Realignment [Worm]

Refraction 1.4
◭
Taylor​

The first thing that stood out to my mind when I started waking up was the scent of lavender. The second was a gentle tightness around my waist. Not a tangled blanket, more like… a hug? Come to think of it, I was hugging someone too.

What.

I blearily opened my eyes, only to find a blonde blob sharing my pillow, breathing steadily. I squinted my eyes and- oh. Lisa. She was still fast asleep, her face visibly tired and her hair all over the place. Then… last night wasn’t a dream?

I closed my eyes as the memories of my disastrous outing began surging back.

I… went out as Black Rose. I went to the Docks, into ABB territory, hunting for trouble. I found said trouble; way more than I expected to encounter on my first day. I survived Lung. We survived Lung. And Coil’s forces soon after, too…

I wasn’t sure what to think anymore.

Lisa unmasked to me, and so did I to her… People didn’t just do that on a whim, even I knew that. I was still unsure of what to think of the gesture, still relatively surprised by the trust she apparently had in me. Then again, it’s not like she had anyone else left, or anywhere else to go…

After accepting my offer to stay with me, we walked to my house, still holding the darkness thorn. By the time I dismissed it, we were already in my room, our sneaking into the home muted by the smoky shadows. Dad was thankfully still sleeping, as oblivious as usual. I let Lisa borrow some of my pajamas and, upon her return, finally let my head meet the pillow, falling asleep almost instantly.

I looked at the sleeping blonde, studying her expression. Her lips were not as thin or as wide as mine, barely pressed together in a line, the tiniest bit open. Sprinkling her nose was an adorable collection of freckles, ones that were impressively hidden by her mask earlier. With the mask gone, I could even still make out some dried tear tracks trailing from her closed eyes.

Behind her mask, she was still just a relatively normal girl like me. Villain or not, losing someone close to you was always horrible, and she lost her whole team in one fell swoop. Considering her forced employment, I wouldn’t have expected her to care much about her teammates… yet she did anyway. I could only imagine what sort of grief she was feeling right now.

She was just as alone as me.

Was that the reason she decided to unmask? To make me part of her normal life too? To become a friend, and not just a masked acquaintance? To become a friend…

I… had a friend again?

That realization startled me, but the surprise and melancholy quickly melted away, soon becoming replaced with happiness, gratitude and hope.

I think I had a friend again.

With a growing smile on my face, I tightened my hold around Lisa’s waist, just a little bit. I tried not to overdo it as I didn’t want her to wake up yet, but she began to stir regardless.

Oops.

I saw green eyes flutter open, looking straight at me, and a faint smirk started crawling up their owner’s lips as she tried to suppress a yawn.

“Are you always this cuddly?” Lisa asked sleepily.

I stiffened. A blush was already beginning to spread and I had no idea what to say or do. My mouth opened and closed several times in an attempt to apologize or something, but no words came out. Lisa’s smirk turned into a warm smile and she closed her eyes.

“Relax, Taylor,” she said, hugging me tighter than before. “This is nice.”

And it was.

We remained like this, just basking in comfort, for another several minutes before I decided to spare a look at my alarm clock; Lisa had disabled the alarm for the night before we crashed. I was surprised to see that it was almost midday.

I listened closely, trying to hear if my dad was still at home. He was normally at work at this time, but it was worth checking either way just in case. After lying there for half a minute I determined that he was either gone or really, really quiet. Naturally, I prayed that it was the former. I exhaled and looked at Lisa again.

“Good morning,” I finally said.

“Morning, hero.” Her grin was positively infectious.

◭​

Considering how we immediately passed out earlier, we were still due our showers. I took mine first, letting Lisa pick out something from my wardrobe to replace the borrowed pajamas in the meantime. While she was having her morning ablutions, I cleaned up my room a bit and went down to the kitchen to begin preparing our late breakfast. On the table, though, I found a note.

Hope you're feeling better from sleeping in, kiddo. Seems like having you not go today was the right call after all, huh?

Well, I was glad he suggested that I stay. Going to Winslow in this state would be torture. Well, even more torture than usual. I was still sore from earlier, and Lisa even more so due to her injuries, which were, thankfully, not too serious.

Speaking of Lisa, by the time I started with the breakfast she had already made an appearance. The clothes she settled on were a dark purple T-shirt and green pajama bottoms that were a little long and hung over her feet, with her hair tied in a bun. Objectively, she was pretty — much prettier than me.

While I was cooking, Lisa walked around inspecting everything. On our way home, she mentioned that her power was essentially superpowered intuition, so it was pretty obvious she was using it right now. I wondered, what was it telling her?

Soon enough, though, the food was ready: French toast, eggs and bacon.

“You know, I haven’t asked yet why you instantly suggested me hiding here,” Lisa started during our meal, her eyes boring into mine with curiosity. “Most would’ve recommended asking the PRT for help or something.”

Most wouldn’t expect the PRT to be hiring psychopaths, but what did I know?

“I would've, at least before yesterday,” I answered with a darkened expression.

“Oh?” She was frowning now. Did her power spoil it already? Or was she angry at me?

Considering how much Lisa had told me about her life already, it would’ve been unfair of me to hide this from her. Or, well, anything. She was both a Thinker and my biggest chance for getting help, after all.

And, hopefully, my friend.

“Apparently, one of my bullies is a fucking Ward,” I explained. “...I'll tell you more later, I guess.”

Lisa stared at me, an unusually serious expression quickly replacing her initial surprise. “...That bad, huh?”

“Yup,” I answered dryly.

Lisa finished chewing a piece of bacon. “Once we're done with breakfast, you're telling me everything. And then…” she smiled mischievously, “...we shall scheme!”

Scheme? Is she talking about revenge? Fuck, no, bad idea.

“Lisa, I... if I retaliate, I'll be no better than them! I'll-” I managed to exclaim before getting interrupted.

“No, Taylor, you won't be fine.” Lisa was sporting that serious expression again. “If things are as serious as my power tells me, there's no telling when they'll up the pressure again. Hell, they might simply get bored one day and kill you! Do you want that to happen? I had to deal with Shadow Stalker as well, for your information, and I know how she operates. This isn’t out of the question.”

How did sh- right, Thinker. Ugh, and she did have a point, too. I did nearly die in the locker, after all. That proved they were indeed capable of murder... Fuck.

I took a silent sip of orange juice, while Lisa took a slow breath.

“Look,” she continued, “I'm not telling you to go Carrie on them; that sounds like a headache and a half. Instead, try to do something subtle; something that won’t be traced back to you, that'll at least make them pause for a bit…” She was biting her lower lip now, eyes downcast. “You seem like such a nice person, and I'd hate to see you in more pain than you’re already in.”

Surprised by those words, food forgotten, I felt my eyes sting. My attempts at suppressing the sudden tears were, ultimately, futile, so I just sat there with a watery smile looking at Lisa, who had a sad smile of her own.

“Thank you,” I nearly whispered. Her eyes were glistening as well.

“You’re not alone, Taylor. Not anymore. Remember that.”

◭​

The rest of breakfast was noticeably lighter than the start and, naturally, so were the topics. The warmth never faded, though. Honestly, I was still waiting for all of this to end and turn out to be a dream, but the longer it continued the less likely that seemed.

After cleaning everything up I decided not to wait, leading Lisa back to my room so I could bring her up to speed. There would probably not be a better time to do so, anyways. I handed her the horror show that was my diary, and she sat on my bed next to me.

By the time she got to the end, she was squeezing me with a one-armed iron grip, enough to almost hurt, with her jaw tight and her lips taut. She was absolutely seething, and I noticed her glaring in the direction of the drawer she stashed her pistol in, even after I pointed out to her that killing the Bitches Three would only bring more problems on our heads. The ambient rage in the air, however, seemed to affect me as well, at least a little bit. With anger-fueled motivation, as well as determination, we started to do just what Lisa said we would.

We began scheming.

When I described to Lisa the way I found out about Sophia’s secret identity, she instantly decided to use it as the basis for our plan: Sophia’s apparent kleptomania meant that she would, inevitably, try using her powers on my locker again. I had already made her confused with the thorn trick yesterday, so she would be extra eager to plunder my steel deathtrap.

This time, instead of my thorn I’d be leaving behind an object that had an electrical charge stored inside it. The reason for that was Lisa’s reveal of Sophia’s greatest weakness — electricity. Apparently one of her teammates, Regent, managed to taze the bitch once, which nearly knocked her out completely.

I originally wanted to use an old video camera, with its battery aligned close to the locker door, but according to Lisa it wouldn’t do much. Sure, it might've still zapped her, but I… kinda wanted her to stop entirely? Oddly enough, I was becoming a bit ignorant of Lisa’s earlier words about subtlety. In theory, the harder I’d hit Sophia, the longer it’d take her to retaliate. With that thought swirling in my mind, an idea formed, and I decided to search the basement for supplies.

“You’re kidding,” Lisa said behind my back, watching me heave a spare car battery onto a cluttered table. “You do know that what you’re planning to do will come back to bite you in the ass, right?”

“Probably,” I replied while setting down a soldering iron and a spool of string. “I just want to be done with her for good. Maybe the others will stop, too.”

“This is a bad idea.”

“Then why are you helping?” I smirked as she managed to find a wire stripper somewhere.

“Because you’re stubborn, obviously, and I want some payback as well.” Lisa leaned against the table with a sigh. “At least the battery’s about three quarters full, no need to bother charging it.”

Right, she mentioned having to deal with Sophia before. I wonder what she did to them?

I mused on that thought while searching for a toggle switch. Surely dad had one of those lying around, right?

“This, right?” Lisa said while handing me something.

“Just what I needed, thanks,” I answered, taking the switch and putting it on the impromptu workbench.

After finding two jumper cables and a bottle of glue, I was ready. Lisa was fiddling around with a small picture frame, probably bored out of her mind, so I decided to get this over with.

I used the wire stripper and soldering iron to cut one of the jumper cables in half, and attached its halves to the ends of the toggle switch’s wires. Naturally, I almost botched it. Afterwards, I attached the car battery to the other cable from one side and to the switch from the other. The end result was small enough to fit in the locker just fine, with two clamps that I’d have to attach to my locker’s door from the inside. Now, what would the bait be?

I asked Lisa that question, and all she did was grin at me.

“If you want her to fuck off so bad, why not just tell her?” She said after I made an unamused face, sitting on the edge of the table.

“What, like with a recording?” I asked.

“Nah, too time-consuming. A picture, maybe?” She waved with the picture frame she was holding with one hand.

A picture would work. Yes, it would work just fine.

I looked around, trying to spot mom’s old polaroid camera. Ah, there, on the shelf.

Five minutes later, my hands were holding a photo of me flipping the camera off. I had even taken a few creative liberties by writing “FUCK OFF” with a golden marker on the bottom. Perfect.

Hopefully she’d get the message.

The photo was inserted into the frame, the frame was tied with the string to the toggle switch, and the whole contraption was tested. The string was torn after one of the attempts, so I tied the frame and the switch together multiple times instead of just one, even gluing the string to the latter just in case. That problem taken care of, everything else was working rather smoothly, according to Lisa’s power at least.

With the plan ready and prepared for, we disconnected the parts, carried them to my room, then retired to the living room instead.

◭​

Lisa was staring at the family computer like it personally offended her. Seeing that, I offered to check out what was new on Parahumans Online. Maybe she could even find some info on her teammates’ fates?

“Can it even load PHO?” She asked skeptically.

“Surprisingly, yeah,” I answered with a snort.

Lisa sighed and dragged a second chair over.

“We really need to upgrade this thing later. Or at least get me a laptop,” she stated with no shame at all. Figures.

“With what money?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lisa smiled smugly. “Sweetie, I'm a millionaire.”

Excuse me, what?

I felt as if my eyebrows left orbit, and Lisa started cackling maniacally.

“Holy shit, you should seriously see your face right now!” She was giggling through the words, unable to stop.

She had to be screwing with me.

“Please tell me you're joking,” I pleaded.

Lisa enthusiastically shook her head.

“Nope, I'm serious. Did you honestly think I'd not do something petty against my captor?” She said with a shit-eating grin.

“What, you stole his cash or something?” I asked with a smile of my own.

“Sorta?” Lisa half-asked, still grinning. “I siphoned money from his bank accounts, right into my own. Loser never even suspected.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Even if that's the case, you do realize that suddenly getting a new computer would be incredibly suspicious, right?” Dad wasn’t that oblivious.

“And that's why I also mentioned a laptop. You can just hide it in your room with me!” Lisa exclaimed and threw her hands up victoriously.

Well, she did have a point there. Again. What was I going to do with her long term? Just hide her in my room forever? We’d probably have to talk about that later.

I shrugged and loaded up PHO. Once an account for my cape identity was created, I logged on, wondering what we’d find.

---

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♦ Topic: Lung Rampage at the Docks (Locked Thread)
In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay ► Gangs ► ABB
Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Posted On Apr 12th 2011:
Apparently, Lung decided to go on a walk through the Docks tonight, torching and ruining a good chunk of it. Something made him run rampant, but the PRT are yet to make a statement so we don't know about what happened there. No videos have surfaced so far either.

Thoughts?

EDIT: A witness has shared a photo of a part of the scene from afar: link (Warnings: blood, bones, gore)
EDIT EDIT: A PRT statement is confirmed to be in the works.
Last edited April 12th, 2011

(Showing page 1 of 3)
►Pathfinder
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
Maybe he had food poisoning?

►WonderBred
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
I heard roars and sirens in the docks while walking my dog, shit was fucking creepy

►Und3rPr3ssur3
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
Why you walking with food in ABB territory, Bread? :I

►MoriohN
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
I wasn't gonna get anywhere close to the place, but I had a telescope lying around so I decided to zoom in.
I wish I hadn't.

Viewer discretion is advised, lotta blood n gore: link

►Kriketz
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
Jesus fuck, is that meat? Are those bones?

►OvertureOfDark
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
welp there goes my breakfast

►XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
The pic is blurry, but I think that's one of Hellhound's creatures. Do you think the Undersiders tried attacking Lung and got bodied?

►FissileFizzle
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
Huh, that does seem likely.

Why is Void making sense all of a sudden?

►Kiinematiic2 (Banned)
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
i hope the undies got roasted
*User has been banned for this post*
End of Page. 1, 2, 3

(Showing page 2 of 3)
►OrganEyeSir (Not an Eye)
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
I hope the gore is only from the monster and does not contain any human bits. Lung was pissed, that's for sure.

Kinematic, the fuck's your problem?

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
Kiinematiic2, wishing death on someone is a bannable offense, and you were warned several times already beforehand. Yes, this applies to villains too. Enjoy your ban.

►ExcitedRed
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
Oh, I've seen those things jumping across the rooftops! It was about midnight, I think? Dunno.

And yes, before you ask, that was at the edge of the Docks.

►Deimos
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
Well, there we have it, folks. Lung got annoyed and slapped the Undersiders into space. Or into the ground. Sucks to be them.

►ArchmageEin
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
Serves them right.
*User has been warned for this post*

►Tin_Mother (Moderator)
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
ArchmageEin, please avoid such remarks in the future. Consider this your first warning.

►Ganderorb (Cape Groupie) (Veteran Member)
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
When will the PRT say something? All of this seems suspicious.

►Reave (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
While I can't confirm or deny any of the speculation here, I /can/ say that a statement is in the works. It'll be released when it's ready.

►CheerfulGiraffe (Banned)
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
When it's ready? Shouldn't it have been ready hours ago? Stop being lazy, pen-pushers.
*User has been banned for this post*

►Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
Thanks for the update, Reave.

EDIT: Giraffe, you need to chill.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3

(Showing page 3 of 3)
►Tin_Mother (Moderator)
Replied On Apr 12th 2011:
CheerfulGiraffe, you have been antagonizing the PRT for quite a while now. Here's a ban, you've earned it.

In other news, I have decided to lock this thread until the PRT statement is released. Perhaps the downtime will help you all calm down a bit.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3

---

“Well, that was underwhelming,” I said when I reached the end of the thread.

“No kidding,” Lisa huffed out while stretching her back. “And it was locked hours ago, too. Bluh.”

“Anything your power picked up on?” I asked.

“Nah, not enough information. I’d rather not have it give me false leads.”

Huh, so she could make mistakes. Good to know.

Soon enough, my stomach growled, so we decided to eat lunch.

◭​

Dad arrived a bit after dinner, with Lisa already hiding in my closet. I told him that sleeping in helped — it really did, just for different reasons — and that I’d be fine to go to school tomorrow. I didn’t want to go, but it would attract more attention if I were gone for longer. Plus, I had a present for Sophia ready, and I was itching to try it out.

Under the guise of going to do homework, I absconded to my room, only to find Lisa at my desk, drawing something. I came closer and leaned over her shoulder. Before me laid an unfinished pencil sketch of a costume, one that must’ve taken an hour or so of her time already.

The mask was a domino mask with its ends pointing upwards. Said ends were shaded brighter than the rest of the mask, in a gradient of sorts. The eye holes were highlighted with a lighter tone, radiating from them as if glowing. The closer one got to the eyes, the more pointed particles were visible.

As for the costume itself, it was rather similar to her old one so far — it was still based on a spandex bodysuit, but now had a medium-sized skirt to it as well. It seemed like Lisa was inspired by mine, because it was flowing out of her horizontal utility belt. Unlike mine, however, the skirt ended in pointed strips, slightly darker at the ends. The neck had an intricate design at the front, and, jutting out slightly from her sternum, there was… a gem? A pin? A brooch? There was something that, I assumed, resembled a black hole. It looked rather nice.

Lisa was currently adding detail to the arms, erasing away the dark from the hands and making them highlighted, radiating the same glow and particles as the mask’s eyes. Her expression was rather focused, so I waited for her to finish the arms before speaking.

“I like it, but…” I started. “Didn't you say you wanted to retire?”

Lisa nodded. “Yeah, but I was talking about Tattletale. I still wanna do cape stuff, y'know, especially with Coil still out there. Also, you need a sidekick.” She winked.

That prompted a thoughtful hum from me. Better to be prepared, I guess, and having her by my side sounded nice; way better than trudging through the streets alone.

“So, rebranding?” I asked.

“Yep!” Lisa replied with a pop. “I wanted to go with Insight, back when I was originally planning my escape at least, but the way my power interacts with yours got me thinking…”

Ah, I was pretty sure I knew where this was going.

I grabbed a chair and sat next to her, held out my hand, and summoned a thorn on top of it.

“The stars?” I guessed.

Lisa touched the thorn and, after a moment, the usual glossy black surface changed into the familiar see-through purple one, with a field of pretty, four-pointed star-like particles contained within, appearing and disappearing at random.

“Mhm…” She confirmed, watching it while looking visibly relaxed. “When you're not being chased by a dragon, this thing is quite soothing to look at.”

She ran a finger over it idly, then pulled ba-

Mild lacerations created on target’s middle and index fingers.​

WHAT.

“Ow,” Lisa supplied, looking at two tiny wounds on her fingertips. They were bleeding slightly, but it didn’t seem serious.

What the fuck just happened?

“Uhhh... Why is there a voice in my head?” I asked, still tense.

“What did it say, exactly?” Lisa was staring into my eyes, serious mode activated once more.

I struggled to remember the exact words, but what I did remember made me shiver.

“Something about a mild laceration on a target. I-I think the target's you? Should I be worried? Lisa?” I was not panicking! Definitely not.

Lisa just sighed, and a small smile bloomed a second later.

“Well, guess we now know what that one does,” she noted. “As for the terminology, my power says it's normal, so don't sweat it. I doubt it'll try stabbing me or something.”

Oh. Well, that’s one crisis averted. Phew.

So… Lisa’s power lets my thorns give feedback on inflicted wounds? That… that sounded useful. Really useful, actually. Good to know.

I warily looked at the thorn in my hand and exhaled. “Okay.”

Calming down, I glanced at the still-unfinished sketch on the desk, at my thorn, then at Lisa, and asked: “So... What then, if not Insight?”

She smirked.

“What do you think about Nebula?”

 

Refraction 1.5
◭
Taylor​

The hum of the bus was grating my ears as I sat in the back, anxious yet excited. Today, I would finally attempt to fight back. Today, the Trio would finally encounter resistance. Today, things would finally change.

For the better, I hoped. I didn’t want to imagine how things could get even worse.

The parts for my shock trap were nestled neatly in my backpack near the top so I could remove them quickly. The backpack itself was rather heavy today, courtesy of the car battery within. Theoretically, I could summon a thorn or two under it to spread some of the weight, but I wasn’t in the mood to risk getting caught, especially not today. The burden wouldn’t be mine to bear for long, anyway.

Naturally, Lisa was still apprehensive of me going through with this. This was a serious gamble, an uncalculated risk, but I just wanted things to stop for once. For me, it was worth trying and she understood that.

I smiled at the state I last saw Lisa in — apparently, the blonde Thinker was far from a morning person. When my alarm started blaring and forced me to get up for my morning run, she quickly made use of my absence by monopolizing the whole blanket, curling up head-first under the sheets with an annoyed groan. By the time I got back and took a shower she was still there, grumbling about coffee, or, rather, the lack thereof. Unfortunately, I couldn’t help her with that without risking revealing her to dad, so I trusted that she’d take care of it herself after we left.

I felt the bus lurch to a halt and took stock of my location. Winslow.

I got off, speed walking through the school grounds and into the building. The halls were relatively empty, with most people usually congregating at the cafeteria at this time, so the path to my locker was clear. I reached and unlocked it, looked around to check if anyone was watching and, satisfied, opened my backpack.

The first thing that I lifted onto the top shelf was the car battery, on its side and flush with the far right corner. I then took out the toggle switch, hastily applied glue to its bottom, and stuck it near the far left corner, wires and glued string facing towards me. The bait picture, framed, joined them in the middle relatively close to the door, and I connected the aforementioned string to it from the back. Before continuing, I tugged on the frame once to test it, eliciting a positive result. The battery and the switch were then linked via one of the latter’s wires, and the two others were clamped onto the insides of the locker’s door. I quickly double-checked everything, slammed the door shut, reapplied the lock and exhaled.

Several seconds later, as I began walking away, I watched as Emma and Julia turned the corner towards me, grinning. I steeled myself for a verbal beatdown that was almost guaranteed to happen, but they passed quickly, the latter only bumping my shoulder on the way though.

Honestly, I expected more than that… There was definitely something sketchy going on today. Were they luring me into a false sense of security? Did they have some other big ‘prank’ prepared while I was gone?

Filled with dread and morbid curiosity, I reluctantly shuffled towards my first class.

◭​

Learning Python with Mrs. Knott was rather soothing. Mostly, it was because she actually bothered to keep an eye on her students, causing my hair to catch less spitballs than in other classes. This was further facilitated by the fact that the Trio didn’t take Computer class, likely thinking that it was ‘too nerdy’ or something. Another reason I quite liked the class was that I was actually pretty good at it — it was probably the only class I had that wasn’t affected by the bullying much.

As usual, I finished today’s project with half an hour or so to spare, so I decided to check PHO.
Unfortunately, the thread me and Lisa looked up yesterday was still locked, leading me to scroll aimlessly through the website, bored out of my mind.

There was, apparently, a Slaughterhouse Nine attack on Salt Lake City a few days ago, with Bonesaw releasing a virus that caused its hosts to permanently crave salt. This resulted in droves of zombie-like victims hunting for anything containing it, gorging themselves upon whatever they found and dying of salt poisoning. A video (muted, of course) was also linked, though I had to close it after a minute or so due to how disgusting it was — the Nine had set up traps like razor wire, caltrops and paths of sharp glass shards across the city around visible outdoor spots filled to the brim with raw salt, resulting in the infected dying by the hundreds simply by trying to get through.

Trying to take my mind off of the carnage, I scrolled further.

Sleeper was, oddly enough, not sleeping, and was instead currently on the move towards Moscow; which was strange considering the Russian city had long been in ruins since the attack by Behemoth in 1995. I wondered what his goal was, if any.

In Florida, a villain by the name of Octobeam somehow managed to cut the state off from the rest of America with tinkertech, the divide being several miles wide. That… was probably for the best, honestly.

The Boston Wards member Weld had another resurgence of his meme, this time even more deep fried than the last. People were reposting it with edits, seemingly competing on who could create the most inane image possible. While I didn’t find most of them funny, that did give me the idea to spend the rest of the class looking at cute cat pictures to soothe my nerves.

Soon enough, though, the bell rang.

I turned off the computer and grabbed my bag, walking out of the classroom. As expected, the Trio’s cronies were already waiting by the door, eager to do… something. They were shifting about, eyeing me with those stupid grins on their faces. Some were giggling while others were whispering. I ignored them, not looking at them directly, and tried to push through.

Of course, someone tripped me after I took a few steps forward. I fell on my side, barely catching my glasses on the way down. My hip and shoulder hurt in a way that made me sure they’ll be bruised later. I laid there for a second or two before putting my glasses back on and getting back up.

I ignored the peanut gallery’s insults, shouldering through the crowd and running for the stairs towards the abandoned third floor bathroom.

◭​

Mr. Gladly’s World Issues class was as boring as always. He split us off into groups of three, landing me with Greg Veder and Madison Clements, and declared that we were to come up with ranked lists of the most successful heroes and villains of the last decade. I ended up doing most of the preliminary work since Veder was, as usual, running out of breath by infodumping about video games, and Clements was… actually holding the irritating blonde boy’s no-longer-one-way conversation and even getting some of his references for some reason.

God, that was weird to witness.

After the surreal event had finally passed, I was on my way to my next class when disaster struck, and by disaster I of course meant The Three Bitches. However, there weren’t three of them this time: Emma was present, leading as always, and Madison was lagging behind, her face emitting annoyance at no one in particular. Probably because she got caught talking to Greg. Sophia, though, was missing, even after I checked the small crowd of followers that Emma usually brought. Better than getting punched, I supposed.

“Oh hey, look who it is!” Emma began, her voice sickly sweet. “Taylor, how’s it going? Haven't killed yourself yet? I’m sure your mom would’ve liked the company!”

I snarled. How dare she?!

“What a shame,” Madison supplied, grinning with her head turning towards Emma. “You think she’d finally get to jump some bones that way?” A laugh rolled through the crowd at that.

“Nah, even the dead wouldn’t want her.” Emma matched Clements’ grin. “She’d die like she lived — a loser virgin, alone and forgotten.”

I began opening my mouth to say at least something back, my eyes already stinging; but before I said my first word a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the halls.

It was a scream of pain. Sophia’s scream.

Everyone turned to face the direction it came from, people’s eyes the size of dinner plates, faces pale and stances wary. The small crowd began moving, and I followed along at a distance. As we approached the location of my locker the crowd grew more and more thick; even the staircase in the distance was completely packed with bodies. It was a single mass going in a single direction, a human stampede. For better or for worse, going back was now impossible.

The closer we got, the more gasps and whispers and exclamations in the vein of ‘holy shit’ and ‘oh my god’ I could hear around me. I lost track of Emma and Madison by the time I got near the origin point of the sounds, assuming that they were even closer than me. Students were nervous and horrified, surprised and disgusted; many were holding their phones, and I needed to know why.

In my gut — which currently felt like it was filled with lead — I knew why. But I still needed to see.

Due to my height, I didn’t need to get too close, but the moment I found a good spot to look from, I suddenly locked up, wanting to be even further away. Way further; anywhere but there.

The first thing I saw was a smoking red smear on my locker’s door near the top that I could smell even from here, reeking of iron. Blood. The top of the smear was charred and circular, and the old paint around the mark was melting, adding an uncomfortable chemical tang to the mix.

The second thing my eyes set upon was a person. Sophia was on the ground, the crowd giving her a wide berth as she lay there twitching, sobbing and gasping for air. She had red lines on her skin that split like lightning, all across her left arm and beyond, ending at her neck, and the left arm itself had no hand attached to it. At the base of the wrist was a clear but burnt cut, the top of it seemingly not cauterized enough like the rest and thus still bleeding rather heavily.

I felt like I was going to be sick. Lisa was right, this was a bad idea. This was a horrible idea. This was the stupidest idea I have ever come up with so far.

But… then again, this was kind of what I was going for, right? Not to such an extreme, sure, but something similar nonetheless. I was even feeling a bit of sadistic glee at the moment… Was that how the Trio felt while bullying me?

Sophia was shaking, still on the ground, looking at her stump. Then she flickered.

Ah. Well then, I’ve managed to unintentionally unmask the bitch to the public. Yay, me. God, I was so fucked…

I sighed, glaring at her.

Sophia put her intact right arm onto the floor, trying to push herself to her feet. While staggering up she flickered into darkness a few more times, glaring at the gasping crowd with incredibly potent rage.

“YOU'RE SHADOW STALKER?!” I heard Greg’s bewildered voice from somewhere to my right.

Sophia snapped her head, still flickering, towards where Veder probably was, staring daggers murderously. She then entered her Breaker state fully, her power no longer spazzing out, and dashed through the crowd to the screams of everyone nearby. I saw her unphase for just long enough to lay out a dazed Greg with a crunchy punch to the jaw before sprinting away, quickly followed by some of the more adventurous and/or stupid individuals.

At this point I was pretty sure I was hyperventilating, my knees weak and wobbly, so I pushed through the crowd with shaking hands. I tried to look as small as I could, and entered the nearest bathroom.

I didn’t want to think right now. I just wanted to go home…

◭​

When I stumbled through the front door of my home Lisa peeked at me from the living room, probably busy doing… Lisa things. I still had to find out what those were, other than abusing my family’s computer. Either way, she waved and smiled at me, walking closer with slow steps.

“Well hey, you’re back early!” She exclaimed. “Huh, you look like you’ve seen a gho-ohh… Oh. Shit.” Lisa looked at me with a concerned expression. “…How bad?”

“You were right,” I said, pointedly trying to not look at her.

“I’m always right,” she replied half-heartedly.

“Not now, Lisa, I’m still quietly freaking out in my mind right now. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t do… that.” I was so fucked it wasn’t even funny.

“I did say that subtlety would’ve been better,” Lisa sighed, closing the gap and wrapping her arms around me.

“Sorry…” I whispered.

“Don’t apologize, just try to listen next time.” She released me from her hug, looking towards the living room and then back at me. “Was it recorded?” She asked.

“Yeah… Pretty sure everyone knows who Sophia is at this point.” So fucked…

Lisa let out a low whistle.

“Wew. Yeah, I need to see this,” she stated, sighing. “C’mon, let's find out how fucked we are.”

She took me by my wrist and led me towards the living room computer, loading up PHO and logging on.

---

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♦ Topic: Shadow Stalker Unmasked!
In: Boards ► Parahumans ► America ► Brockton Bay ► Teams ► Brockton Bay Wards ► Shadow Stalker
ArrCane (Original Poster) (Cape Groupie)
Posted On Apr 13th 2011:
YO GUYS HOLY SHIT STALKER JUST GOT ZAPPED IN CIVVIES AT WINSLOW!!

link linky linko link~

EDIT: MORE LINKIES!: beep boop bop pow

EDIT EDIT: EVEN MORE!! wee woo wee woo
Last edited April 13th, 2011

(Showing page 1 of 14)
►ExcitedRed
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Woah, she went to Winslow?! How did I not notice!

►Bagrat (The Guy in the Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Damn, she does /not/ look good in that vid.

...Is she missing a hand, or is it just bent in a weird way?

►Deimos
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Bagrat, look at the locker. Now, remember who we are talking about.

Yeah, I'm betting her hand is still in there.

►Lolitup
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
jesus, ow, that must hurt like ab itch
and look at those lines on her arm, its like she got struck y lightning

►OrganEyeSir (Not an Eye)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Stalker /is/ known to be weak to electricity, so... maybe she got tased or something?

►Nod
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
To me llooks like she was trying to steal something
Guess the Wards aren't so benevolent after all

►Und3rPr3ssur3
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Guess the bitch got caught red-handed. ;}

►ArrCane (Original Poster) (Cape Groupie)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Ok so her identity is shot to all hells by now so I don't relaly care about hiding this~

Sophia is a known bitch and has been bullying a student for atleast a year from what I know, punching and shoving and whatever

tldr she's toast, I'm like 99.5% sure she'll get booted off the Wards

►ArchmageEin (Banned)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
*User has been banned for this post*

►Chaosfaith
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Jesus, man, chill!

Fcking Empire scum, I swear...

►FissileFizzle
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
We're doing puns now?

I suggest she /hands/ herselve in!

EDIT: herself*, damnit! Argh.

►Ganderorb (Veteran Member) (Cape Groupie)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Honestly, I'm not really surprised at this point. The PRT've been rather suspicious lately. As I've pointed out before. Multiple times. Yeah.

►Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Woah.

...What ArrCane said kinda does sound like her.
I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't expect her to remain a Ward after this. Especially after this. I sure as hell don't want her back.

►ExcitedRed
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Oh hey, it's Vista! Did y'all know she was doing this? Or was today a... shocking revelation?
Get it?
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 12, 13, 14

(Showing page 6 of 14)
►Chrome
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
*groans at the puns*
You people need hobbies.

►QwertyD
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Ding dong the bitch is dead! Well, almost. Oh well.
*User has been warned for this post*

►ArrCane (Original Poster) (Cape Groupie)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
ADDED ~MORE LINKS~!

►LogChomper
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
My god, that guy went FLYING. Like, you could hear the crunch from that. Ow.

►MoriohN
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
I expect someone to make a T-shirt out of this. Please, I'll buy several!

►XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Yeah, Chomper, that hurt. Still does. Ow.

But anyways, HOLY SHIT HOW DID I MISS THE FACT THAT SHADOW STALKER WENT TO MY SCHOOL????

►OrganEyeSir (Not an Eye)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Wait, that was you, Void? You ok, man?
From the sound of it, you might need some stitches...

►DisOrderly09
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Well, seems like Shadow Shocker got what she fucking deserved.
*User has been warned for this post*

►XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
...Actually I just got fixed up by FREAKING PANACEA OF ALL PEOPLE!!! TODAY IS AWESOME!!!! btw Armsmaster (!!!!!!!!!) is checking out the molten locker right now, they shooed everyone away but I got a peek. Looked like it had wires inside or something. Tinkertech maybe?

►Razorpunk (Verified Cape) (Villain)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Oof, ouch, ow!
I love it!
*User has been warned for this post*

►SpecificProtagonist
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Phew, glad that you're okay Void! I don't know what got into Sophia there.

►Feychick
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Pretty sure what got into her was a fuckload of electricity and an illegal dose of karma.

MoriohN - on it!

►Brocktonite03 (Veteran Member)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Considering what some of you have said about her... How did they miss this during the psych eval? Or do they not do those?

►Clockblocker (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Yeah she's nuts.

►Pathfinder
Replied On Apr 13th 2011:
Hoo boy. The media is gonna eat this up.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ... 12, 13, 14

---

Lisa leaned back, popping her neck, and exhaled slowly. “Welp.”

“We’re screwed, a-aren’t we?” I asked with my face in my hands, nervous energy jittering inside me.

“No kidding. I didn’t expect it to go that bad.”

I let out a whine.

“I do think we can un-fuck this, though. For you, at least. Most people seemed to have concluded that she’s an asshole, thankfully.”

I turned my head towards her, staring.

“Okay, so.” Lisa began while biting her lip, her eyes closed. “Revealing the identity of a Ward is a big deal, that’s for sure. Heck, revealing any cape’s identity is against the unwritten rules already.”

At that I raised an eyebrow. “What rules?”

“...I’ll tell you about those later. Anyways, revealing the identity of a Ward by hurting them that badly… Things become even more serious. Like, expect the PRT to knock on our door by sundown.”

I shuddered.

“Obviously, they’ll want to talk to you.” Lisa was looking at me again. “And, most likely, will try to pin the blame on you too. Tell me, what do you plan to do against that?”

I… uh. “Blame Sophia?”

“Exactly!” Lisa said with a smirk, pointing at me with one of her limp hands. “You are a victim, first and foremost. Use it to your advantage! I-”

A knock sounded at the door, and my heart began racing. Lisa looked at me with eyes wide in horror, my own probably just as large.

“Shit,” we both said.

She leapt from her chair and ran for the stairs, while I barely managed to stand up thanks to my shaking legs. Before she went any further, though, Lisa turned around.

“Good luck, Taylor. You got this.”

I nodded, balling up my hands and trying to calm myself even a little bit. She returned the nod and started climbing back up to the safety of my room. To the safety of the closet.

There was another knock.

I slowly stepped closer, hand outstretched to the doorknob. I could do this, I thought. It’s just some PRT guys, right? Haha, nothing to worry about! Nothing at all!

I opened the door.

In front of me stood Miss Militia and Armsmaster, the former’s hand resting on a machete while the latter’s was clutching a menacing-looking halberd.

Fuck.

 

Refraction 1.6
◭
Taylor​

“Miss Taylor Hebert, correct?” Armsmaster asked, breaking the silence. “I and Miss Militia here have come to ask you a few questions.”

The two of them stood a foot or so before me, and motorcycles which I could only assume were theirs sat parked near the sidewalk. Armsmaster’s facial expression was blank, which wasn’t helped by the fact that his visor covered the upper half. Unlike him, Miss Militia seemed to be smiling under her bandana if I was reading her eyes correctly. Was that a good thing?

“I- um- y-yes. T-that’s me.” Yet again, the infamous Hebert communication skills made themselves known, and not just because I used to be a fan of the heroes standing in front of me until recently.

Miss Militia displayed a look of concern, and the machete on her hip transformed into some sort of fancy knife. She then looked at Armsmaster, who seemed to take the hint and stowed his halberd behind his back, crossing his arms. Not having capes openly brandishing their weapons in my direction did wonders for one’s sanity, who would’ve thought?

Miss Militia turned back to me and spoke. “We just want to talk, Taylor, you have nothing to worry about.” Yeah, right, absolutely nothing. Definitely. The blonde monster in my closet would probably disagree. “May we come in?” Well, at least she asked.

“Uh, s-sure.” What else was I gonna do, slam the door in their faces?

I stepped to the side as they walked into the kitchen, Armsmaster first with Miss Militia right after. Closing the door, I stood near the table, unconsciously placing it between them and me.

“Are you alone?” The Tinker asked.

“Oh, uh, dad’s at w-work right now.” Holy shit, I can’t let him know about Lisa. Distract, distract! “Would you l-like something to drink?” Please say yes, please say yes… I really needed to calm my nerves at that moment.

“No.” Damnit!

“Tea, if you wouldn’t mind.” Thank you, Militia. Also, they were totally doing the good cop/bad cop thing, huh?

“Is Earl Grey okay?” I asked.

“Sure, haven’t tasted that one in a while.” Yet another eye-smile. She must’ve taken classes for that.

“A-alright.” I grabbed two tea bags. “Feel free to take a seat?”

They did, and I began stalling.

◭​

Thankfully, the heroes were patient enough not to start with their questions before I set down their drinks. Armsmaster was sitting like a statue, probably occupied by his visor, while Miss Militia kept looking around, checking out all the pictures mom hung a long time ago. I was still feeling nervous, worried they’d do something to me or, even worse, to Lisa, but most of my adrenaline had disappeared by that point.

Either way, with me done with the tea, it was time to face the music. I doubted they’d appreciate even more stalling on my part.

Placing the cups on the table and sitting down across from them, I took a sip from my tea.

“So…” I began flawlessly.

“So.” Miss Militia echoed me, taking a sip of her own.

“I assume you know why we came to visit you today, right?” Armsmaster asked.

“Sophia?” I guessed.

“Yes.” Armsmaster confirmed, nodding. “Before we begin discussing your actions, allow me to describe the PRT’s point of view regarding the incident in question.”

He finished the rest of his water in one go and set his elbows on the table. I didn’t even notice the glass being half-empty when I sat down.

“Earlier today, we received an alert about Shadow Stalker, whom you may know as Sophia Hess, being maimed in her civilian identity during school hours. That would be serious enough on its own, but her maiming, as well as the fact that she is a parahuman, became public knowledge via bystanders and social media. Recorded evidence also depicted her lashing out at a fellow student and then escaping the facility using her powers.” He exhaled. “Why we are here today is the reason Sophia was outed in the first place – a shock trap in a locker with your name on it. Do you mind explaining yourself and your actions?” Explaining myself? Was he really on her side?!

My potent inner mix of astonishment and disappointment must’ve shown on my face, because Miss Militia touched Armsmaster’s arm, looked at him with a frown, and then faced me.

“Taylor, we really need to know more. This is a serious situation you got yourself in.” The gun woman took another sip, her eyes on me.

“I set the trap so nothing else would get stolen from me. I’ve lost enough already.” I answered, my own eyes narrowing.

“Do you mind telling us what has been stolen so far?” She lowered her cup.

“You don’t know? Oh, who am I kidding, of course you don’t.” I scoffed, glaring at her. “School supplies, non-school supplies, my homework, unrelated items, my mom’s fucking flute! But of course, you don’t keep track of your hooded psychopath. Why would you need to?” Yeah, I was pretty pissed right now.

Militia’s eyebrows were frowning even more now. “Sophia’s on parole, Taylor, and has been ever since she was recruited. If she had done anything, her handler would have had to report it to us.” Was she that dense? Was this the woman I fangirled over for so long?

“Well that certainly hasn’t happened yet, huh?” I snapped. “Maybe the handler needs a handler of their own? Heck, why stop there, make a whole chain of ‘em!”

Armsmaster sighed. “For how long have these thefts been going on, exactly?”

Wow, they really didn’t know. I was ready to add the kitchen table to my forehead’s social circle at this point.

“Ever since she began fucking bullying me!” I yelled, switching glare targets. “That’s more than a year ago, for your information! I have asked everyone for help, from classmates to teachers to the police, and nothing! My pleas were ignored just like always; even after I nearly died a few months ago! I did everything right, everything that I was supposed to, and still – still it came to this!”

I was running out of breath, and had just realized I was standing. My hands were balled into fists, Armsmaster looked more tense than usual and Miss Militia’s knife turned into a Glock; her expression wary yet concerned. I slowly exhaled, getting my breathing under control, and sat back down to take another sip of my now-lukewarm tea with a shaking hand.

“We will get back to that, Taylor.” Miss Militia’s eyes made me think of a pitying smile. I didn’t need her pity. “Many of your classmates and other fellow students have come forward to tell us about all… that. We just need to get done with discussing today’s incident first, okay?”

“...Okay.” I said, annoyed, the fight seeping out of me. Of course those damn leeches would come forward now that Sophia was outed. Disgusting.

“When I inspected your locker, I noticed something interesting,” Armsmaster stated. “It wasn’t meant for just anyone, but specifically Shadow Stalker. Or someone with similar powers, I suppose. Someone who wouldn’t see the string connected to the picture, someone who would still be able to move that picture regardless, someone who would be guaranteed to be in contact with the locker door during the whole duration of the theft.” Oh. “Does this mean you knew who she was beforehand?” Shit.

“Yes, as of two days ago.” I answered, deciding to go with the truth. His jaw tensed somewhat. “I saw her in her shadow form reach into my locker and steal a pencil pouch.” Still tense.

“So you knew of her weakness at the time of making the trap.” That wasn’t a question. Uh oh.

“Y-yes, but I didn’t expect it to make it that effective!” I stammered. “Especially the hand-slicing part! Doesn’t she normally stay in walls just fine?”

Armsmaster sighed again. “Normally, she doesn’t get shocked for prolonged amounts of time. Or at all, for that matter.” He leaned back. “My theory is that the surprise, mixed with a relatively strong — for her Breaker state, at least — electrical current, managed to disable her power for just enough time to cause her… extensive hand injury, considering said hand was overlapping the locker door at that moment.”

“Oh,” I supplied. It made sense, but how could I have predicted that? Fucking powers.

“Now, then.” He leaned in again, and even through the visor I could feel his eyes boring through me. “Let's move onto the bullying problem. Tell us everything.” Finally.

I finished my tea and set the cup aside.

It was then that the front door opened. Dad.

…Why was he here so early? It was barely 1 PM!

I watched as my bewildered father closed the door, his eyes not moving away from us, and prayed that he wouldn’t make things too awkward. He hung his coat with practiced motions and walked, slowly, towards the table.

“Hello, Armsmaster.” He looked at the armored hero first, then at the one with the American bandana. “Miss Militia. To what do we owe the pleasure?” After that, he turned to me. “Taylor, are you in trouble?”

Thanks for the vote of confidence, dad.

“I- uh. Maybe?” I glanced at Miss Militia with an eyebrow raised. Thankfully, she understood me.

“No, Mr. Hebert, not exactly. There has just been an incident at her school earlier today that concerned her, so we decided to stop by and talk about it.” Well, that was an understatement and a half, but sure.

I sighed.

“Yeah, that’s what the boys at work told me.” Dad explained. “Are you okay, Taylor?”

“I’m fine, dad. For once, I’m not the one hurt here.” I then turned my head back to the heroes. “So…” I stretched, leaning back. “Everything?”

Armsmaster nodded. “The more you tell us, the more we can help you with.” Miss Militia nodded as well.

Was it worth it, to reveal what I’ve hidden from dad so far? To show him how deep the rabbit hole truly went? To have him stress needlessly again? A month ago, I would’ve said no. Hell, even a week ago, too. But now, with all that had happened? Maybe it was. Today seemed to be quite the day for gambles, after all.

Ignoring my father’s increasingly concerned gaze, I stood up and walked towards the stairs.

“You want everything? Fine.” I spoke with sudden conviction, facing away from them. “Catch him up while I’m gone. I’ll be riiight back…”

◭​

When I came back down, accursed diary in hand, the adults were engaged in a quiet conversation. I stepped closer and they stopped, all eyes on me. Laying down the diary in the middle of the table, I sat back into my chair, crossed my arms, and stared right back.

“Read.” I spoke, my tone cold. “See for yourself what the bitch had done.”

My dad flashed another concerned glance at me and, when Miss Militia picked up the diary, took a chair and sat beside her. Armsmaster, on her other side, leaned in to read too.

For the duration of the readthrough, nobody said anything. I just sat there, watching them as Miss Militia kept growing more pale, Armsmaster kept growing more rigid, and dad kept growing more angry. This was especially noticeable when they — I assumed — had gotten to the page describing my trigger event. The further they got, the more they kept shooting indecipherable glances at me, and the more I became impatient, wishing for all of this to just end already.

Finally, they seemed to have reached the last page as Militia closed the diary and laid it on the table. Naturally, all of them were looking right at me. Again.

“Is…” Armsmaster cleared his throat. “Is all of this true?”

“Yes,” I replied, annoyed at his question.

“Taylor, why didn’t you tell me?” Dad asked, angry yet defeated.

“What would you have done, dad?” I replied. “I told literally everyone I could, teachers and Blackwell included, but nobody’s done anything! If you would’ve gone to them in my stead, nothing would’ve changed! You would’ve just been even more stressed!”

“Then we should’ve had you change schools! Or would that also not have worked?” He was yelling already, thanks to his temper. The heroes were certainly looking rather uncomfortable right now.

“Do you think I haven’t tried that?!” Dad wasn’t the only one here with a temper. “The last time I filed for a transfer to Arcadia they just told me my papers were gone! Poof! As if they didn't exist in the first place! And, thanks to the bullying, my grades aren’t good enough to try again!” By the end, I was pretty sure I was growling.

“Oh my god.” He was clutching at his head with both hands now. “Tell me you don’t have anything to do with this.” He said, glaring at the heroes.

“We don’t, but the PRT may,” Armsmaster stated. Huh. “This seems like a coverup on quite a large scale. Rest assured that we will investigate this further.”

I snorted. “Yeah, right. You’ll drop the investigation like the rest of them.”

“Taylor, this is a very serious matter, and your diary — if you’ll let us make copies of it — will help a lot. Not just against Sophia, but Emma and Madison too. Maybe even the others as well.” Miss Militia was looking straight at me, the edges of her eyes crinkled from an unseen smile. “Thank you for trusting us.”

“Whatever.” I didn’t really believe her. They’d probably just… sweep it under the rug or something. Right?

“And, regarding what you’ve said about transfers…” I looked up at that. “We are willing to assist you with the transfer to Arcadia, if you still want it. Regardless of your current grades.”

Well, I didn’t expect that. And Arcadia did sound nice: no more bullies, no more gangbangers, no more failures roleplaying as teachers…

As much as I disliked the PRT, this was a rather enticing olive branch.

“I do.” I said. “Uh, want it, I mean.” That made dad perk up a bit.

“Are you sure, Taylor?” He asked.

“Yeah, of course, dad. Much better than remaining in the dump that is Winslow. At least Arcadia doesn’t have gangs walking the halls in full colors.”

“You’re right. This will be good for you, kiddo.” Hey, he was actually smiling for once. Nice!

Armsmaster stood up from his chair, and Miss Militia followed right after.

“We will contact you later today with further details on your transfer,” he said while walking to the front door. “As for the shock trap, you won’t be sued for it and the property damage it caused will be covered by us, as Shadow Stalker is the PRT’s responsibility and that extends to her civilian identity. Emma Barnes and Madison Clements will be dealt with, and so will Sophia Hess once we manage to successfully contact her again.”

I felt myself nodding absently, committing Armsmaster’s words to memory, until that last sentence of his threw me for a loop. Was she not at their base?

“Wait, Sophia’s gone?” I asked. “She’s not with you guys?”

“No, Taylor, we… haven’t made much progress in finding her just yet.” Miss Militia answered. “The last time she was seen was when she ran out of Winslow, heading south.”

Huh.

“Huh.” I echoed myself.

“You shouldn’t worry about this, Taylor.” She was looking at me again, standing next to the open door. “It’s not your fault.” She then did her smiling eyes again and waved. “Goodbye, and stay safe.” Armsmaster muttered his goodbyes too, funnily enough.

And just like that, they left, speeding away on their motorbikes. I survived.

“Did you say something, kiddo?” Dad asked, startling me.

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing.” I lied. Speaking of, I really needed to lie down… “All of this just… went better than I expected, I guess.” I shrugged, and my stomach rumbled. Right, I haven’t eaten yet.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I saw you sitting there, chatting with two famous heroes.” He was smiling awkwardly. “But since you’re getting transferred, maybe we should mark the occasion? How does pizza sound?”

I smiled too and hugged him.

“Sure, dad. Sounds good to me.”