.

    "Well, come on. Let's go tell them they can stop worrying about getting zapped then." Inari said, hopping onto Taylor's shoulder. "Well done girl." She said into Taylor's ear. "I should have guessed storm, you're not subtle enough to be lightning."

    "Do you want me to push you to the ground?" Taylor asked as she trudged towards the bunker.

    "You know you love me." Was the fox's only reply.

    When they reached the bunker they found the guards still standing outside. One was still looking straight ahead, the other was staring at her as though she had just grown another head. "Um, can I go in?" She asked, holding up her guest pass. The two guards looked at each other before one tapped the intercom.

    "Doctor," The man said, "Miss Hebert is-"

    "Let her in." The Doctor interrupted him.

    "Yes, ma'am." He looked over at Taylor as he scanned his pass. "Impressive show."

    She blushed. "Didn't mean it to be." She mumbled as she slipped in the door.

    Inside the bunker, the room she found herself in was a mere hallway lined on either side with racks of glowing lights. The bunker was warm compared to outside and she sighed happily. "Taylor." She looked up to find her dad looking at her from the one door in the hallway of electronic equipment.

    "Dad." She said happily, half-walking half-stumbling over to him. She fell into his arms and hummed happily. "Tired." She said simply.

    "You gave us a bit of a scare." He said soothingly as he led her into the next room. Inside was a spartan observation room with tables, chairs, a pair of vending machines, a coffee pot and a microwave. By the window were a couple of desks with computers. The Doctor was there leaning over the shoulder of a subordinate.

    "Srry." She mumbled, yawning loudly. Gods, that had taken it out of her.

    "An impressive display Miss Hebert." Dr. Chambers said, cracking a smile as she flicked through something on her tablet. "I've never heard of weather manipulation on this scale from a parahuman before."

    "Gooooddess~" Inari sang.

    Taylor couldn't even muster the energy to conceive a protest to the fox's declaration as her dad led her to a chair and wrapped her in a blanket an assistant handed him.

    "You managed to create, seemingly from nothing, a hurricane-strength storm front five miles in diameter centred here." The doctor continued. "Thankfully it seems to have been short lived."

    "Hm…" Taylor yawned, tuning out the discussion going on around her as she snuggled into her blanket and tails. It would be ten minutes before anyone other than her dad realized she had fallen asleep.

    -0-0-0-0-0-​

    Glenn Chambers sighed as he sat down in the familiar chair inside the director's office. He ignored the annoyed look that Piggot was sending him as he counted off the participants in this day's meeting. Armsmaster and Miss Militia were standing and sitting respectively in their own little corner. Director Costa-Brown was attending again via teleconference, and his daughter was sitting six feet to his left.

    The daughter he hadn't realized was in Brockton Bay. What the hell was she doing here anyway? This place was a disaster away from true anarchy on a good day. On a bad, it was just a sneeze away. She was supposed to be in New York, away from this madness.

    "We are all gathered here for a very obvious reason." Piggot began, "Mrs. Chambers would you kindly explain why you allowed a child to summon a hurricane over My city." You could hear the capitalization in the word. He scowled. This was not his daughter's fault.

    "It is the standard policy to test all known powers to their limits so long as it does not endanger personnel or expose the facility involved to undue risk." His daughter said matter-of-factly as she glared back at the director. "At no point, were we left with the impression that Miss Hebert's abilities could create such a phenomenon. Had we suspected we would have never proceeded with the exercise. It does, however, display the potential power that Miss Hebert could one day bring to bear."

    "One day? She summoned up a hurricane during rush hour. Of all the reckless, thoughtless and hairbrained things she could have done, this-" Piggot shouted.

    "Enough Emily." Director Costa-Brown snapped. "I have a copy of Mrs. Chambers' report in front of me. Are you certain she had no control during this 'awakening'?"

    "Positive." His daughter said, "She showed no signs of awareness until after the lightning faded. At which point it seemed to be as under control as her hydrokinesis. Or at least as much as I can assume based on the small sample size. And we have seen this phenomenon before when Taylor originally learned how to control water. At the time she created water out of thin air before forming it into a ball. She hasn't displayed that ability since. While her control of water has apparently vastly increased in comparison to what it was reportedly a week ago. It strikes me that we may be seeing manifestations of her powers that more closely resemble what she will be capable of when she masters her abilities."

    "That is not comforting," Piggot growled. "We have a child with a companion who is whispering into her ear that she is a god at all times of the day and night. A child capable of summoning hurricanes from nowhere and throwing water about with enough force to punch through three inches of steel plating."

    "And what if I decided to go to a crowded mall and summon a machine gun." Miss Militia said, drawing everyone's attention. "I kept a close eye on her as the events proceeded. She seems… conflicted. On one hand, her powers excite her like they do any young parahuman, but on the other, she shows signs of nervousness whenever their destructive power is demonstrated. When I talked with her just before the plate test she expressed a lack of confidence in her ability to handle the violence that is often part of our job. This isn't the mindset of a mass murderer. She's a child who has come to us for help. Failing to give it simply because of what she could do…" The heroine shook her head. "We're better than that."

    "And helping young parahumans control their powers is precisely what the Wards was created for." Armsmaster said, "She has done what we wish so many others would."

    Piggot frowned but nodded. She turned to Glenn. "Well," She said, "It looks like you won't have to worry about her being too weak. Any idea of how you're going to sell the world that a walking hurricane is the next great hero?"

    Glenn chuckled and looked down at the pad in his lap where a heavily detailed sketch of a young woman with foxtails sat completed. "I had a hand coming up with a few things I think that'll help sell her to the world." He said confidently, absently touching up the skirting of the image with a flick of his pen. "We just need to wait for her to stop growing. If the set of clothing we gave her lasts the week I'll be surprised."

    "Her rate of growth is impressive." His daughter nodded, "And an issue. If it continues at the rate we've seen we could see medical issues inside of three weeks unless it stops."

    "We can only hope that won't be an issue," Glenn said, sighing. "Now, I have a few prototypes I need to get making. I've got colours to match, patterns to experiment with, and a small army of product reps to wrangle. Do you still need me?" He asked.

    "Director?" Piggot prodded the woman on the other end of the line.

    "I think we're good here Emily." Their superior said.

    "Excellent. I'll show myself out then." Glenn waved his pad at Piggot and stood up. He paused for a second beside his daughter's chair, then kept moving. There was a time and a place for questions. This wasn't it.

    His mind was already back on the sketch in his hand as the door closed behind him.

    -0-0-0-0-0-​

    A/N: And a thank you to @Gekkou_Yoko for being my editor again.

    Whooooo, this was a marathon~ *Happy if tired Kitsune* Enjoy everyone, and if you feel like supporting me, check out my patreon link in my signature. Cheers~
     
  • Threadmarks
    • I should point out that most gods who are associated with lightning are gods of storms in their entirety, though they do often wield lightning/thunder as a weapon. And most aren't that focused.

    I mean, would you call Thor or Zeus focused?
     
    Great update. Definitely worth the wait. I'm surprised there wasn't concern with the similarity to Levi-tan's powerset. Isn't that the sort of thing that could be a PR nightmare for the Protectorate?
     
    Ah, so nice to see this updated, and with a chapter with a word count larger then the first three chapters combined. Oh, you spoil us. Now, I just realized when reading this that I haven't read you last two updates on you other fics, so, going to have to read those sooner then later.
     
    Worth the wait.

    High Taylor is Hilarious Taylor.

    Love how Glenn wadded up his first idea when her strength was revealed. There goes that idea. Not the cutesy look for this one.

    Wondering how this will affect whether or not Piggot will retain Sophia or not. Taylor is a powerhouse. Sophia is just ... not.
     
    *blinks* you almost doubled your word count i almost feel like the time simplescribe updated after like 6+ months and it was 31k word update

    Edit: High!Kitsune!Taylor is hilarious XD
     
    Last edited:
    And with a new chapter, time for a new set of reactions.

    Grounders10 said:
    Ever since the event, it had been like she'd started putting on weight at an alarming rate.
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    Yes.....you're putting on lots of weight Taylor. In a manner that will have half the species green with envy and the other half (at least) unable to think straight.
    Grounders10 said:
    As it was they fit, but they were far from comfortable.
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    Inari: "That's why you need to invest in proper self-modifying magical clothing. Or just go nude and use semi-solid illusions instead. Did the latter myself for a few decades. Those were fun times."
    Grounders10 said:
    "'Choo!" She sneezed, hard. It was loud enough it could have been compared to a cannon. The effects were certainly impressive, even if not quite on the level of a cannon. She had been, unfortunately for Glenn, looking at his face and when she sneezed a blast of air caught him in the jaw, knocking his head back as he was thrown back several feet. He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.
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    Note to self: do not be down-range when the storm-goddess has hay-fever and/or a head cold.
    Grounders10 said:
    two broken scissors, a lost measuring tape and some quiet swearing she probably wasn't supposed to hear later
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    Comb out the tails, the tape is probably lost in the fluff somewhere.
    Grounders10 said:
    "Fill out?" Taylor muttered, turning the words over in her head before sighing. Yeah, at the rate she was going she would 'fill out' alright. Right into the shape of one of those ancient fertility statues. That was one of her 'domains' wasn't it?
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    Heh, so close and yet so far at the same time in her assumptions.
    Grounders10 said:
    Despite the jacket she felt a bit out of her comfort area wearing a tank top, it just left too much skin exposed for her tastes.
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    Considering Glenn (and Inari kibitzing on the side) I suspect you'll have to get a bit more used to this sort of clothing Taylor.
    Grounders10 said:
    She barely noticed when her dad knelt down calling her name. She blinked guilelessly up at him before putting her tail into his face. "FLUFFY!" She declared loudly, giggling all the while. She was still giggling to herself as her dad carried her out of the room.
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    Inari: "Excellent, she's lossened up. Now I just need to get her to this point without the 'completely stoned' part.
    Grounders10 said:
    Every eye in the room went to the gun, which was now clearly a plastic squeeze toy. Russel squeezed it again. A high pitched note like a dying duck came out of the end. He carefully set the gun on the desk and reopened the box. "Right let's…" He trailed off as he lifted what was clearly a well crafted, perhaps by hand, wooden statue of his syringe gun. It joined the squeaky toy on the table. He looked back into the box and sighed before lifting out a cardboard cut out with the word 'Syringe' written in messy orange crayon on it.
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    Stoned fox goddess is a reality warper with an interesting sense of humor. Noted.
    Grounders10 said:
    "Fire?" Taylor perked up from where she was nuzzling one of her own tails. A second later the potted bush in the corner decided to answer a higher calling and burst into flames. Everyone stared for a long second before Taylor giggled. "Burn." She cooed in a tone that was at once adorable, and bone-chillingly terrifying.
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    And at this point Glenn made a note that Taylor should never have any PR appearances near any amounts of chlorine, EVER.
    Grounders10 said:
    She laughed, her voice booming across the sky as her hounds nipped at the heels of those beneath. As her army blotted out the sun and the moon and drowned the world beneath.
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    "Beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Tempestuous as the sea, and stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair!"

    Otherwise known as prime Scaroused material for any mortal watching. Inari gives it a 6.3 out of 10. Nice start but no real followup.
    Grounders10 said:
    We have a child with a companion who is whispering into her ear that she is a god at all times of the day and night.
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    Inari: "OBJECTION! It's Goddess. Secondly I do not 'whisper' into Taylor's ear at all times. There's sleep time, and nap time, and meal time, and prank time, and even teaching time. With so many things on my schedule it's a miracle I manage to get everything done."
    Piggot: "How did you get in here?!?"
    Inari: "Sore wa himitsu desu." -poofs into a cloud of smoke-
    Grounders10 said:
    "Her rate of growth is impressive." His daughter nodded, "And an issue. If it continues at the rate we've seen we could see medical issues inside of three weeks unless it stops."
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    Oh there will be medical issues, just not the ones you expect. Mostly spontaneous nose bleeds along with injuries from people walking into things while being very distracted.
     
    Grounders10 said:
    "Fire?" Taylor perked up from where she was nuzzling one of her own tails. A second later the potted bush in the corner decided to answer a higher calling and burst into flames. Everyone stared for a long second before Taylor giggled. "Burn." She cooed in a tone that was at once adorable, and bone-chillingly terrifying.
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    Suddenly the "delivering critical instructions via burning shrubbery" makes more sense.
    God was high as a kite.

    "Check it out, this'll be awesome! He's gonna be so confused."



    Grounders10 said:
    "Well," Inari said thoughtfully, "I like her."

    Taylor glanced over at her advisor and, with great dignity, pushed the fox off her shoulder. "You would, she has your sense of humour." She sighed, still blushing.
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    Inari can never meet Mouse Protector.

    Grounders10 said:
    "I've seen it used for cutting before," Inari replied, scratching the dirt out of her fur. But that would require her to compress water, wouldn't it?
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    So here's the thing about hydrokinesis, it has nothing to do with the properties of water.

    If a hydrokinetisist wraps up a person in water and lifts them, the parameters of the lift are defined by the 'kinesis' not the 'hydro'.

    If she picks up a single molecule of water and shoves it through the metal plate, that is "high pressure water."
    Conversely, if she creates a wall of water, and holds it together with inifinite force, that wall is infinitely "hard" no matter how permeable it should be naturally.
     
    Blaflaix said:
    So here's the thing about hydrokinesis, it has nothing to do with the properties of water.

    If a hydrokinetisist wraps up a person in water and lifts them, the parameters of the lift are defined by the 'kinesis' not the 'hydro'.

    If she picks up a single molecule of water and shoves it through the metal plate, that is "high pressure water."
    Conversely, if she creates a wall of water, and holds it together with inifinite force, that wall is infinitely "hard" no matter how permeable it should be naturally.
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    It helps as a mental image though.
     
    @Grounders10 Very nice, and amusing chapter, I liked Taylor getting high on Chlorine, and transforming the syringes, the scene at the end was also well done, although you seem to a more biggoted than average Piggot. A few Nitpicks:
    1)You seem to switch between "Mrs" and "Dr." at random for the lady in charge of testing. If she's a Dr. every one except possibly Taylor (who may call her Mrs/Ms by mistake, or "Ma'am) and Glen (who I'd expect to call her by her first name) would refer to her as Dr.
    2)While the scene with the syringes was amusing, leaving it as just an amusing scene was quite jarring. Taylor just demonstrated a new Shaker ability and there was no attempt to see if she could repeat it while in her right min, much less explore the limits (or note they'd like to do that another day). Additionally, as soon as she was lucid they should have asked her about taking a blood sample and even before that taken saliva, skin scraping etc... samples. For that matter them not doing a simple medical test before starting seems a bit odd now that I think about it.
    3)While the failures of the equipment were amusing and helped spice up the power testing, the repeated and consistant failures made the PRT look like incompetent idiots. While it's belivable that they weren't ready for all of Taylor's powers, they should have been prepared for at least some of them. Particularly bad IMO was the water cutter test - however powerful Taylor's ability the steel plate shouldn't have gon flying since it should have been held in place with something stronger than the plate itself, so that any force tearing through the plate (which was what they were there to test) wouldn't fling it about.
     
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