Realignment [Worm]

Illumination 2.4
▲
Lisa​

Water splashed as I stepped in another puddle, the rains having ceased several hours before. I was following Taylor’s — ahem, Black Rose’s — lead as we walked across the rooftops; one of the ‘normie-friendly’ routes that I had memorized over my career, enjoying the calm before the storm as best as we could. One could almost call the city ‘serene’ at this moment, even if they would be way off the mark.

Our movie-night-during-broad-daylight with Amy went relatively well, in my opinion — with her being the guest, me and Taylor agreed on letting her pick what we were going to watch first, which ended up being the classic horror movie The Thing when she’d heard that Taylor had never seen it before. Clearly, we had a duty to instill some culture into the dorky girl, and instill it we did with great success.

The next movie choice was handed off to Taylor, who went with The Princess Bride after a few minutes of consideration. To our collective annoyance, Danny returned home midway through it, bringing like six or seven people with him, most of them guys. Taylor only really talked to a pair by the names of Kurt and Lacey — the rest only greeting us lightly — and we were then roped into helping them shore up the house’s defenses against handless spooky phenomena with rolls and rolls of strip lights.

Yes, strip lights. Were said lights colored, the place would’ve looked like a decent nightclub. Thankfully, that was not the case.

The adults — which, I assumed, were Danny’s coworkers — also brought some other useful supplies for our Home Alone knockoff of a situation. Amongst the loot was about a dozen tasers, a metal baseball bat, a loaded revolver (people still used those?) and an expandable riot baton. Kurt also decided to be funny and give us a small box of metal shurikens, but I doubted that we would have to use those for anything.

Amy was rather surprised by the whole thing, apparently thinking that the fairy lights in Taylor’s room were just overenthusiastic decorations, but went along with the defense setup without much fuss on her part after an abridged explanation done by yours truly. Sometime during the ‘decoration’ of the second floor, though, Demolition Dallon had knocked on the door and spirited the less-tense-than-usual medic away, citing ‘family business’.

Of course, Amy then got chewed out by her turbobitch of a mother for not telling her about us, as we learned from her group chat messages later in the evening. Ugh.

“L- I mean, uh, Nebula,” Rose suddenly called, crouching down and looking at the barren street below us. “Look.”

I crouched next to her and saw some girl around our age in the process of getting robbed, surrounded by a group of five skinheads laughing at her plight. She shook with terror as one of them got closer, pushing her against the wall and- yeah, we needed to go now.

“C’mon,” I said hastily, already moving to the fire escape.

Rose had five thorns of hers ready by the time we dropped onto the street, so she sent them all out into the open air for what I assumed to be an attack from above. Black sand was gathering in an attempt to make a sixth but, for some reason, it was taking a noticeably longer time than usual. While she did that I slowly unholstered my gun and kept it trained at our main target’s head for some sweet, sweet intimidation.

As we approached them, trying not to walk too loudly, the pinned girl had apparently noticed us and resumed kicking her captor with renewed vigor. He slammed her into the wall again and, alongside one of the other four douchebags, turned away from his victim to gape at us in surprise.

Well, mostly me.

“Let her go, and you won’t get hurt too badly,” I spoke with a grin, the rest of them turning to me as I pointed with my gun. Speaking of which… “If I see any of y-”

Of course, that was when not one, not two, but three of the nazi crew reached for their weapons, their suddenly-panicking leader still holding the girl in his clutches. One of them had a zombie knife, grinning madl- OH SHIT, GUNS!

I tackled a frozen Black Rose to the side as I saw glints in the air reflecting from something smooth — two of her thorns had just swooped down onto the pistols like eagles, one of them piercing a gun (and the holder’s hand) completely, shattering it into pieces, while the other one knocked its own target away into a pile of dirty trash bags. Phew.

“Good save,” I groaned while getting off my teammate.

“HOLY FUCK, MY HAND!” Yelled the first guy, clearly missing his palm already.

“C-cape! Run!” Stuttered the weaponless one, following his own advice.

While the losers were scrambling about, I dragged Rose back onto her feet and stood next to her. “Don’t let them get away,” I whispered, getting a nod in return. I almost began making another announcement then and there but, witnessing the runner trip and fall due to another aerial assault, I also noticed the knife guy and the leader — who seemed to be wearing brass knuckles — were charging straight at us.

Rose saw them too and took her sixth thorn in her hand like a knife, her face a mask of nervous concentration. I pointed my gun at the leader again while leaning over and laying my fingertips onto the knife thorn, releasing my power for just a single thought.

Thinks your gun is a bluff.​

Oh really, now?

Meanwhile, the thorn lit up with stars.

There were still a few seconds left before the knuckles guy would reach me, so I aimed slightly to the side of him and grinned again, locking my eyes with his.

I fired.

The gunshot startled everyone, and the leader even stopped completely, but his stab-happy friend didn’t seem bothered enough to try and slow down — lunging and slicing at my hand before thankfully being parried by two thorns at the last second, failing to get a stab in me as I jumped back to get away from his immediate range. One of the thorns circled back and stopped right in front of the leader’s face, the latter becoming even more white than before, and then bonked him on the top of his head with a dull thunk.

Three down… Wait, where was the second gun kid?

My lapse in attention earned me a rough shove from Rose as she barely managed to block yet another slice that was heading right at me. Knife Guy took the hint and changed targets, going for her instead by slashing at her midsection, but I quickly recovered and pistol-whipped him in the back. At the same time, Rose sidestepped the attack and sweeped out with her leg, and with our combined efforts the fourth of the five nazis had fallen.

Naturally, she bonked him too.

Looking around, our gazes were drawn to the trash pile where the other guy’s gun was supposed to be, except it wasn’t the only occupant any longer — its owner himself was crumpled in the pile, wheezing while shielding his face with both hands. The hispanic-looking girl me and Rose were trying to save had apparently successfully pepper-sprayed the last of her assailants while we were busy and was now standing over him, shoe on his head, looking at us.

Rose poked me in the arm. “I’ll tie them up, Neb,” she said, panting slightly. “Uh, go talk to her maybe?”

“Yep, on it.” I replied, holstering my pistol. I put on a non-smug smile and strode closer to the victim, walking slowly to not scare her off. “Hey, are you okay?” I asked.

“Y-yes, thank you!” She answered, nodding stiffly and hugging herself. As I kicked the mewling skinhead’s gun further away, the girl took a few steps and crouched down, picking up her stolen purse. “D-do I call the p-police now?”

Well, that would save us the trouble.

“Sure, go ahead,” I said with a nod of my own.

She took out a flip phone and dialed while I walked over to the maimed gunman. Just like his healthier counterpart, he was in a fetal position; only instead of holding his head he was cradling his right hand, whining slightly.

Will bleed out without swift medical intervention.​

No shit, Sherlock. Also, what was it with Taylor and maiming hands? That’s two for two, now.

I called her to me as she finished tying the leader. “Can you cut this guy’s clothes?” I asked. To my infinite satisfaction, the loser in question had flinched at my word choice. “He’ll bleed out without help otherwise.”

Rose’s lips pressed into a thin line as she glared at the injury, and she knelt down to hold the man’s arm in place. With her glowing knife thorn, his sleeve was cut into strips of cloth and I stepped in to make a makeshift tourniquet while shooing my partner off to tie the pepper-sprayed thug instead.

Good thing Brian taught me the basics of first aid, huh?

“Uh, e-excuse me?” I heard from my right, glancing at the girl who was still on her phone. “W-what are your names?”

“I’m Nebula, and that over there is Black Rose,” I replied. “Oh, and ask for an ambulance for this guy, please. Don’t want a dead body on our hands.”

She half-nodded, half-bowed in my direction and repeated what I said to whomever she was talking to as I got back to preventing the glaring nazi scum from kicking the bucket early. The feeling’s mutual, buddy, don’t worry about it.

“All done,” Rose said tiredly, walking back to me. The five of her normal thorns were trailing behind her back, forming a star-like (or flower-like?) shape while pointing outwards in equal intervals. “Need any help?” She asked, uneasy.

“Hmm… This should hold just fine, so…” I stood up. “Tie him up and we can leave, I guess.”

She shrugged. “Sure.”

“Wait, y-you’re not staying?” The victim asked in surprise.

I really didn’t want to deal with cops so soon…

Me and Rose shared a glance before I gave the girl an answer. “We’ll stay for a bit to make sure none of these idiots try anything stupid, but as soon as we hear the sirens, we’ll leave. Does that sound good to you?”

She nodded hesitantly, looking at me shyly, unable to meet my eyes. “Okay.”

⬇▲⬆
Taylor​

“So…” Nebula said as we continued our patrol.

“So,” I echoed her, moving around a smokestack.

“It’s the hand, isn’t it?” She asked me with a gentle tone.

I hummed instead of answering, all but confirming her guess.

“You did what you had to, Rose. You saved us both back there.”

“Yeah, I did, but he almost died in the process!” I exclaimed. “And why am I even worrying about him in the first place? He’s a nazi! With the Empire! He shouldn’t fucking matter!” I threw my head back, pointing my gaze at the dark, cloudy sky. “Ughhh.”

“Because you’re a good person?” Nebula guessed, and I could see her outstretched arm in my peripheral vision. I glared at her with annoyance. “What?”

“Good people don’t bother themselves about a nazi’s health,” I said.

“Good people avoid killing, nazis or not.”

“I- I guess,” I conceded with a sigh, dropping down onto another building’s roof.

“No, really,” Nebula continued as she followed my trail. “What else would you have done in that situation? Ran at them?”

What would have I done? I… couldn’t really think of anything else. There were barely any hiding spaces, and I didn’t have any long-range weapons other than my thorns. Hmm…

“I could’ve tried knocking them out, maybe? Like I did later?” I suggested.

“Eh, maybe. Still riskier than going for the gun hand or the gun itself, though. Like, what if you bonk a dude with a thick skull and that doesn’t do the trick? Sure, he might sway or something, but he’d still have a chance to shoot you.”

True.

“Were I you, I would’ve done the same thing,” she continued her explanation, shrugging while looking at me. “Hell, the only reason I hadn’t shot one of the guns myself was because you were in their line of fire.”

I hummed again, this time in acknowledgement, before stepping over a short railing.

Like I’d done numerous times this night already, I surveyed the streets below me once we got a bit further away. A small empty playground came into view, a 24/7 convenience store with a dilapidated neon sign, an unmarked van, some rundown cars… Wait, an unmarked van?

I looked closer.

The vehicle was surrounded by a dozen or so gang members — yet more Empire, considering one of them had a literal fascist armband, the clown — who were moving crates of something into a quaint-looking furniture store. The only person there that wasn’t doing anything was a fit, twenty-something blonde with a buzzcut, leaning against the wide glass window outside with crossed arms and a bored posture.

She also had a cage on her face.

Cricket.

Nebula must’ve seen me freeze up all of a sudden because she knelt by my side and looked for herself. Scanning the location she stilled too and, unfortunately, gulped.

I watched with dread as a grin peeked through the Empire cape’s cage of a mask, her head turning towards us ever so slightly. I could hear my heartbeat, our heartbeats, and I had a feeling that the enemy could hear them too. Suffice it to say, we were boned, plain and simple.

“We’re in her range already, Rose,” Nebula confirmed, weakly grabbing my arm. “Get ready for a fight.”

The grin widened.

 

Illumination 2.5
▲
Taylor​

We ran.

Silently agreeing that we weren’t at all ready, we sprinted across the rooftop, away from the edge — Cricket was ruthless, had crazy fast reflexes and was far from a pushover in melee combat, and I wouldn’t be able to do much against her even at range. According to Nebula, Cricket was agile enough to dodge bullets, and, without any powers that helped with the issue, my thorns were far slower than that. Our chances were slim, so escape was the best choice we currently had.

I started climbing up the ladder to the roof that we had come from when I heard a moving, whining noise from below; somewhere within the spacious building we were currently standing atop of. Before I could react, Nebula grabbed me by my waist and yanked me off the ladder right as something exploded near its bottom — the building shook and we fell on our backs, my head feeling dizzy as I looked at mangled metal.

They had bombs?!

I staggered to my feet and helped my teammate up, but yet another of those firework-esque sounds approached from the nazis’ direction. Through the dust I managed to make out a blur flying through the hole that was once the bottom of the ladder and colliding with the crumbling wall. I reflexively shielded my eyes — not that I needed to, thanks to my lenses — as the second explosion made us stumble, forcing us to crouch and look around for an alternative way out from this deathtrap. There was no heat to the blast, only raw force. Not bombs, then, but something else…

The way back was cut off and the rooftop’s edge was far too high to jump from…

“What do we do?!” I asked in my panic.

“Hold on!” Nebula cried as another burst of fireless explosions, this time three in quick succession, sounded loudly all around us.

The whine of projectiles was echoed by the whine of steel, and I wrapped my arms around my partner as we failed to get up yet again. I could feel the roof under us buckling due to all of the damage it had suffered, the dark holes and gashes forming a rough U-shape with us in the middle. Like a tongue, our piece of metal ground bent downwards and, try as we might, we were unable to find anything to hold onto in time. We were slipping…

…Was this how we’d die? Buried under rubble?

As we fell I grouped my thorns beneath me, bringing them closer to my back and making them push me upwards in a last-ditch effort to slow our descent. With Lisa’s body on me, that wasn’t enough to make us float, but we actually managed to land without any bones getting broken in the process — or so I hoped, as my new bruises began to sting.

Mostly judging by sound, we landed on a catwalk, but that was the only thing I could manage to see — the inky black darkness surrounded us on all sides, and even the faint moonlight barely helped as it was hidden by the clouds. Nebula rolled off of me, clearly suppressing a groan as she exhaled heavily with a shudder. I tried to stand.

Her thorn lit up the area around us, no longer blocked by my back as I made it fly away to the nearest wall. The glow was shimmering, ever-changing, faint, but still far too noticea-

Shit, Nebula’s hair and costume were even brighter than the thorn!

A familiar sound heralded another incoming projectile. I dragged my teammate to her feet and away from the spot we were just in, and a second later it was all but a cloud of dust. We ran further away, closer to the wall, and as we reached an industrial shelf close enough to the catwalk I felt the other five empty thorns suddenly become full.

The ringing in my ears became much harder to ignore, and my head spun as my concentration failed. I… could see in the darkness now? Ugh, no, that wasn’t it… Why was it so weird and pulsating? Some spots nearby I was aware of, while most were still shrouded in nothing. Was this Cricket’s power? A shitty map?

The nausea was getting worse.

I began making the Nebula thorn fly around the place, away from us in a randomized pattern, hoping that it would distract our pursuers for a bit. As I took another step forward, the area around my location immediately became visible before quickly fading away, and I finally realized what the ‘map’ power actually was — a radar! Or, uh, sonar. Regardless, we had to move, but… how would we move without getting heard?

The sick feeling began to fade away as I floated one of Cricket’s thorns over to Nebula. It looked as if it was vibrating, its outline being fuzzy to my vision, but both to touch and to itself it felt as solid and under control as normal. Nebula took it in her hand and, even though we were in the dark, looked straight at me.

So it could be shared, like Grue’s…

She put a hand close to her chest and pointed with her finger to the side. I nodded and climbed over from the catwalk to the nearby shelf, still wobbling slightly but steadied thanks to her help. As I helped her over, I spread out the other four Cricket thorns across the building in a bid to understand our surroundings.

What little sounds that were being made helped me identify our location as an abandoned warehouse. Beyond catwalks and empty shelves there was barely anything here, debris and random rubble strewn about with no rhyme or reason. At least we weren’t causing property damage anywhere that mattered.

One of the furthest thorns immediately detected two people standing near the entrance — a man and a woman, both apparently rather athletic. The latter was definitely Cricket because she was wearing a cage on her head, while the former…

…The former had chains, no shirt, and a tiger mask.

I put my mouth right next to Nebula’s ear and whispered as quietly as I could, “Stormtiger.” She stilled, just like back on the roof, and I then felt Cricket immediately point in our direction and say something to her partner. Stormtiger began to make stuff move around his hands… Oh! He was drawing in air, that was what those explosions were! We had to get off this thing right the fuck now!

I tugged my teammate to the side and began climbing down the shelf, with her following my lead and her Cricket thorn floating next to her neck for convenience. Dangerous, yes, but that way she could climb faster while maintaining the stolen radar. Right before we dropped down to the floor I heard the tell-tale screech of Stormtiger’s claws getting released; this time being highlighted in my mind’s eye via Cricket’s radar as three flying crescents. There were several consecutive crashing sounds as they burst through each row of shelves that stood between us and the nazi capes, billowing up more dust.

We stood on a patch of moss, panting and not knowing what to do.

They were toying with us! We were like animals, being hunted for sport — the fuckers weren’t even trying to get close yet! This was a stalemate at best, and when they’d inevitably start moving in…

“Take it,” I heard Nebula whisper, mirroring my actions from earlier and leaning in close. Take what? …Ah. Okay. In that case… I’d need another thorn.

I began counting the seconds as I focused on my task. One, two, three, four…

Another whine sounded, another claw avoided. We were behind a concrete block now.

…Nine, ten, eleven…

“Stop hiding, little mice!” Stormtiger roared with loud unrestrained laughter. “Or do you finally want to fight for real?”

…Eighteen, nineteen, twenty…

Cricket took two weapons off her back, looking like a pair of little scythes, and let out a rasp of what I could reasonably assume was excitement. It still sounded wrong... Was her throat damaged or something?

Twenty four, twenty five, twenty six. Done.

Finally, finally, the seventh thorn had formed, sitting in my palm as I decided to give it the number 1 just in case. Yes, I’d not be able to copy Stormtiger’s power before the number was spent, but I didn’t want to sit through another minute of summoning if Cricket used her sickness aura again. Speaking of which, I should try replicating that one myself.

I sent one of the unused Cricket thorns closer to the villains’ location to chase after her, letting the empty one go to follow in its wake. The bitch reacted, dodging and weaving just as well as I expected her to. Stormtiger tried clawing at the thorn pair unsuccessfully, mostly because they were faster than him, but he also didn’t dare use his blast thing so close to his teammate, apparently.

I could exploit that.

While my target was dodging, I tried changing the sounds within the attacking Cricket thorn’s radius. That… that looked trippy. And I could hear it from here, too. Was that really what white noise looked like? Heck, I could only even still see — or, well, feel — whatever was going on within that place thanks to another Cricket thorn hidden nearby behind a pillar, because actively modifying sounds and maintaining the sonar was seemingly too much for the first one to handle at the same time. Figures.

Either way, the effect was immediate. Cricket stumbled, disoriented by her sudden auditory hallucinations, and I successfully managed to cut her in the forearm with the empty thorn. Thankfully, my hunch was right, and the number triumphantly went down to zero — just like with Nebula’s power, Cricket’s could be copied from touch if she was still actively using it, and her sonar had apparently counted for that.

My headache began growing worse a few seconds later. Ugh, she must have resumed doing that thing again — the nausea was already returning, my vision closing in around the edges…

…If I could modify sounds, could I, perhaps, nullify them as well?

I tested my theory on the thorn in Nebula’s hand and immediately started feeling better, no longer plagued by the unexpected bout of dizziness. Nebula herself, though, looked around in a panicked manner before grabbing my hand with her free one. Why was..? Right, the radar of this one was off too now.

In the glow of her brooch I saw her lips move, but no sound came out thanks to the effect I had made around us. She pressed her other hand to her temple as I made a sphere around us not have noise cancellation, then exhaled. It was almost as if we were inside a bubble.

“Oh my god, fucking finally,” Nebula said with clear exasperation. “I’m trying to conserve my power here but this is a shitshow. Please tell me you have something planned? Pretty please?”

“Well…” I drawled, giving my attack thorns a bit of my attention. This could work, but I’d need to time things perfectly. “...They don’t seem too keen on using flashlights, and I can suppress all of Cricket’s sounds.” I turned my head towards the nazis, who were still dodging my thorns. “How about we make the blind lead the blind?”

She smirked. “Okay, that works. What about Stormtiger?”

“I’ll blast him with his own power, duh.” Just had to grab it for myself first…

I watched as Cricket parried one of the thorns heading for her. Shit, she was getting better even with the handicap.

“Nah,” Nebula replied. Judging by the sound, she was also shaking her head. “He can cover himself in a shield of air currents, it would absorb most of the damage. Especially with his aerokinesis overall.” Hmm…

“What about all the junk lying around?” I suggested. “Maybe I can have a blast wave throw a shelf at him or something.”

“Mmm, better.” A pause. “Yeah, try that.” Nice.

I led Nebula to a safer spot behind a column and several broken steel beams as I directed her thorn towards the hiding Cricket radar thorn near our enemies. With a clink, they combined, losing the ability to manipulate sound but thankfully keeping the sonar. The versatility loss wasn’t an issue for me since the other Cricket thorn was still flying around, hounding her with that awful audiovisual static, and I was mostly banking on the contribution of Nebula’s power giving me some ideas to counter the cage-faced bitch.

Heavy auditory interference created near target.​

That… I was pretty sure it was referring to the white noise. Hmm…

“Shit!” Nebula exclaimed, breaking me out of my concentration — Stormtiger had seemingly gotten tired of this whole charade, and was barreling through the knocked over shelves right towards us. Or, well, a bit to the left- oh fuck!

The concrete block a few meters away from us exploded and I felt a sting as a piece of it left a cut on my jaw, but I ignored it. The sound-proof bubble cut both ways, it seemed, and I was too busy to notice the absence of any damned whining. Stormtiger was running towards us, towards where we were, so I had to finish what I’d started quickly.

As Nebula pointed her pistol at where she predicted he would appear from, I directed the third Cricket thorn — where did the fourth one go, didn’t I have five to begin with? — to intercept the shirtless cape alongside the empty one. Then, I rearranged the Cricket-attacking thorns for a different maneuver: the Nebula/Cricket spike hung behind, waiting to strike, and the white noise Cricket spike was set to noise cancellation mode.

Just as that happened, I lost ‘visual’ on everything within that area, but sent the spike towards her regardless. Meanwhile, the Stormtiger-intercepting thorns were closing in-

Light laceration created on target’s right hip.​

Nice. I reverted the relevant Cricket spike back to white noise generation-

Heavy auditory interference created near target.​

Yeah, whatever. She was agitated now, obviously not used to sudden involuntary blindness and sickness, and that was good — with a bit more prodding I was sure I could stop her completely. But how?

…Actually, why not try the nausea wave?

I did just that.

Mild feeling of vertigo created in target.​

My observations were halted yet again by the feeling of fullness emanating from the thorn that had just touched Stormtiger. I had the backup Cricket thorn continue its assault as I sent the new aerokinetic one upwards, towards the ceiling. We were running once more, kiting the male nazi, and I spared a moment of attention to the thorn in Nebula’s hand. I swiftly returned to my ministrations with Cricket, though, as she was very close to losing completely.

I ‘blinded’ her again, made the spike move in with a strike, then flickered on the nausea. Rinse and repeat; over and over. It felt like watching a camera recording with an extremely low frame rate, but it seemed to be working — the thorn’s hits were landing.

Mild laceration created on target’s left bicep.
Light contusion created on target’s right thigh.
Light laceration created on target’s back.​

Just a little more, and she would be out of the fight…

Further vertigo application recommended for safe takedown.​

“Focus on the tiger, Rose! He can fucking see us!” Nebula yelled as she dragged me further, my mind still busy with Cricket, her injuries, and the thorns that were near her. Panicking, I made the Stormtiger thorn above release a light burst of air on instinct, but it barely did anything as its owner drew closer. I made it start drawing air instead.

At that same moment I noticed a bright light moving in the distance. Coming through from the entrance of the building, a cone of it shone from a large object in someone’s hands. Who..?

I had no time, and shot the compressed air, lining it up in a way for the explosion to launch a barrel right into the side of Stormtiger. I could faintly see him turn his head and jump at the last second, but the barrel still made contact and he crumpled to the ground.

For obvious reasons I didn’t hear the crunch, but I was pretty sure his leg was now broken.

As he landed on some debris I made my Cricket attackers cease their assault, floating nearby with the nausea field shrunk down. She was currently on her knees, puking her guts out, so I let my restored senses view the mystery person approaching her. It was a woman with a gun, no, a rifle, and said rifle had a flashlight attached to it from below. Fuck, armed gang members? Wait, no, more footsteps had entered the spike’s range… Power armor?!

I almost began to hyperventilate before acknowledging the second person’s weapon of choice: a halberd. Letting out a shaky breath I guided us towards who I now knew was Armsmaster and Miss Militia, glad that backup had arrived. We didn’t really need the Cricket thorn any longer, so in the meantime I let it fly out of Nebula’s hands and had it perch right out of Stormtiger’s range. He was sprawled out on the floor face-first, and his attempts at lifting himself up all but ceased with a little application of vertigo.

“Stop,” Armsmaster ordered, raising his halberd offensively as we approached him and Miss Militia. “Identify yourselves.” The flashlight wasn’t helping either.

“Nebula,” spoke my partner, pointing at herself. She then pointed to me. “Black Rose,” we said in a chorus.

“And will we have to fight?” Still hostile, how annoying.

I suddenly heard a sound near Cricket, and felt that she was trying to stand up. I whipped my head in her direction and, thankfully, the heroes reacted in turn. The villain swayed from side to side, limping behind some boxes before a thorn toppled her to the ground again. Thankfully, she didn’t try getting up after that, especially after Miss Militia covered her with containment foam.

“W-why would we have to fight?” I asked, now that the threat had been dealt with. I was tired enough already, and fighting heroes was not on my itinerary.

“Are you two not villains?” The Tinker gestured to us.

“No!” We exclaimed together, our annoyance growing bigger.

“I… see.” He said, pausing, then communicated something to his earpiece. “Was Cricket the only one here? There were reports of explosions nearby.”

“Stormtiger’s over there.” Nebula said, pointing to the nazi with a grin. “Broken leg; lost to a barrel.”

“Excuse me, what?” The four of us walked over towards him.

“I launched a barrel at him. He didn’t get away in time.” I shrugged.

“...Are you sure you’re not a villain?” The suspicion in Armsmaster’s voice was starting to grate my ears.

“No. We aren’t villains, we’re heroes.” I snapped, crossing my arms. “Why are you even asking that in the first place?” It was probably the costume.

“Well, your costume is completely black.” Fucking- Ughhh. This is gonna become a thing, isn’t it?

“Stealth is important!” I raised my hands in the air. “And Alexandria’s costume is dark too, and nobody says that she’s a villain!”

“She’s also well-known, while you only debuted today. Am I correct on that assumption?”

“...Yeah.” Well, technically ‘no’, but to the public? Yeah, that happened tonight.

He paused.

“How did you pick a fight with these two, anyway?”

▲
​

The faceless PRT officers skittered around like ants, surveying the site and securing the villains.

Nebula and I briefed the heroes, with the two looking rather surprised. I suspected that they knew who Nebula was before, but they didn’t show it, and relented after my edited description of my powers — apparently, my healing of Panacea was known to them, which also meant they knew I was a Trump. Still, I kept my ability to combine thorns under wraps, so not all of my advantage was lost.

“You did well tonight,” Armsmaster spoke, breaking the silence. “Though you, no doubt, must understand how dangerous it was.” Yes, I understood. And I knew where this was going.

“Is this where you give us the Wards pitch?” I asked without amusement.

“Yes, actually. Do you wish to join?”

“No,” I answered, and the sudden silence was deafening. Did I leave a Cricket thorn on? I swore that I’d dismissed them all already…

“...Care to explain why?” He said after a few seconds.

“We’d rather be independent,” Nebula chipped in, grabbing my wrist.

And I'd rather not work with those that were responsible for Sophia...

"...Right." The halberd wielder grunted, and turned to his gun-toting friend. “I suppose we’re done here, then.” Not even going to try and win us over? Huh.

Miss Militia nodded. “Seems like it.” She looked at us and waved. “Take care, you two.” Interesting.

We returned the wave halfheartedly as we watched them leave, the PRT trucks driving away as I stood next to my partner. I breathed in the chilly air, then sighed as she looked around us.

“The Empire’s in an arms race against someone,” Nebula said worriedly.

“Whom?” I asked, watching the taped off furniture store.

“Don’t know, not enough info. I’ll have to do some digging.”

I didn’t say anything as I flinched from some pain near my jaw. Damn cut…

“We’re gonna need to conceal that.” The smugness on her face was both irritating and adorable.

“I’m tired, Nebula,” I groaned. “Let's just go home.”

“Sure,” she agreed. “Let’s.”

 

Illumination 2.6
▲
Amy​

“Please tell me you’ve slept more than me tonight.”

Still resting my head on one arm, I rolled it to the side to look up at the annoyance. My gaze met with Lisa’s, who was looking down at me with crossed arms. Took her long enough — I’d almost managed to doze off again.

I yawned.

“That’s a no, then.” She sighed, slightly shaking her head. “What am I to do with you?”

Lisa sat on the L-shaped couch, facing me from the other side with that all-knowing look of hers. We were tucked into the privacy corner of a coffee shop — her favorite, apparently — after she’d suggested a one-on-one meeting when I got done with my classes. The radio was currently playing TiK ToK, the outside was damp from the rain, and I was still tired as hell.

Better than going home early, I supposed. Though I wondered why Vicky was so distraught about Dean this whole morning…

Taking a better look at my companion, I noticed that she had bags under her eyes as well. Not as visible as mine, but still there. Did she sleep at all today?

“Was tonight really that rough for you two? Taylor was pretty damn moody.” And had an infected gash on her jaw, the reckless idiot.

“It… wasn’t ideal- Oh, one sec.” Lisa got back to her feet as she heard her order being called. I took a sip myself as she walked to the counter and back. “So did she tell you what happened?”

“The capes or the non-capes?”

“Either? Both?” She shrugged.

“From what I’ve been told, you two ‘managed to stop a mugging, almost got shot in the process, had a skinhead almost bleed out and then played blind hide 'n' seek with more nazis’, quote-unquote. Sound accurate?”

“That’s the gist of it, yeah.” She took a long sip of her coffee. “There’s something else, though, and I’m worried.”

Well that sure didn’t sound like her. I sat up properly. “What?”

“An arms race, apparently. Couldn’t really sleep much with that on my mind.”

Oh. Great. Just what the city needed. More chaos, as if we didn’t have enough of that already.

“That would explain how weird the gangs have been behaving recently,” I commented. “Ahem, allegedly. I don’t actually know anything about that.”

That seemed to have gotten her attention. “Weird?”

This time it was I who shrugged, as I really was out of the loop. “Ask Vicky. Or the others, I guess — I don’t do patrols, remember?”

“Right. Yeah.” Another sip. “Taylor has her number, I think.” She did… Oh no, why would I even suggest that?!

A dark feeling washed over me as I thought about either of them getting to know Vicky more. Were that to happen, what were the chances that they’d leave me for her completely? Shatter my newfound refuge? I was the boring one, after all. The rude, bitchy healer. Why were they even putting up with me in the first place? My power? I would have to be usef-

A light snap in front of my face brought my attention back to Lisa. Shit.

“Amy, stop it; you’re spiraling again,” she said tiredly. “I promise that we won’t go away, I just need more information. Even if it’s from her.” She scooted closer, offering her right hand to me under the table. “And if you don’t want to believe me, you can do the lie detector thing like last time.” Of course she knew about that. Fucking Thinkers, I swear…

“Fine.” I looked away, my insides still tied in an uncomfortable living knot.

When our hands clasped together I felt Lisa’s expression soften slightly. Once more could I see every cell that formed her body, the beauty of it marred by an old stain of prolonged starvation. Her lack of sleep stood out more than Taylor’s — one or two hours at best, the rest mostly replaced by coffee — and the prickling feeling of her Gemma’s pain receptors firing was still pretty damn noticeable, proof of her power’s very recent usage.

She also had several large bruises covering her front, all of them fresh and obviously from last night, so I turned my head back to her, ready to ask my routine question.

“Do I-” I started.

“We-” Lisa began at the same time. Snorting and grinning, she waved at me with her other, free hand. “Go ahead, you first.”

I rolled my eyes and asked, “Do I have your permission to heal you?”

“Yep.” And just like that, the bruises were soon gone.

…I could do so much more, though: more durable skin, stronger muscles, denser bones, quicker reflexes… She wouldn’t get hurt in the first place! It would be so, so easy… but also against the rules, and a slippery slope to the dark recesses of my mind.

I sighed.

“So, as I was saying…” Lisa continued, pointing at me. If she noticed anything, she’d thankfully chosen to ignore it. “...We care about you, not your power. I know that it might as well be a cliche at this point, but it’s still true and I mean it.” Truth. Huh. “Taylor gets those doubts too sometimes, y’know? Pretty frequently, actually.” Truth once again. “So do I. We’re far from perfect.”

The Taylor example was one I already had experience with myself — that small bout of weakness before we went unpacking their costumes stood out to me in my memories, so sudden and concerning. Oh, and then the one some time after that, what with her nervously fidgeting in worry that we won’t like her movie choice… Given what little of her Winslow era she had told me about, I could definitely see where all of that was coming from. Even now, Taylor only really hung out at school with me, avoiding others like the plague — my sister included.

…Aaand now I felt dumb. God damnit.

“All I’m asking is for you to give us the benefit of the doubt, Amy,” Lisa spoke from behind her cup, swaying it forwards a bit once. “Things have been good so far, right?”

“I guess..?” So far, part of me whispered inside of my head. It won’t last. “I hope you didn’t just jinx us.”

“Probably not. And besides,” she shrugged. “Having a support network is pretty helpful. You could use one that doesn’t include your sister. Or consist exclusively of her, for that matter.”

A rueful, bitter smile found its way onto my face. “What are you now, my therapist?”

She choked on her drink in her sudden amusement, though I cheated with my powers to prevent the nascent coughing fit. Shit, did that count as breaking the rules? Surely not, right? I was simply saving her from sudden asphyxiation! Haha, definitely! Just forget that it happened, Amy, everything was fine…

I removed the sponge-like tissue from her airways that I set up, sweating and praying to all that was holy that Lisa didn’t notice as I carefully withdrew my hand from her grip. Stupid fucking slip-up, stupid fucking power.

“Whoa, that felt weird. Uh, thanks? Oh.”

NOT FINE! SHE NOTICED! EVERYTHING WAS NOT FUCKING FINE!

“Oh my god,” I heard her whisper under her breath. “Another one? Really?”

She held her face with one arm, clearly done with my shit.

“What is it this time? C’mon, Amy, help a girl out.” Lisa asked me with exasperation.

What should I even tell her? That I’m a monster? I am. But considering her track record, she would just ignore it and say that I’m not one regardless.

“Amy, please. I can’t keep-” She discreetly looked at the rest of the shop, checking if anyone else was in earshot. “Okay, first of all, you’re hyperventilating. Breathe.” Easy for her to say! …I tried following the advice regardless. “Second: I’m trying to help but it fucking hurts. I don’t want this to be a repeat of last time, but I’m almost certain it’ll end the same way if we keep going without a break.”

I nodded and took my sweet time to get my breathing under control. With shaky hands I reached for my cup and finished it in one go, trying to calm myself somehow. It… didn’t really work. At all.

A glance at Lisa yielded her calculating look again; this time focused not on me, though, but someone else.

“Alright, so the cashier is contemplating on whether he should intervene or not, and I’m pretty sure neither of us want to deal with any strangers.” I hummed in agreement while looking anywhere but her. “So, here’s the plan: you keep your breath steady and we go get some fresh air. Alright? Alright. Let's go.”

She stood and I followed suit, discarding my cup as the both of us left.

▲​

I shivered under my hoodie as some of the cold somehow managed to pierce it. The sky was gray and depressing, but at least it was no longer raining. Bothering with hypothermia didn’t seem fun at all, even if I had the new safety net that was Taylor and her power.

Lisa was still with me, holding my hand while we walked towards Taylor’s house. I still sensed a larger amount of cortisol in her blood than was normal, and the punishment from her power was becoming more severe. Well, it didn’t get much worse since we ditched the coffee shop, but it wasn’t getting better either, and stayed dangerously close to ‘advised knockout’ territory.

“Should I explain myself?” I asked out loud. She hurt herself for my sake, due to my stupidity, so might as well give her something. Right?

“Considering I’m currently in pain? Sure, go ham.”

I cringed. “Sorry.”

“I’m used to it.” She sighed. “So, why the second freakout? All I got was ‘Scared of herself.’”

“That… Yeah, that sounds about right.”

I felt her shudder as a new pulse of pain spread through her Gemma.

“Stop fucking thinking so hard, you idiot!” I hissed. “I’m telling you already!”

“Y-yeah, ow,” she said. “Sorry, habit.”

Habit, my ass. This was Vicky and her aura all over again, ugh. What was it with blondes and being shit at controlling their powers?

No offense, Vista.

“So you know how I’m a biokinetic, right?” I asked, and saw her nodding. “What do you think that entails?”

“Hmm… I haven’t really thought about that until now. Enlighten me.” Your funeral.

“I have complete control over any living organism so long as I’m in physical contact with it. No matter the size, no matter the complexity. I’m touching it? I can control it. Heck, I can even control you — manually — because of our connection right here.” I squeezed Lisa’s hand.

The cortisol levels spiked and her breathing had quickened. Some of her muscles coiled as well.

“...And now I’m suddenly very glad that you’re my friend and not my enemy,” my not-enemy shakily said.

I snorted. “But wait, there’s more! The control means I can change things however I want! Give you gills? Simple. Transmute a hamster into a potato? As easy as pie. Make a living rabbit consisting entirely of grass? A bit harder, but still doable — all I need is biomass! Do you see the fucking issue here?” By the end of it I was ranting, and Lisa was looking at me while biting her lip.

It was a good thing that said rant was more of me hissing rather than yelling — the few strangers that passed us didn’t seem to hear me.

“You’re a biotinker. Got it.” Lisa exhaled and looked at the sky.

“Mhmm. More like a monster.” Okay, that one slipped out of me by accident. Eh. Still as true as always.

“No.” Shut up! “You have the potential to be a monster, but you aren’t one.” Ughhh.

I shook my head. “You don’t understand.” No one did, what else was new.

“I do, actually.”

I turned my head to her in bewilderment and a flicker of anger. “You’re joking.” I deadpanned, my eyes narrowing. She had to be, right?

“Nope, not really. But first, how about some more distant examples?” Lisa led me to a bench, and we sat after clearing the raindrops. “Eidolon. Do you think he’s a monster?”

“No…”

“He has the potential for it. To raze cities to the ground, to do all sorts of other crazy shit. So many powers, and all at his disposal — we are very fucking lucky that he isn’t a villain.” Okay, I could see where she was coming from. Still not as monstrous as me, though. “How about Dragon? Monster or not?”

She was literally the warden of the Birdcage, wasn’t she? “No?” I asked, still a bit unsure.

“Yet again — the potential is still there. Even without getting into the topic of the Birdcage, those fancy flying suits of hers are still quite dangerous.” A pause. “Hatchet Face.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Hatchet Face.” The power nullifier of the Slaughterhouse Nine?

She had to be fucking with me. “Monster, for sure.”

“Naturally.” She nodded. “But could he not be one, in another life?”

What. “You’ve lost me. Explain,” I demanded.

“It’s a pretty simple question, Amy,” Lisa stated while watching me intently. She hadn’t used her power even once during this whole exchange, which was nicer than having me carry her all the way over to Taylor’s. “Could he, or someone else with his powers, have been a good person instead? Someone that didn’t deserve to be called a monster?”

Hatchet Face himself? No, I couldn’t see it. But someone else..? “Maaaybe?”

“Exactly.”

“Bitch, speak clearly.” I elbowed her in the ribs. “What do you mean, ‘exactly’? This doesn’t make any damn sense.”

She sighed. “Okay, final example then. What about me?”

“What about you?” Was there something Lisa hadn’t told me yet?

“Well, theoretically, I can leave a person insensate and fit for a padded cell with nothing but words… and a little bit of time, of course. I can also convince them to be happy about the tragic death of a loved one, or go on a suicide mission, or sabotage the government. Break them, reshape them — I don’t need biomass like you do. Sure, I can’t change their physical shape, but their minds? Most definitely. My kind of power is one that cults are built upon, Amy, not unlike the Fallen.” She took a deep breath. “If people like them are monsters, am I one as well?”

Holy shit, she was telling the truth. That power was more Master than Thinker when used in such a way… And what she said was monstrous, no doubts about it. On the other hand, though… They were just a few examples. She could do more beneficial things, like be a fancy superpowered detective. Or a therapist, I supposed. Not a monster.

At least, she didn’t seem like one to me. But hey, what did I know?

“No.” I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry, and met her gaze with mine. “You aren’t.”

“So why would you be any different?”

“Because I…” What? Was more powerful than her? No, that didn’t seem to be it…

“Don’t get me wrong, I may not be able to wreak havoc on large scales, but I’m still perfectly capable of doing some lesser fucked up stuff.” Her pose shifted. “Like most sane people, I simply don’t do it — I’m not a bad person. My morals may be dubious, but I don’t feel the need to topple monarchies or poison the local water supply or whatever other inane bullshit actual fucked up people tend to do.”

“...‘Topple monarchies’? Really?”

“Shut up, I have a headache. You try thinking with an ice pick between your eyes.”

I snorted, rolling my shoulders. “No thanks, Miss Morality. I’m starting to see your point, though.”

“Took you long enough,” Lisa said, standing up from the bench. I followed her as well, and we continued walking.

 

Illumination 2.7
▲
Taylor​

I was laying on the living room couch, taking a well-earned nap after school, when I was jolted awake by the sound of the front door opening.

“Taylor, we’re home!” Phew, it was only them.

“Hey!” I yelled back, sitting up and looking for my glasses. Checking the small table near the couch didn't yield anything, unfortunately, making me listen to the two's shuffling near the front door. I yawned.

Amy's voice was the next thing I'd heard: “Did you sleep like I told you to?” Huh, she didn’t sound all that grumpy for once. The talk went well then! Nice.

“A bit!” was my answer. It wasn't enough, but whatever; I’d take it. Now, where were the-

“Sup.” I watched a blurry blonde walk up to me, crouch down and hand me something familiar.

…Ah, they were on the floor. I accepted the glasses and put them on with a playful grumble.

“Hey, Lisa.” I smiled lightly. “Hey, Amy. Everything went well, I hope?” I stifled a yawn and stretched a little, my back making a few small pops.

The former just gave me a thumbs up as the latter approached me and answered, an annoyed lilt to her voice causing me to raise an eyebrow. “Somehow, yeah. Almost had to knock her out again, though.” Huh?

“Says the one who had two panic attacks back-to-back.” What?

“I could’ve dealt with it by myself, Lisa.” Amy clearly lied, her eyes narrowed with mock anger. “You passing out in public, on the other hand, would’ve been quite the predicament.”

“From where I stood it didn’t seem like you were ‘dealing’ with it,” Lisa retorted with a hand on her hip.

This wasn’t just banter, was it? Neither of them disagreed with the other’s words. I needed to know more, even if I was wrong and they were just messing around.

“What even happened in the first place?” I asked, my mind whirring with possibilities too numerous to count. Amy having issues was never really a secret, but I still barely knew about any and was far too afraid to ask. Did… did her mom or someone ambush them? An argument? Something else?

“Ugh, I’m tired. Lisa can tell you later.” Amy said before flopping next to me onto the couch.

…Well, it didn’t seem like a time-sensitive issue, at least. Both she and Lisa looked drained, yes, but I didn’t sense any aggression between them. Still, I couldn't keep the small hint of anxiety out of my voice.

“Alright,” I conceded. “Later, then. I was waiting for you two anyways.”

Lisa frowned and crossed her arms. “Something happened.” That wasn’t a question, but yes. Something did happen.

“Before I tell you, can you promise not to use your power, Lise? I can see that you have a migraine. Please, you can use it later.”

“Wow. Finally. Someone with common sense,” Amy grumbled. “Lisa, listen to her. Doctor’s orders.” …Thanks?

“I literally used common sense on you ten minutes ago, Ames,” the blonde deadpanned. Relenting under our gazes, though, she took a deep breath and exhaled. “Yeah, yeah, I promise. Now spill.”

“Okay.” Here we go. “The Undersiders broke out last night, Lise.”

I could feel everyone’s hearts skip a beat, and the silence was almost audible.

“They’re… They’re alive?” She whispered with a relieved smile.

“Apparently, yeah. Not sure why the PRT hid it.” Were they trying to poach them? I wouldn’t be too surprised. Make the villains disappear, rebrand in a new town…

I wondered idly if that had already happened before.

Lisa took a few shaky steps past us and sank into dad’s recliner. She let out a shuddering breath, and I saw a tear or two leave her closed eyes before she started wiping at her face.

“Wh- What?” Amy exclaimed in bewilderment. She sent me a perplexed glance before continuing to stare at Lisa. “Why are both of you happy???” Wait, she didn’t know?

…This was about to get awkward.

Lisa let out a small, slightly bitter laugh. “Right. You might need some context for that, Amy.” A wet giggle escaped her as she continued to speak unimpeded. “Okay, let’s see… Do you remember the Undersiders’ cape names?”

“Grue, Regent, Hellhound an- holy shit, you’re Tattletale?!”

“Yup. Was.”

“What the fuck, Lisa?!” Aaand she was standing now. Great. “J-just- What?!”

“Honestly,” I interjected, “I kind of expected her to tell you that by now.”

“And you!” Amy glared at me. “Really, Taylor?! Why the hell are you teaming with a villain?!”

“I’m not!”

“She’s not,” Lisa added.

“Oh yeah? Then explain.” If looks could kill, we would’ve probably already been dead by now.

“Can you sit back down, at least?” I asked. “Please, Amy? Just listen?”

“Fine,” she huffed, the deathly glare still shining in her eyes, before falling back on the couch at a distance.

Judging from my few experiences of Amy being accosted at school, she could be rather caustic to those she didn’t like. We had to be careful not to let that side of her turn against us, because if it did…

I shuddered. Yeah, not good.

“Coil. You know him? Good — I worked for him.” Fucking careful, Lisa! Ugh!

“WHAT?!”

“Not willingly.” Why couldn’t she lead with that?

“Wh- huh? Did he kidnap you or something?”

“Kinda? Hmm.” Lisa yawned. “How about an abridged recap?”

Amy shrugged, confused but still very much visibly pissed, while I simply nodded — I wanted to hear more too.

“Okay then. So… I triggered about a year and a half ago, and ran away from home a few months after that. Then, I spent like four more out on the streets near the Boardwalk, trying to survive as best as I could. That’s where Coil’s mercs found me and conscripted me at gunpoint, with the slimy bastard himself ordering me to form a team.”

“The Undersiders,” Amy guessed. “And here I thought they were independent.” She then looked back at Lisa. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

Lisa snorted. “I would’ve, but you’d have probably freaked out even more.”

“...Fair.” Amy sighed. “Why not run away from him as well, though?”

“Taylor asked me that too, but Coil always seemed to know things. It was far too risky, and I didn’t want to get stuffed in a dark room.” Lisa visibly shuddered at that, and I wisely avoided questioning it — she wasn’t the only one scared of such spaces.

“We suspect he’s a Thinker,” I commented. “A powerful one, too.”

“Hmm… Like a precog?” Amy asked, and I felt my blood turn into ice.

I’d never even thought about such a possibility, but Coil being a precog… It would mean that he wanted us to be here. He’d orchestrated everything to perfection, from Lung to Circus and more. Would he really release Lisa like that, only to snatch her back some time later? What about me? And Amy? We were already involved…

Looking around the room with a growing feeling of sickness, I noticed that the others were as pale as I imagined I was. “Sh-should we even think about th-that?” I managed to ask, my voice hoarse.

“I… I honestly don’t know.” Lisa said while nervously hugging her legs. “That would be like dealing with the Simurgh — unpredictable and fucking terrifying; plans within plans and all of them immaculate. If he’s actually a precog…” She took a shaky breath. “...We’re screwed no matter what we do.” More silence. “No, I doubt it. He sounded enraged that night. If he was just acting, my power would’ve picked up on it.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Are you sure?”

She shrugged. “As close as I can get, really. I’ll have to double-check later.”

“By ‘that night’, did you mean..?” Amy trailed off.

“Lung.”

“Ah.” The brunette paused. “They looked like hell when I got there.”

Lisa fixed her posture and looked at Amy intently. “How were they?”

“One word? Bad. Regent’s lower half got stepped on, Grue had both of his legs broken, Hellhound was clawed in the side, and lost, what, two of her dogs?” Me and Lisa both winced from the information. “Yeah, I think it was two, but anyway — you get the idea. More fractures, more broken bones, more cuts, more burns, and I had to use those freaky Hellhound flesh sacs as biomass, even though she sounded against it.” …Flesh sacs? Note to self — ask Lisa about their powers.

“Well, thanks for healing them. They may be villains but they’re not bad people.”

Amy looked a bit skeptical. “If they’re ‘not bad people’, why did they then become villains? Or did they get kidnapped too?”

“No, I was the only one. The others were screwed in other ways — Grue had shit parents and needed to take care of his sister, Bitch was branded a murderer for a trigger event gone wrong, and Regent’s hiding from his father who, by the way, is Heartbreaker.”

…Oh. Holy shit.

“So yeah. Fun. And the snake gimp is pulling the strings.” Lisa leaned back again, sighing.

That was when I remembered another important piece of information. “I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but the Undersiders were broken out by Sophia. Circus got out too.”

“Shit!” Both of them cursed in chorus.

“Where did you even get all of this?” Lisa asked. “PHO, I assume?”

“Where else? They had a video up and everything.”

“Then Coil got his hands on her…” She chuckled. “I wonder how Grue will react to that.” Oh, true. Apparently, they had a feud going on.

“She is a bitch…” Amy conceded uncomfortably.

“Sophia made Taylor trigger; she can die in a ditch for all I care.”

…I felt warm inside from that comment. And no, those were not tears in my eyes.

"Wait, that time I healed you? After what she did..?" Amy’s eyes widened as she swiveled her head towards me. “That was your trigger event, Taylor? Fuck, I didn’t even know…”

“Trigger event?” I asked.

“The situation that caused you to gain your powers,” Lisa explained in a somber tone.

“Oh. Y-yeah.” I’d rather not remember…

“S-sorry for bringing it up!” Amy stuttered, my unease probably showing on my face.

“It’s fine, let’s j-just… skip it? Please?”

“Good idea.” Lisa stood and stretched her back. “New topic: lunch. Race you to the kitchen!”

My stomach growled in agreement.

▲​

Initially, we wanted to make some spaghetti, but apparently there were no noodles left. Tired of takeout and too lazy to bother going to the store, we settled on making chicken soup instead. Lisa also got a bag of potato chips from upstairs, which went nicely with the dish.

“Am I the only one who finds all these lights utterly ridiculous?” Amy asked as the three of us ate at the kitchen table. She waved her hand at the strip lights around the room, and I had to agree — the place resembled a laser tag arena.

“At least they aren’t colored,” I commented. “Or strobing. Or pulsing.”

Amy snorted. “DJ Hebert on the beat!” She and Lisa promptly burst into giggles.

“Oh god, please no,” I said with mock horror, a hand over my heart, which caused them to laugh even harder.

“Heh, I was thinking more along the lines of an arcade,” said Lisa. “Just need to replace the floor with a dark carpet, and voila — a nerd’s paradise. Don’t forget your quarters!”

“Oh, good idea! Have either of you gone to a real one?” Didn’t think Amy was that enthusiastic about this. Huh.

“Once or twice, a few years ago,” Lisa answered, suppressing a wince.

“Same here,” I spoke. Yet more memories tainted by Emma…

“They can be pretty fun. I know a good one downtown near the Forsberg Gallery.”

Lisa hummed while crunching on a potato chip. “Tomorrow is Friday…”

Both of them turned to me.

“What?” Did they want me to..?

“Wanna come with?” Amy prodded.

“And knowing how you are, Taylor… No. Bad. Thoughts,” Lisa added. “Or we’ll drag you there against your will. Capiche?”

“Okay.”

Well, that happened.

“Nice.” Amy took another spoonful. “Hopefully there won’t be any emergencies.” Yeah.

“You got a taser, right?” Lisa asked.

“No? I don’t need it — if someone touches me I just put them to sleep.” The healer smirked. “Thought you already knew that, o Mistress of Migraines.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. But really, you should grab one regardless.”

“Why?”

“Stalker.”

Amy paused. “Oh.” A nod. “Right.”

“We have like a dozen, you can grab a few from the basement,” I told her with a smile.

“One should be enough.” She hummed. “Do you think they’d let me take it? As Panacea, I mean.”

I shrugged.

“They better,” Lisa said, leaning on one hand and grabbing chips with the other. “You should make some backup plans beyond that, too. Paralyzing spores or something, or a needle with some sleep liquid.”

Amy scrunched her nose at the suggestion, shaking her head before answering, annoyed. “People will notice, and Carol will freak out.”

I blinked. “Huh? Aren’t you a healer?” I should’ve played with her power a bit more. What Lisa said sounded interesting… Useful and versatile.

Amy froze, slowly turning to me. She almost looked afraid, shooting glances between me and Lisa. As she ducked her head, I heard Lisa sigh. What was going on? Was this connected to the panic attacks Lisa mentioned?

After a few seconds of clear internal debate, Amy finally spoke. “No, uh. Biokinetic,” she clarified, glumly looking at her soup.

“Woah.” Was that it? I had to try that out for myself sometime.

“‘Woah’?” Amy’s gaze snapped back up to me. “Really? That’s it, just… ‘woah’? Do you even know what biokinetic means?”

“Yeah, um… able to manipulate biological stuff?” I was trying to think what could be causing her reaction. She heals, but it’s actually biokinesis… She can manipulate human biology then?

“Yes, with no Manton limit,” she answered. “I don’t heal. I just make people’s bodies put themselves back together. But I could… make them do other things. Anything. All with just a thought.” She ducked her head again.

If she had no limit, why didn't she heal herself? Or was this just an attempt at sounding more scary?

“But you won’t though, right? Any cape can do crazy stuff if they tried. I heard Miss Militia is able to make small nukes, but she’s still a hero. Or imagine if Eidolon was a villain,” I pointed out.

“That’s what I said!” Lisa exclaimed with a grin.

“There’s still a chance!” Amy shouted, looking between us, her soup forgotten. I was a little worried she’d knock it over, what with her expressive limbs, but I didn’t want to interrupt. Not yet, at least. “Aren’t you afraid I might… do something to you?” She looked almost on the verge of tears.

“...No?” I answered simply, at the same time as Lisa’s “Nope.”

Amy groaned, “What is wrong with you two?! This is… a big deal! I’m dangerous!”

“So am I,” I said. “Are you afraid of me?”

“Well, no. But you can’t just-”

Before she could answer, I summoned a thorn and made it poke her, filling it with her shimmering sea-green.

“How about now?” I asked again. I was treading dangerous waters, but if this worked…

She looked from me to her thorn and back, a small look of dawning apprehension on her face. I remembered her practically cuddling with it just the other day. Did she really notice the danger just now? That I could exploit her power just as easily?

“Y-you… you wouldn’t…” Amy stammered.

“No,” Lisa cut in. “She wouldn’t. And neither would you, you dork.”

“You can’t know that, though! And if it got out that I could do so much, other people would-”

“If you’re worried about being seen, then why not make a second identity?” Lisa asked. “A masked one, obviously.” That… was actually a good idea!

“I- Hmm.” Amy stared at a lone potato chip like it contained the meaning of life. “But then people would just be afraid of my new identity instead. They’d be the one to get a kill order signed. And where would I even get a costume?”

“Aren’t you rich?”

“I literally heal for free.”

“If you’re a biokinetic, then can’t you make one by yourself?” I thought out loud as I finished my soup. “It’s what I’d do.” I shrugged and leaned back.

Amy’s worried expression turned a bit thoughtful. “I… could do that. That would be interesting. But what would I even do? The PRT would still freak.”

Lisa made an inquisitive noise.

“Well, it’s dangerous…”

“...And you’re powerful as fuck,” the blonde finished.

“You can patrol with us, maybe?” I offered, slightly nervous.

“Yup, also true.” Lisa nodded sagely.

Amy looked at one of us, then the other. “If Carol ever notices, she is going to be pissed.”

Lisa hummed. “Maybe. But her opinion doesn’t matter.” A pause. “C’mon, Ames, join us! We… have cookies?”

“We do?” Didn’t she eat them?

“Okay, not anymore, but we can bake some a bit later!”

The frizzy brunette sighed, shrugging and shaking her head. “Are you sure you guys want me?”

“Duh.”

"Yes!"

“Fine, whatever, I’m in.”

Lisa and I cheered, and the cookies were delicious.