To Bear the Weight of the Throne [Worm, Inspired by an Essence of Silver and Steel]

[Kitsune_Obsessed]

To Bear the Weight of the Throne
01: Shattered Expectations​

Having a power was not all it was cracked up to be.

Sure, you might win the absolute lottery of powers and end up with the ability to turn into a Legendary Hero of Myth like Taylor herself did, but it always came with a caveat. Some form of drawback or Manton limit that might in fact be potentially dangerous when interacted with in the wrong way.

So, when Taylor Hebert, a young, freshly triggered Parahuman first gained her power, she assumed that it was going to leave her sickly and bedridden for the rest of her life. It wouldn't be the first case of such a thing happening after all, and her power did leave her feeling incredibly sick for an entire week.

But she got better. So much better in fact, that she had to stop herself and just take a moment to process the fact that her abilities apparently came with an upgrade to her physical appearance as well.

Gone were the thin lips that seemed far too wide on her face, replaced with full, expressive lips that seemed to curve into a naturally charming smile all on their own. Her hair had become even more luxurious, the volume and color matching well with the luster and shine, giving her a look most hair models would kill for. Even her body in general received a tune up, her previous paunch from lack of quality food for a few years becoming abs so tones she almost wanted to lick the mirror, and a pair of small, but still rather noticeable breasts situated perfectly on her chest.

Possibly the most noticeable of these changes were her now much thicker thighs, slightly wider hips, and her objectively perfect ass as they allowed Taylor a measure of comfort when seated that she had never known before. It was quite silly when she thought of it, but it was most certainly quite an attractive perk to have for a power. One that could easily be explained away by having a light growth spurt and just not having ever taken off her baggy clothes before.

On top of this, there were a few other things. Mostly minor convenience upgrades, like the ability to call for whatever food or drink she wished for to enjoy — despite not needing it anymore — or instantly cleaning herself far better than any normal shower would allow. She didn't even need to sleep anymore.

Which she was just about to abuse to her advantage for the night, slipping out of her window in a baggy hoodie with a scarf wrapped around her face to hide her identity from any criminals or spectators on her first patrol.

With the abilities of the Legendary King Arthur on her side, Taylor was confident in the chances of her success against the common street thug or hooligan committing crimes in the city. For now, as she landed in the back yard outside her home, Taylor decided that she should start off small. Maybe the Docks would be a good place to start?

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Running along the rooftops at high speeds was more fun than she imagined, Taylor noted. The way her body instinctively adjusted itself as she ran along the sides of walls, or how her landings were always flawless never ceased to bring a rush of adrenaline and joy to her heart. Her athletic skills that came with her power both impressed and amazed her, and she was having the time of her life just from that alone.

However, despite all the searching she had done while she climbed around in the more populated areas of the city, hoping to get the drop on any would be criminals, the brand new Parahuman Hero-to-be soon realized that there was no crime to be found by looking down from above in areas with more people. Somewhere seedier, where the druggies and homeless people liked to hang out seemed to be a more likely place for crime to happen. Well, perhaps she knew of a place just like that.

With that in mind, Taylor made her way to an abandoned warehouse district she knew of that she could reach in a reasonable amount of time in the hopes that she might be able to catch some of the drug addled Merchants trying to peddle their wares. They were scum that liked to take advantage of the destitute, downtrodden or even unsuspecting teenagers — who likely didn't know the difference — and didn't have the self control not to do drugs in the first place. It was entirely likely that with the power of King Arthur on her side, she would be able to handle pretty much anything that they could throw her way, so she was hoping for a good chance to test that in a relatively safe manner.

However, in an unfortunate turn of events, Taylor happened to spot something entirely different than what she expected, and much more terrifying. Lung and his ABB. The very reason she had gained her power in the first place, when he had chased the Undersiders across ABB territory the week before, causing the bus she was on to be crumpled at the front when he slipped on the flaming earth and his already massive leg sent the bus backwards quite a ways.

She had been near the front, trapped between steel walls closing in on her and the mass of flailing people behind her. If she was any closer to the front of the bus, she would have been crushed by the wreckage, but thankfully she was pulled back by one of the people on the bus in time, and rescued by Assault and Battery along with a team of Paramedics when they arrived. Taylor just happened to be perfectly fine besides a minor concussion according to them right up until she got home. It was a frightening experience that she wouldn't wish on any other, but at least she was still alive.

"… I don't care if they're kids. If you find them, you shoot the bitch in the head before she screams, and then you shoot the rest until they stop moving," the burly man claimed, growing bigger by the minute as he stalked through the area, light flames licking his body already. If he was allowed to ramp up any further he might actually kill them!

Her chest tightened. It was going to happen again! He was going to— She wouldn't allow it!

At that moment, Taylor knew she had to act. Reaching down within herself to draw out the power of King Arthur, she watched the memories flashing through her mind.

Her training as a soldier, a knight, and the selection from the sword in the stone. The feelings of gathering allies to secure the nation and ensure the prosperity of the land. Fighting the raiding parties of the Saxons until they could no longer cause havoc among her people. Marriage. Betrayal at the hands of a few of her most trusted knights one after another.

And then, her death at the hands of her own son. Her regrets for how she had become the King of Britain, and how she wanted to use the Holy Grail to go back in time and chose not to pick up the sword at all. To leave it to some nebulous other who might have done it better than she did. The war to gain said Holy Grail. That same Holy Grail, corrupting her desires, turning her into an absolute tyrant willing to commit any atrocities necessary to achieve her goals. How twisted she had become by the Evil being within the artifact that had stolen her very soul away.

Taylor had but a few moments to process the sheer horror at the fact that what she could call upon was so utterly twisted and corrupted, before she became little more than a passenger in her own body.

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Lung, the Dragon of Kyushu, was furious. Those damn brats had stolen the most valuable work of art he owned!

He was getting angrier and angrier as he thought about how they must be dirtying his prized collection with greasy potato chip fingers when a flash of some dark light of some sort that drank in what little of the surrounding light there was flashed in front of him, a true magical girl transformation catching his eyes as he watched flashes of purple and black form what looked to be a set of dark knight-like armor that seemed to protect very little for heavy armor. It was impressive to him that the short blonde had the guts to stand up to him, but he was still somewhat annoyed that his would be challenger was just another girl playing dress-up who didn't understand why covering herself properly in full armor would be better than making her bottom half a black dress of all things. Didn't she have any self-respect?

When she looked up at him with murderous eyes, sickly pale yellow iris staring up at him with a sinister glow, as if he was simply a lizard who happened to be the target of her frustrations for that night. However, he immediately began to ramp up at an exponential rate. His regeneration went into overdrive as her sword formed in her hand fully, He had just enough time to catch a glimpse of the terrifyingly beautiful blackened blade, before a massive beam as tall as the girl herself was made of red and black malice and hatred formed around it, and he knew he had to act fast.

"Raaaaaaaa!" he roared, belching out a massive gout of flame as he just barely avoided being eviscerated, the building behind him being bisected as if it was simply an obstacle on the path to get to him. He panicked. There would be nothing left of this city if he tried to run, of that he was certain. Lung would need to use all the skills he had honed from his thousands of hours of fighting against the various Parahuman adversaries in the local area if he wished to defeat this small girl.

As he moved in to crush the remains of the likely crispy little girl, he noticed something rather important and necessary to achieve such a thing falling off of his side like a chunk of useless flesh. His arm had been severed.

Pushing himself backwards with his powerful legs, he did his best to avoid the next attack, but it was no use! The beam blasted him backwards into a nearby warehouse, his men already long gone from within as they saw the fight approaching. Crumbling into dust around him that made him cough, the warehouse began to melt from the heat of his fire as he regenerated faster, pulling himself from the rubble with what looked to be the most excited grin of his life, but was actually raw anger from how this child had managed to play with him so easily.

"I'll kill you!" Lung screamed at the young girl, charging in full tilt as he grew a pair of wings on his body, allowing him an extra vector of movement. His fire started burning so hot that it became a bright, ghostly blue, and the ground was becoming little more than slag beneath him, but that didn't matter. The only thing that was left in his mind was brutally ending this foolish brat.

Blasting through the wall of the warehouse, he rushed her, punching her as hard as he could manage. She blocked with the flat of her blade, but her eyes widened as the sheer force of his attack launched her through several abandoned buildings behind her. Knowing he had no time to waste, he pressed the attack, launching a large number of fireballs her way even as she was still mid-flight, before rushing after her with speeds he had never reached before in his life.

The girl growled, righting herself as she flew and smacking his fireballs aside like she was playing tennis or badminton with them. An opening! He grabbed her by the leg, dragging her along the ground as he slammed her through the countless containers of waste and bi-products that had been left to rot in the area with an ever increasing amount of force.

With a simple kick to his arm, she shattered every bone in it, causing him to drop her by reflex. Her sword once again glowed with an evil light, the girl dragging the tip of her energy sword beam through the ground as she sent it towards him, causing him to fly off near an abandoned apartment building. When he arrived, she was already there above him, swinging her massive sword beam down onto him and driving him through the entire building as she cleaved it in half with a single swing.

Opening his eyes with a wince, he saw the remnants of the building collapse in on him, the feeling of dust and brick trying its best to fill his lungs as he lay there. However, with a mighty roar, he launched all of it off of him in every direction, standing to his feet in time to see the little girl, utterly unphased as she stood on the street with her sword at the ready, the darkness of it's light almost blinding him.

"Come at me!" she demanded with a glare so intense that it felt as if he was being damaged by that all on it's own, the intensity of her sword's darkness growing much brighter and heavier as she challenged him. And so with a roar, he began their final exchange.

As he came at her at the strongest he had been since Leviathan, he heard her yell "Ex—" as she drew her sword back. He hesitated for a second, realizing the absolute level of danger he was in. She was calling out this attack, despite not having called out a single attack prior, so this must be her secret move! "Calibur!" she finished, swinging her sword before he could process enough to dodge the attack. A colossal beam of dark, malicious energy erupted from the blade, dwarfing all previous attacks she had made. In a show of extreme force, the weight of the violent energy thrown from it almost held him frozen in spot as it came towards him.

The beam had mostly missed due to his hesitation, the rumbling shockwaves of the explosion deep within the bay behind him rattling him deep within his bones. However, the force of it passing him was enough to finally lay him out flat, his body screaming in exhaustion as he began to lose all hope in the fight. He was no longer escalating, and at this point, could only hope that his death would be painless as he passed out.

~~~~
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"I cannot believe this pathetic criminal managed to make me use Excalibur," Artoria grumbled as she approached the false dragon with a sigh. Looking over his prone form, she noticed that his wounds were still healing shut on their own. With a scoff, she readied her blade for the final blow. He would be far too much of a nuisance to let roam the streets for a moment longer, and her host had deemed the man a threat to herself and her city.

So with that thought in mind, she rose her weapon, only to hear the unmistakable sound from her master's memories of the local hero Armsmaster riding in at full speed on his custom motorbike.
The reminder that the heroes wouldn't approve of such things came at the exact time her host took back control of her body, the effects of the transformation lingering just long enough for Taylor to flee in horrified shame.

~~~~
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Back in her room at home, Taylor began to cry as she realized the depths of what she had done. "Oh my god. I almost killed him!" she moaned, grabbing her pillow to muffle her voice as she collapsed onto her bed in despair. "I just can't — I could only hold her back so much…"

She tried and failed to come up with any excuses she could find to tell herself that it would be okay, or that it wasn't her fault, but everything always came back to one specific thought. She had chosen to use her power, and she could have turned it off at any moment.

Sure, she had no idea that this was the case at first, but she let it go on for far too long all the same. And judging by the iconic sounds of the electric jet bike she heard coming her way, she had come within moments of being classified as a villain. "Oh god," Taylor sobbed into her pillow softly. "If Armsmaster caught me, I would be sooo screwed."

Her mind drifted towards thoughts of what would happen if she was caught by Armsmaster there — or worse, if she killed him before she could uninstall her so called Heroic Spirit. If she had been even a second too late, she knew that her reputation would be in shambles.

On top of this, she would have been arrested and had to pay a massive fine for the destruction of property. If they could arrest her at least.

"Oh god, oh no," Taylor sobbed, realizing exactly how hard it would have been for them to take her in. That Artoria Alter as she was called would have slaughtered them until no one was left of the local heroes to get in her way of removing the villains from the bay, and only the Quadrumvirate would have been able to stop her. She would have fought them until she drew her last breath, and they wouldn't have held back in the slightest.

The sheer levels of despair she reached as she realized this was enough to cause her to hyperventilate. What if Armsmaster found out it was her? What if he managed to trace her steps back to her house and found her when she was alone at home — or worse, when her dad was home.

Her mind raced and her head began to hurt, but before she knew it, Taylor found herself slowly drifting off. Perhaps it would be best to get a bit of rest in before morning, if only so that she could reset.

After all, she really didn't want to wake her dad up with her crying. It would likely cause more issues than she was ready for.

Taylor could only hope that it would all blow over by the morning. She was just ready for the night to end.

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AN:
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Kitsu: Yarrrrrr~ The foxxo has written another story for commissions~ I have yet another commissioner who can help me out with the things I need in exchange for words~! I'm very happy about that. The more commissioners I have asking for words, the more kontent I can offer y'all~

Aisling: I am looking forward to continuing working on both this and future fics within the Worm fandom, as well as others! What this chapter hopefully showed to y'all was that Taylor, while Installing/Transformed into, a Servant, she has next to no true control over her body. Further, prior to transforming, she has very little information about the Servants themselves. Hence why she was willing to change into Saber here, not knowing that Salter is very much someone she would, and does, find horrifying lol. We have a lot of awesome scenes planned for the future and a pretty unique plot direction I hope everyone enjoys ^.^

Kitsu: Yus~ I'm going to let Aisling post this on sites they like, but I'm also going to post it on Questionable Questing as it comes up under my own account, which will be great. Maybe Sufficient Velocity as well. Anywhere else will need to be Aisling though, because I genuinely don't care to post it in other places lol.

That being said, you can find my socials at aiko akiyoshi (dot) carrd (dot) co without the spaces if you wanna find me, so come on down and say hi!

 

[Kitsune_Obsessed]

To Bear the Weight of the Throne

02: Alternative Impressions 01​

It was an oddly quiet night for the first time in a very long time, Armsmaster noted to himself on his digital memo pad built into his HUD. Perhaps too quiet for a city such as Brockton Bay. So when he began to feel the city shake from numerous high energy impacts coming from the direction of the docks, he was not surprised.

What he was surprised by, however, were the oddly familiar energy readings he was receiving from his patented Armsmaster Energy and Wavelength Scanner. As he went over the data, he activated his extra recording devices in case one of them happened to be damaged or fail and began to note down the effects while he approached.

He took a few moments to inform Console of the situation before heading down to investigate himself. That way, they would at least know why he had taken such a large deviation from his patrol route in advance, and would have one of the other team members available to back him up if necessary.

Normally he might have approached much faster, but if this really was who he thought it was, that was simply tantamount to suicide without warning her first. He decided it would be a good time to contact Dragon while he waited, if only so he could get a second opinion.

"What's up Colin? You normally don't ca— oh. That's why." Dragon's avatar said as she opened the video call and began to watch his sensor's readings with him. "Well… That energy reading is quite similar to Quintessence, but it's a lot more deleterious in nature than any previous samples I've had access to. Maybe it's someone with a similar power?"

"Yes, that's what I assumed as well," Armsmaster grunted, eyes focused on the readings popping up on his HUD as they continued to approach the area at a modest pace. "Are the countermeasures I have prepared based on Quintessence's power viable against this new Parahuman? Assuming it is a new one that is."

As he said this, they watched as a massively escalated Lung, wreathed in bright blue — almost white — flames was launched into the air and slammed back down through a building by a shorter woman in armor. Armsmaster quickly went over his live feed while he accelerated as he used his trademarked Armsmaster Casualty Calculation Software to predict how many casualties there would likely be from the damage if not contained immediately.

"Dragon, please contact the emergency evacuation team to ensure no one approaches the area, and to make sure that anyone in the direc—" he was forced to swerve to the side and turn around nearly three-hundred-and-sixty degrees to avoid a blast of maleficent energy that streaked directly past the front end of his bike, speeding out to the bay before exploding violently, the dark energy seeming to form a singularity complete with an aura similar to an accretion disk of light around the outside from his perspective. It had narrowly missed him, and was close enough to the Rig when it exploded to cause all of the shielding to flare up to maximum intensity for a few critical moments, barely keeping the people inside from feeling the immense shockwave it had caused.

Rerunning the data in his casualty software, he grimaced at the abysmal chances of the city's survival in his results. There was no longer time to waste, he had to get there before any further damage was done.

Armsmaster revved his bike and spun it around to get back on course, engaging the turbo mode to reach the area even a moment faster. If he didn't get there in time, the entire city would be wiped off the map, of this he was certain.

However, when he arrived, he saw nothing but devastation all around the area. Buildings crumbling into fine dust, melted signage and asphalt boiling beneath his armored suit, burning fires on most of the buildings and gas mains — it was a literal scene straight from the most horrifying of nightmares one might have as a Protectorate hero in the bay. The energy beam from before seemed to have carved a trench right out to the bay as well — one that was slowly letting the water and muck that hadn't been instantly evaporated back along its path.

After a moment to inspect the damage, he noticed a beaten and thoroughly bruised Lung lying unconscious in a crater. The residual energy from the blast was permeating the area, making the air feel heavier than normal as he retrieved his halberd, making it harder for him to move despite wearing the best power armor he had available. He was glad that he had fit some anti-Lung features onto it in time for this encounter, as it would likely have been a pain to detain him without those necessary precautions.

"Colin, I've informed the PRT about the situation. They will be sending a retrieval team shortly," Dragon told him with a serious expression on her digital avatar, clearly seeing what he was experiencing and worried for his continued health. "They have also been informed of the deleterious effects of the energy on physical stamina and wellbeing, so you don't have to worry about that."

That Dragon was being more formal at the moment told Colin that she was rather upset by the level of destruction and was doing her best to remain calm. It was certainly efficient and got the job done without any issues, but he would advise her to take time off to read some of her favorite fantasy novels later that night to help destress, so that she would be in good shape for tomorrow as well.

As he thought of this, the emergency responders arrived in force, and he began to help organize their coordinated efforts with the PRT team that showed up moments later, ensuring that Lung was sedated and detained for the good of the people. Though one thought remained on his mind for the rest of the night: Who was the woman who had caused such destruction, and would Quintessence help him deal with it if he asked nicely?

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Being the Director of the Parahuman Response Team East North-East was not a job for the faint of heart, nor was it easy. Case in point when she was called in to supervise an inspection of the Rig's shield systems in the dead of the night after having been awoken by the sounds of a massive explosion that had nearly shattered some of her grandmother's fine China in its secured display case in her hallway.

The fact that it was able to do so meant that she would have likely been obliterated if she had gone outside for a cigarette that evening like she was planning to earlier. All the more reason that her decision to quit was a good one, as it had likely saved her career, if not her life.

She would have to write up a report as she walked, but at least she knew that Armsmaster was reliable enough to handle the main diagnostics for the sensors on the Rig and the subsequent debrief when he got back from bringing in Lung. With that in mind, she only had to deal with the eggheads for a short while. At least until he could show up to out talk them for her and actually understand the details they were giving him properly.

Emily Piggot wished that Quintessence had been transferred to her command when she had asked for her all those years ago. The woman was powerful, and a great friend, but also quite a nag on her physical health whenever things popped up. Always making sure she wasn't letting herself go too far. Hell, she'd even be willing to put up with Mouse Protector to have her on the team.

Well, maybe she had a point. It would certainly make all these occurrences much easier to deal with if she didn't feel like her heart was going to explode from her chest at any moment due to the Tinkertech coffee running through her veins. Especially while she was forced to listen to and coordinate all of the various 'smart people' in an attempt to figure out if there was any damage to the very sensitive equipment on the Rig.

If there was any consolation that she could think of at the moment, it was that it wasn't likely to have been Quintessence, because the Rig wasn't the site of a brand new rendition of the Elisburg Crater. Piggot didn't know what she'd do if she had survived Elisburg, only to wake up dead because Lung got out of hand.

Heh. She'd probably just haunt the woman. Or Lung. He seemed less likely to be able to actually do anything about it.

After a moment or two, her work cell began to ring. Picking it up from it's holster with one hand, she groaned at the mayor's number on the call display screen. "Hello, Mayor Christner, you have reached me at a rather bad time," she told him through gritted teeth, just before he exploded into a barrage of insults and harassment over the state of his poor city and voters.

This was going to be a long night, she could already tell.

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For once in a very long time, Tattletale was not feeling very smug at all when she talked with her team. Their base had to be abandoned due to a major collapse in the structures when that crazy, absolutely psychotic piece of work that tried to call itself a human being mercilessly slaughtered Lung as if it was a just another Tuesday, wrecking every building in the immediate vicinity.

Her power went absolutely nuts as it told her exactly what the blonde would do to her if she caught her there, the fight going on for long after they fled the area and began to spy on it via one of her boss' drones. She was under absolutely no illusions that they needed to leave the country yesterday, because nowhere in the USA was safe enough to hide from the blood crazed monster that she had seen there. The woman had went from zero to absolute murder instantly, simply because he was a villain in her mind after all.

"Hey Brain, look at this," Regent said, holding up a box containing an extremely rare children's action figure while he munched on a bag of Cheetos. It was the special edition of Masamune during his days as part of the Sentai Elite, complete with limited edition Tinkertech accessories. Her power told her that this was the sole reason that Lung had even bothered to come after them, and that the toy was likely worth a couple thousand dollars if they were to sell it in mint condition. "This is actually pretty awesome."

And then he opened the box and began to play with it, and her headache grew so much worse. Those greasy cheese puff dust covered fingers wiped grime all over something that could have bought them some much needed supplies if they sold it at a pawn shop, and he had just ruined it. It would only be worth barely twenty dollars in that condition!

Groaning in despair as he accidentally broke it's leg in half, her power helpfully supplying that the value had dropped to 5 dollars, she proceeded to sulk a little about it. Not that they really noticed, by the looks of it.

It was just her luck that Lung happened to be a Sentai Elite fanboy out of costume, and that that fucking toy was what he considered to be his greatest treasure. If Lisa didn't know any better, she would think that her power very deliberately did not tell her about such things, simply to mess with her. With how things were going so far, it really would fit the data points she had access to.

Her phone rang at that very moment. Coil was calling, and he wanted to know their status.

"Report!" He demanded as soon as she picked up the phone. Ugh, he was angry. Great.

"Our base was destroyed in a fight by Lung and some unknown parahuman with powerful brute abilities and a set of Tinkertech equipment." Lisa explained what she had been told by her power. "My power tells me that it's a sword made of multiple black-holes with a passive fear effect, and armor with the same effect built in, but I don't think that's entirely accurate. There may be an anti-thinker device built into it somewhere."

"Is that all?" Coil asked her, but she noted that he seemed rather panicked at that rather basic description. Whoever this was, she scared him massively. Though Lisa figured it would be a very bad idea to try to use the woman against him.

Lisa nodded, despite knowing he couldn't see her. "We'll need a new base and more supplies—"

"And a new Leanbox, the last one got destroyed when the Rage Dragon burnt it all down," Regent cut in from right beside her, causing her to back away from his junk food breath. She found it incredibly unpleasant when he did that, but she was aware that he would be even more annoying about it if she told him.

"I'll see that you receive your new supplies and a base to set up in. For now, gather all the information you can on that woman," Coil told her in no uncertain terms before hanging up.

After a moment to process what she had been told, she realized she had been played yet again. Of course he would be able to watch through the drones he had lent them for the robbery. He didn't even need a report, he was just fucking with them!

"You gonna be okay, Tattletale?" Brian asked her with a hint of concern on his face. It was only because he wanted to ensure maximum team effectiveness, but at least he actually cared, unlike the other two.

"Eh, she'll get over it when she has someone cute to bully. She always does," Regent told him with a sly grin, his hands dismantling the rest of the parts of the action figurine while he lazily looked around the area they had chosen to hide in.

"Oh fuck you Alec!" Tattletale groaned, despite knowing how true it was full well. She would never admit it to him, however.

Regent grinned mockingly, tilting his head towards her in challenge. "But you said no last time, Tats," he told her with the most annoyingly smug tone he could muster.

She swore to god, she would kill this man someday. But for now, it would have to wait, as she was texted the location of a new safehouse for them to stay.

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Thomas Calvert was mildly excited, but also somewhat agitated. A new player had popped up in the bay, and that meant that he would be given a small boost to his available resources when he passed on this information to his benefactors.

Say what you would about Cauldron — they were indeed just as controlling and bad to cross paths with as literally any multiple world spanning illuminati group was supposed to be — but if you gave them what they wanted, and could continue to do so, you would be rewarded most handsomely. Something he had made note of rather frequently.

Case in point, the latest Parahuman. Cauldron paid extra for notifications and details about non-artificial fresh triggers that they might be able to make use of for their own purposes, and he was more than happy to give them anything they desired.

The last time he had given them information was on Squealer, who hadn't even triggered in the bay, yet had been forced to join up with the Merchants, and in return he was given an entire selection of Tinkertech surveillance equipment that he could use for his daily work, as well as a few million dollars in non-sequential bills.

Pulling up his secure email client, he split the timelines, and wrote the email in two different ways containing the same information on the Parahuman — drone footage included — with one of them asking for more men to be sent his way in compensation in one, and the other simply sucking up to Contessa in the hopes that she might offer him more money to find the men himself either way. He figured that she'd find the use of his power for something like this amusing, making it easier to get what he wished for on the first try.

What he received in reply, however, painted an entirely different story.

A single line appeared in both timelines of his email, stating the exact same thing. "We thank you for your time, our business with you is now concluded," it read, his mouth repeating the words even as the split in the timelines was concluded.

Well that was a problem… What was he supposed to do now?

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Kitsu: Wooo! Chapter 2 done! More words coming through~

Had fun with this one, despite my grumbling about edits. I kinda tend to do that a lot if it isn't pointed out to me right away, simply because it means I need to reset my expectations on the story again, and that kinda makes it slower for me t get back into the groove normally.

That's pretty okay though, as it helps me get used to working with people who have a specific vision for their story, which is a must if I want to go pro any time in the near future.

After all, an editor would be much more insistent than Aisling has been so far. At the very least, Aisling is very understanding when I need to write something in a specific way to make it flow right in my brain, even when it seems odd to her. Just gotta explain it, and I usually end up finding a better way to put it after anyways!

Aisling: Had a fun time going through this chapter! While we were going through it, we had a few more ideas for future scenes, which is always exciting ^.^

Anything that doesn't make sense now, will in the future. That being said, there are quite a few hints in this chapter about the altered history of Earth Bet that I'm sure will have you all speculating 😉

Hope y'all enjoyed!

Kitsu: Well that's that, and as always, you can reach me at my website aiko akiyoshi (dot) carrd (dot) co if you wanna chat on my socials! Thanks for reading and have a great day!

 

[Kitsune_Obsessed]

To Bear the Weight of the Throne

03: The Second Coming​

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"Big Sister!" a girl with pinkish hair called out to Taylor as she walked through a strangely familiar town filled with ancient Greek architecture and smiling people wearing togas. The feeling in the air was one of festivities and happiness, and it took Taylor several seconds to realize that she was dreaming.

"Come on Medusa, don't ignore me~! It was only a single egg~" the young girl told her with a small pout, causing Taylor's hand to move and instinctually ruffle the girl's hair.

When she spoke in return, the words came naturally to her, despite sounding far different to what she was used to, both in pitch and tone as well as the language itself. "Euryale, I'm not mad," she responded with a slightly motherly tone. "Simply disappointed in you. You should know better by now."

It was an odd feeling, as if she had known this girl her entire life, yet Taylor knew that this was simply a dream. Dreams usually focused around things one was already familiar with in life however, and she was becoming increasingly concerned that it was potentially a master effect of some sort, but before much more could be done, another pink-haired child ran over and hugged her from behind and she woke up.

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A bit of sweat dripped from Taylor's brow as she sniffled. For some reason she felt a pang of longing to meet with those two again, reminding her of the loss of her mother. Unlike with her mother however, she knew that it wasn't real. She would simply have to go about her day, and keep an eye out for anything odd with her surroundings and her Dad, because she didn't want to be blindsided by some crazy Master out of the blue that could effect dreams.

Especially since she had literally just caused the amount of damage she had, so she had no doubts that if a villainous Master knew who she was, they would do their best to force her compliance. It was obvious.

A knock sounded at her door. "You alright Taylor? I heard you crying in your sleep when I walked by earlier, but I didn't want to disturb you," he told her in an awkward voice.

She took a moment to gather herself, but the sound of her father shifting his weight uncomfortably outside the room made her worry a little. He was quite tired, judging by how hard he needed to lean against her doorframe, and had likely been up for a while worrying about her based on his reaction.

"I'm alright dad. Just a nightmare," she told him, standing up from her bed to get ready. She would have to check in with him subtly, to see if he had been affected by any masters like she had initially thought might be happening to her, but she could do that while she talked with him during breakfast.

"… Okay," her father told her with a small voice, seeming to back away from the door a little from the sound of his footsteps. "Well, I made breakfast, if you're hungry."

Taylor nodded, before realizing he probably couldn't see her head through the door. After taking a moment to palm her face, she spoke her thoughts aloud. "Alright. I'll be down shortly."

That seemed to be enough for him, as he made his way down the stairs soon after, his uneven footsteps retreating gently into the kitchen. It almost seemed as if he was either injured or simply rather tired again, which brought one thing to the forefront of Taylor's mind.

Was it her fault? Was he forced to clean up after her, injuring himself in the process? Did he wind up having to work throughout the night because she fucked up?

All of these questions made her more and more determined to never use her powers again. To do so was to invite misery, pain and death upon those who simply got in her way, along with bringing ruin to the lives of many innocent people in the process.

Taylor was many things, but she refused to be that type of person. It was only after a moment or two of realization later that she decided to use her power for the little things at least. The convenience of having her favorite tea at hand whenever she wished, or being instantly cleaner than any shower could hope to achieve was a bit more than she was willing to give up, and it's not like those things could harm anyone else, after all. Minor convenience powers were very helpful.

Even if powers wanted to be used, and used frequently according to Mister Gladly, Taylor wasn't sure about that at all. The man was as unreliable of a teacher as it came, and had never taught her anything she couldn't learn simply by going to the public library in her free time.

Besides, Taylor had endured a bullying campaign of terror for over a year by this point. There was no way a little egging from her power would cause her to snap if the Trio couldn't.

In fact, she used her power to clean herself and change her clothes for fresh ones, her hair doing itself up in a braid as she worked on finding her glasses. She might not need them anymore, but it would look incredibly suspicious if she went around without wearing them, so she had been using her power to make herself able to see while wearing them despite them being the wrong prescription for her eyes.

Checking her appearance in the mirror, Taylor sighed. She could never truly get used to how much better she looked in general, but it wasn't the time to try allowing herself to adjust just yet.

"… Right, I better go get breakfast with dad," Taylor told herself, shaking her head as she made her way towards her bedroom door. It wasn't like she strictly needed to eat anymore, but she was quite happy to enjoy herself by indulging just a little when the time came for it. Her father would worry about her if she simply stopped eating altogether, and that was not ideal.

By the time she had finished her train of thought, she had managed to make her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her wandering thoughts couldn't distract her from the way her father seemed to have perked up a little, despite his clear exhaustion, as if they had received a massive windfall from somewhere despite all odds, and he was looking to share that news with Taylor sometime soon.

Even the way he flipped his pancakes implied that he had a lot more energy than was normal for him, which usually only happened when he had received and locked in a major contract for the Dock Workers Association. The DWA was his lifeline and his last hope for the city, so he was usually quite happy when there was work to be done.

When her father placed the last of the pancakes on the plates and turned around to put them on the table, Taylor observed him carefully. He didn't look like he was being manipulated artificially by any outside sources to her power, and she could feel that he was not being mastered with that same power, but she still wished to properly check in with him so she could better understand what he was so excited about.

"Ah! Taylor!" her father exclaimed gently, putting the plates on the table. "I know I said breakfast was ready, but I figured we could have a few extra pancakes each today because of the new work that came in."

"Oh?" The dark-haired woman asked as she made her way over to the table. He must have found something rather interesting to work on by the sounds of it, or at the very least a lot of something.

"Yeah. There was a pretty massive cape fight between Lung and some other parahuman," her father began, not noticing her slight wince. "It demolished a good portion of the condemned warehouses and broken up infrastructure in the area, so we actually got enough work to set us up for the next several months."

"Is that how you got that limp?" Taylor asked, pointing to how gingerly he was moving with a wave of her hand.

"Yeah, I fell into a pit because it was dark out still and the truck lights didn't properly cover the whole work site," Danny told her with a light chuckle. It was clear that there was a bit more to it than that, but considering her power told her not to ruin the mood by pressing for any information unless she legitimately wanted to have a poor start to the morning, she kept quiet.

He took a moment to pause, sipping his coffee before continuing, "The Mayor was suspiciously easy to convince to get the contract signed in our favor, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially when he didn't try to argue me down for a few hours over the phone before we could even meet this time."

Taylor grinned a little at that. From what he was saying, it sounded like a fire was lit under the Mayor's ass, and honestly, it was about time. There was very little that anyone could say was nice about the man, but he was pretty much the only one willing to run the city for several terms now, despite the best efforts of her father to get other people interested in running for mayor. People who understood what it was like to be in the position of the dockworkers specifically.

It was also quite interesting to hear that her father had managed to get more work, but the reminder of why he got more work was a bit much for her at the moment. It was only her power that kept her from groaning in embarrassment at the thought that she was the one who'd caused the destruction, let alone keeping any of her natural reactions to these things suppressed to a reasonable degree.

At least he had managed to make use of the aftermath of her fight to bring in some work for everyone? She supposed she should see that as a decent consolation prize, if nothing else.

"That's pretty good," she managed to finally say without externally cringing. "Is there anything else going on for you so far?"

"Yeah, we'll need to go to the bank later this week to deposit the check, and I'd like you there for that so we can put some of it away in your account," her father told her with a small smile, pushing up his glasses absently. That was a sign that he was in a good mood due to financial boons in the past, so he must have gotten paid quite a hefty bonus. It might even be enough for them to finally fix the rotten step outside!

Taylor nodded, brushing her hair out of the way as she sat down to eat her pancakes in a hurry. It was close to time for her to take the bus to school, and she didn't want the food to go to waste. "Well, okay Dad," she said absently, not really knowing what she would be able to do with it at this point, considering she likely wasn't going to be able to get into college with the way things were going.

Once she had finished her food, she stood from her seat and began to clear her spot at the table. It was routine, a good thing to have instead of relying on her powers to make everything happen for her. After she had cleaned it all up, she grabbed her lunch from the fridge.

"Egg salad sandwich today? That's pretty fancy," Taylor commented. She knew she would definitely enjoy this at lunch, as it was rare that her father had the time to make such things for her lunches. Usually she had to put together a quick pita wrap on her own for lunch with various meats and vegetables, because neither of them had the energy to do much else.

"Yeah, actually, had a few left over from work so I brought a couple home for you," her father explained. Honestly, that made much more sense than what she was thinking before. Her father was a busy man after all.

Taylor took the lunchbox packed it in her schoolbag with a "Thanks!" before heading out to catch the bus. It was going to be a long day, but Taylor felt as though she could handle it, despite her mental fatigue.

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AN:
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Kitsu: Ar Nar! Shenanigans happened, and now the third chapter will be broken into two!

That's okay though, it should be pretty fun either way.

Aisling: Ya we looked at how far we still had to go and how many words there were and were like, ya this should probably be split lol. This and the next chapter are mostly set up for things that come after. The dream thing in the beginning I think is pretty obvious but I'm still looking forward the payoff coming from it ^_^ Hope you enjoyed!

Kitsu: Yus, but don't worry, even if this one is a bit slower do to the need to directly work with Aisling on this one, it will still come out eventually, just a little slower is all.

I'll probably not be putting this one on my patreon just yet because of how slow this will be to start, but once I get it far enough and see if people are interested, then maybe I'll start putting advanced chapters or special omakes up there early for people to read so that people can have a bit of extra content beyond the stuff for my other stories.

If you want more chapters for any of my fics, you can message me about it and chat with me on discord or in my dms if you really can't do discord, and we can chat about how you'd like to support it! Otherwise you can find me at Aiko Akiyoshi's carrd to come chat on my various socials!

Thanks for reading and stay fluffy!