This was supposed to be 15k to justify splitting the previous chapter.
It's 28k. I have no semblance of control over when to stop writing.
--
I land on the rooftop with a simple shoulder-roll to break my fall. Not entirely necessary when my speed-state was active at these heights, but it was both good practice for my general skills of parkour and also made me feel cool as hell when doing it.
And it meant that I didn't have to wait for the speed-state-less Taylor to finish climbing the ladder to meet us up here. Climbing up the taller building next door and jumping the gap was both practical and, as mentioned previously, cool.
"You're late." Shadow Stalker is unimpressed as Taylor joins us, slinging herself up and over the side of the wall - undoubtedly lamenting her own lack of movement powers. Sorry Taylor, but at least downtown Brockton Bay is practically drowning in old fire escape stairs and easy rooftop access. Sure, we could have met at the street level - but meeting on rooftops was heroics 101. It was basically mandatory! We weren't some group of normies meeting outside our favourite cafe, we needed to have our super-powered hangout spots in traditional locations!
"A little early, actually. We met up a bit in advance of the scheduled time - something we do quite a lot, usually to get in a quick exploration of our patrol area done in advance." Not entirely a lie, that was usually what we did - just not this time. "No disrespect was intended, time got away from us a bit - and I can personally attest to the fact that Bug here started working twice as fast once she realised you were already up here, just to keep everything on schedule. Personally, I admire her enthusiasm."
A trio of flies furiously pound into my helmet visor, although Taylor's face remains impassive as she dusts herself off - a faint dusting of colour on her cheeks that could easily be mistaken for simple exertion in the limited streetlight. Were the insects the closest I was going to get to a cliche kick-underneath-the-table when she gets embarrassed about an innuendo or two?
Well. It's fine. Taylor knew exactly what I was referring to, while Shadow Stalker would be all-too-familiar with the pain of patrolling with a non-mover teammate. Both would hear what they expected to hear from my words. Shadow Stalker would be slightly mollified in the understanding that we weren't making her wait deliberately, just running from a good distance away at a normal person's pace - and therefore wouldn't even consider the possibility that we were just across the street, barely sixty seconds away, only delayed because Taylor really, really wanted to finish working out how to do a blowjob properly before we left to join the Ward. That little detail would probably bruise Sophia's ego.
"It's fine," Shadow Stalker says dismissively, looking out over the city. "Just so long as this doesn't become a regular thing. I've got better things to do than sit around waiting for some baby Capes to work out how to keep track of time."
"A pair of baby Capes that took down Oni Lee." Taylor interjects, clearly opposed to the label.
"Which is the only reason I'm giving you the time of day. You proved that you weren't all talk, that's all." She looks Taylor up and down. "So you're the mysterious partner, I assume."
"That's right." Taylor sounds neutral, but the hidden swarm clinging to the walls behind us added an audible hum to the words as background noise - adding a hint of threat without the slightest change in tone.
"Hmph." Sophia finishes her inspection of the other girl. "I'm told that you want to stop being a liability and come out from hiding behind the coattails of Void Cowboy over there. That right?"
I wave my hands. "That's not what I-"
"Sure, you could say that." Taylor agrees placidly.
I deflate. I kind of expected Taylor to blow up at that, or start glaring at me for Sophia framing my request in the worst way possible... but apparently Taylor didn't entirely disagree with the assessment. Or, maybe this was just tame - by her standards. Sophia might be out to get her, but from her perspective, Shadow Stalker was just an abrasive, too-blunt hero that had taken her own time to come and help. The fact that she was a girl might have triggered some resentment and jealousy when it came to me, but maybe Taylor actually... liked Shadow Stalker? In principle?
Shadow Stalker nods slowly. "Fine then. I'm gonna be blunt, I'm probably a shit teacher and you'll never be better at me in a pure, straight-up fight anyway just because of my powers. But if you're willing, I'll beat you up until you work out your own way to fight back. Or dodge. Makes no difference to me."
"That works for me." Taylor steps closer to the centre of the rooftop. "I won't be using my powers. It would defeat the whole point if I beat you too easily, and I wouldn't get better at the only thing you're here to help me learn."
"Hah!" Shadow Stalker saunters forward, her mood vastly improved from her initial sourness already. "I like that attitude. I've seen a few videos of your little bug collection in action, so I'll chalk that down to confidence and not arrogance-" Shadow Stalker turns to wispy smoke, starting from her lower torso and leaving her outer limbs and face untouched - the rate of expansion slowing to a crawl as more and more of her body converts to smoke. "-but all using your powers would do would force me to end every fight like this as fast as I can, without giving your creepy pets the chance to bite anything important. Don't get ahead of yourself. Regardless of what you do, these fights are all going to have the same outcome."
Two solid arms are all that's left of Sophia before she fully returns to the physical world once more. At my current challenge level, Sophia couldn't do that deliberately - but I'd probably have to deal with that at some later stage. It was probably a safe assumption that she couldn't breathe properly after a certain part of her was in the shadow state - she seemed to be talking fine when her lungs were gone, but I would suspect that the face was left out of the conversion for longer for more reasons than simply to talk properly. The fact that once she slipped her head into the shadow state, the rest of the transformation only held for a few seconds was telling. I knew she could hold her usual state for longer than that, did her body use oxygen at its normal rate if any part of her was solid? There must be some interaction like that, if it had no limits - Sophia would have gone the entire first round in that state just to prove a point.
I shake my head. No need to speculate on incomplete data. I'd likely see it again some point, if not in person, then in my challenges where I could experiment safely.
Taylor steps forward again to match her. "Guess we'll see."
There's a hint of something in Sophia's voice that I can't quite recognise. "Guess we will. I'll try not to do anything permanent, but no hard feelings if I accidentally break your nose? You did ask for this." Sophia's mask hides any real facial expression, but I can hear the grin in her voice.
"As long as there are no hard feelings when I break yours." Taylor gives a tight smile in response.
I take a step back as they lunge at each other, unable to shake the feeling that there has been a complete misunderstanding here that's resulted in them actually getting along better than expected. Taylor's being overly hostile and aggressive because Shadow Stalker is a girl in my general vicinity, while Sophia thinks she's found a kindred spirit - someone who just gets her.
I had a whole introduction lined up, a plan to go on a pleasant little patrol to bond over beating up drug dealers - a nice way to break the ice before I raise the idea of finding a place to spar, but evidently, both girls have been looking forward to this all day and would rather get right into it. If I spoke up now, I'm pretty sure both of them would join forces to tell me where to shove my plans for the evening.
I shouldn't complain, really. This was... better, right? Taylor and Sophia getting along in some twisted, violence-heavy kind of way was good in the same way that Taylor getting on with Void Cowboy was good. One day, when real and Cape identities clashed - the result would be a little bit more positive with less chance of a meltdown. That, and I fully intended for these sparring sessions to eventually be a glorified excuse for a threesome with both girls fully on board with the idea. While some work needed to happen on Sohpia's challenges first, the actual convincing of the pair into the idea after that would go a lot easier if they got along in some fashion.
"Keep off the ground-" I blink as I realise that Sophia is already manipulating Taylor into a submission hold after a botched attempt at sweeping Sophia's legs. Not terribly surprising. Even in the later challenges, Taylor had never been a strong close-quarters combatant. Capable of throwing a punch, perhaps, but never enough to close the gap against a superior opponent. If she had worked out her challenge-selfs trick with the bugs and the strings, that might change - but even then, just as I had been handily beating that Taylor not too long ago, it wouldn't easily beat someone with a power purely suited to melee beatdowns. That, and Sophia had literal years of combat experience on her. "-against someone stronger than you!" One arm tightens back. "Yield."
Taylor struggles for a moment, visibly frustrated before going limp. "Yield."
Sophia hops off, letting Taylor rise again. "Less pathetic than I expected. Don't do that shit again, you won't even win against me if this turns into a grappling match - you'll never win against any guy that isn't a cripple. You're at a disadvantage, Cape or not. You need to be smarter, never let it turn into a dick-measuring contest about muscles." Sophia tilts her head to the side. "How well can you use your bugs?"
Wordlessly, the twilight behind Taylor disappears as a chittering horde blackens the area behind her as the entire swarm rises into the sky in a near-solid wall of chitin twice her height.
"Creepy." She shrugs. "Not what I asked. Sure, you can drop them all on someone you don't like - but how much control do you have if that doesn't win the fight outright?"
"I can control them all individually, with their own unique orders - if it comes down to it. Why?" Taylor questions.
"I want you to use them." Sophia waves off the protest. "Not like you usually do. I'm not putting up with a million little bug-bites while trying to get some sleep tonight. Pretend your swarm just got hit with some bug spray or something. Take a fraction of those, and then fight me as if I was a Brute. You do know what a Brute is, right?"
"I'm not that stupid." Taylor lets the annoyance shine through in her voice, as if I hadn't needed to explain half of the Cape rules to her across our first patrol or two.
She pats her chest. "Imagine my power is that I just can't be damaged or harmed by your bugs. I've got a forcefield at my skin or something, whatever. You can use your bugs to distract me, get in the way, try and block my vision... that sort of stuff. You understand?"
"And what's the point in me doing that?" Taylor probes. "The entire point of this was to fight without my powers, remember?"
"Bullshit." Sophia snorts. "The entire point of this was to get you to not be a liability when someone gets past your swarm and finds the real you. Maybe your boy-toy over there was thinking that we had the time to mirror the whole training plan that the Wards like to do. All sorts of fancy instructors trying to teach you the basics without your power ever getting involved, but I don't have the time or the patience - so we'll have to skip ahead to a more realistic scenario. You, having already sent your main swarm out to handle whatever, find that some goon circled around and is about to try and cave your skull in. You've got only the bare minimum number of bugs to protect yourself that you can gather from around you - time for you to go all-out with what you have."
"He's not my-" Taylor stops. "-a-anyway, fighting with a power against someone with no powers is a bit..."
Sophia interrupts. "Unfair? The people with no powers are some of the most dangerous ones in the Bay, not to mention the most common fight you'll ever have in your career - however long or short that is." Shadow Stalker shakes her head. "I can count, what, three people with powers around here that might deliberately kill you if they decisively won the fight and had you at their mercy? Less than that, if you ever joined the Wards. Not many people in the Cape scene want that kind of heat or attention, they don't want the precedent to be set that people with powers die if they lose a fight. They'll beat you black and blue, break some bones to keep you down and then sail off to do whatever they were doing before as they post their victory speech on PHO. The ones who will try and kill you, are the ones that are desperate, stupid or are otherwise fucked in the head. Druggies. Murderers. Drunks. They're the ones to stick a knife in your neck or a bullet in your head if you give them a chance. They're not thinking about consequences, just the fact that someone a lot stronger than them is trying to send them to life in prison. Don't underestimate cornered rats, right?"
Taylor seems to accept that reasoning, giving a terse nod as the majority of her swarm backs away - leaving a much-smaller ring of flying insects circling around her body.
For my part, I clap politely at the speech, causing Sophia to whirl around to jab her finger at me pointedly. "What's so funny for the guy that's doing a grand total of fucking nothing this evening? Speak up."
"I just thought it was a good, educational speech. Very impressive." I drawl. "I didn't know that you knew that many words."
Both feet angle towards me as she reorients herself. I know what her expression looks like under the mask, because challenge-Sophia fell for the same cheap bait too. "Fuck you, dickless." Same response, even. The missing months in between her current challenge and her current self evidently hadn't done much for character development on that front. "Don't think that this is a two-person affair. If you think that I'm not here to beat your ass too after that cheap shot last time, you've got another thing coming."
"I was counting on it." I let the smile into my voice. "Although, what's your preference? You keep your powers, I'll not use mine? I would love to demonstrate what a normal fight looks like, but I'm a bit more experienced than Bug over there - so it probably wouldn't be that worthwhile."
"Maybe try winning without a cheap trick and running away before bringing out that kind of arrogance." Sophia is fully facing me now, slowly closing the distance without breaking into a full charge. Yet.
I spread my hands to the side. "It's only arrogance if I can't back it up." Talking with Sophia like this was always fun. I'd grown into the easy, casual banter against her challenge-self and the real deal didn't seem to have changed much from the template.
"Then let's see you actually make me use my powers first!" She lunges at me, having closed half the distance between us while we were trading banter.
Duck. Weave. Block. Block again. Overhead. Counter. Sophia lets out a grunt as I send her searching fist wide and send my own crashing into her chest.
After a moment, I wince. "...Ouch." I didn't get that solid of a connection onto this part of her armour the 'first' time we fought, and this variant of her costume had more refined edges than her challenge-self. Padding was one thing, but punching something with a solid edge actually hurt. Could be worse. It wasn't sharp, or as hard as actual power armour. It was just... blocky. Ow. "Your costume hurts more than you do, who would have guess-eep!" My attempt at a taunt falls short as I fall for the feint at my shoulder, narrowly escaping a full-power kick to the balls by throwing myself backwards.
"Seems there's been a big misunderstanding. Your voice threw me off at first-" Sophia is smirking behind her mask. I know it. "Let's have a girl's night out in town after this. Just the three of us-"
"My voice cracked." I defend myself. "Happens to the best of us. It's a sign of a bold, confident man coming into his own."
"If you say so~" I scowl at the falsetto she retorts with.
I need to practice manlier screams, apparently. Not that I should have really worried that much, this costume had a protective cup that was... somewhat adequate for the task. I was just very much used to fighting Sophia with absolutely none of that protection, resulting in my trauma-inspired instincts to take over and...
Stop it, Greg. The only way to salvage your reputation is to finish what you started. Sophia is confident for a reason. A really, really good reason. She's an excellent combatant on her own, with one of the best non-Brute powersets for this kind of fight in the entire city. But she thinks this is my second fight with her. Not my twentieth. Not my fiftieth. I've lost count at this point. Four, five times a school day if I can track her down at the right times.
She has absolutely no idea how well I know her. I bet I know more of her tricks than most of the Wards do after months of working alongside her.
I step into her range again, ignoring her taunt. Left jab. Again. Her feet shift slightly back- and I lunge, catching her flat-footed attempting to send a high, spinning kick at my head as she senses an opening. An opening I've made before. Multiple times.
But never in real life. I body-check her motion before it can truly begin, knocking her off-balance and tackling her to the ground. I shove away the hand attempting to latch on to my own clothes, trying to use her momentum to spin me to the bottom position in her place - but I'm already well-used to it. Sophia hits the ground. My fist impales the place her face was an instant later.
Sophia reforms. "That was-" My elbow spins off to my side, even before the cloud has finished reforming. She fades out again before it lands. "That-" My hand is already at the thickest part of the cloud, just a few steps away - same height, same tell as the outer smoke seems to wisp towards where she intends to start reforming. My hand is already wrapped around her face as I tackle her to the ground again. She erupts into another batch of smoke. The challenge-version of her would fully back away by now in this position, escaping upwards or through an obstacle that I couldn't follow through - but at the start, when the challenge version was more confident in her superiority... I throw myself into a spin along the ground. Gaining just enough momentum in my turn to immediately spin her off of her new position on top of me back down to the ground.
I pause, waiting for the next move. And I wait. And I wait. Two mixed sets of heavy-breathing breaking up the bustle of distant traffic. Sophia doesn't vanish again.
"That was pretty freaky." She pants, not making a move to dislodge me. "Sure you don't have a combat thinker power in there somewhere?"
"I really, really want one - but as far as I know there isn't one anywhere in the Bay." I tell her honestly. "I'm just pretty good at this sort of thing."
"No shit." Sophia almost sounds a little shaken. Which wasn't like her. "I mean, I could have just backed off and you wouldn't have been able to do anything - but I didn't expect that. I'll admit it."
"Happy to admit that I can back up all my shit talk now?" This position was great, actually. For all the hard, blocky aspects of her armour, it was still giving in just the right places for me to feel her tits pushing back against my weight. And Sophia either didn't realise or didn't care about where my hand was holding her down.
"Some of it, maybe." She shakes her head. "Felt like I was fighting Armsmaster for a moment there."
I brighten. "Armsmaster? Why? Was it my awesome moves? My stoic charisma? The faint feeling that you lost the fight to a guy replaying your old fights from three months ago and countering it without you being able to do a thing?"
"In a real fight I would just shoot you, remember that." I knew that. Your challenge version made it a point to mention it every time I even got close to winning an exchange. She scowls up at me. Not that I can see her expression, but this was Sophia we were talking about - there was about an eighty-percent chance that she was in some variant of a scowl at any point in time, so it was always a pretty safe descriptor. "No, it was just the way you moved - moving before I'd even decided what to do. I got him to agree to a sparring session one time, he told me that he was testing out some prediction feature or something and spent the next ten minutes manhandling me without me being able to do anything. This wasn't quite that bad, but it's not particularly pleasant getting caught in-between states when I'm not ready for it."
"Looks like we all have good reason to practice with each other now then." I tell her.
"Hmph." She stays silent for a moment. "Fine. You can still use your powers though. They didn't make a major difference last time, you still only win when I mess up whether you have them or not."
"I'll keep the offer in mind. I'd like to get a bit better without them, for personal reasons. Let's just say, if you make me use them - I'll use them. How's that?"
Sophia huffs, sounding somewhat aggrieved at having that turned back on her. "Fine. Guess I deserve that."
"Void, let her up. It's my turn again." Taylor arrives to break us up, having taken a bit longer than I expected to object to how close we currently are in this position. To be honest, I'd half-expected her to be a good deal more animated about it, but I was hardly going to complain that she wasn't being like that.
"Of course, of course. I'll let you get some fun in. I'll be at the back, watching. Gloating. You know how it is." I push myself up and to my feet as Shadow Stalker disappears from below me, beating me to an upright position. Naturally. I couldn't disable her without my ash-clone playing interference or some electricity. She'd only stopped because I'd shaken her. Probably wouldn't happen again for a while.
"If you say a word, I'm making it a 1v2 and not holding back for a second." She threatens me.
"I'll be good, I'll be good. When I said gloating, I only meant in the safety of my own head." I reassure her, stepping away as the other two square up - Taylor immediately surrounding Sophia's head with a thin cloud of bugs as the other girl sprints forward. "Challenge."
I close my eyes, letting my footsteps carry me forward. Being humble in victory. Modest. That was the manly thing to do, sure. When you proved that you were stronger than someone, especially a girl, it was a decidedly un-gentlemanly thing to do to brag about it and remind them at every turn. A man could get a bad reputation like that, or someone would come along to put him in his place.
In other words, real-life consequences would catch up.
Real-life consequences didn't apply here.
I adopt a mocking expression. "I just beat the absolute crap out of you in real life~" I sing-song to the barren streets.
"Bullshit." Comes the immediate retort. "You're not even close to my level."
"It's true." I gloat. "You were sitting there on the ground, shocked and confused at how easily you were being beaten. Given how obsessed you are about strong people taking what they want for the weak, I think you were probably hoping that I ravished you right there. If it wasn't for the mask, I'd have been blasted with the full force of your fuck-me eyes-" I jump as a crossbow bolt bounces off the street next to my feet. "-but even with the mask on, I think it's only a matter of time."
"That's a lovely fairy tale, I hope it lets you sleep at night." She steps into the light. "But maybe pick a more believable lie next time if you want to trick me."
"Now this is frustrating, you really can't see out through my eyes at the outside world? I was really looking forward to the coping and seething on your end when you realised what was going on, but full denial and announcing that it has to be fake is somewhat satisfying as well. It feels like when people call me a cheater in FPS games, but I'm actually just playing with a mouse in console lobbies." I nod to myself. "This is a good feeling too. Not what I was expecting, but it has its own appeal."
"I'm a construct of your power meeting mine, not a real person. Did your brain leak out and cause you to forget that?" She pauses. "And I'm not in denial, you just aren't capable of beating me in a straight fight."
I grin. "I may have slightly exaggerated the scale of the beatdown, but I did beat her in a friendly little spar, no powers against her powers. Your moves and tendencies haven't changed that much, and she hasn't adapted to me as much as you have. Not that surprising, really."
"One lucky fight then." She incorrectly surmises. "Still, to think that a short stint in the Protectorate made me lose my edge this much... some of my worst fears really have come to life."
"If it's any consolation, it was me - not some random no-name - that was involved in the one-sided, humiliating, embarrassing defeat of a full-powered Cape against a pure normie. No shame in losing to a strong guy, wouldn't you say? Isn't that your whole schtick? Predators and prey, or something like that?" I try to add some growly zest to that last sentence. "I guess I'm just at the top of the food chain. Mr Apex Predator himself-"
She lets out a heavy sigh. "Please stop calling yourself a predator. You're doing irreparable damage to my life philosophy every time that I'm reminded you're somehow still alive."
"What? No way." I protest. "I'm, like, the living poster boy of your predator thing. I'm literally Eidolon plus Dauntless plus Heartbreaker. The predator of predators. The predatorest." She gives me a pained look for some reason. "Super strong dude, taking everyone that's weaker than him. Including you, by the way. You should be making posters of me rather than complaining." I purse my lips. "Unless, you don't complain about Eidolon as well, do you? It would be kind of petty to object to literally anyone being stronger than you - but I'd respect the consistency if it at least wasn't just pure personal bias against me."
"It's pure personal bias." She confirms.
I stick my tongue out. "Wow. Fuck you."
"In your dreams." She steps into her usual position.
I wag a finger at her. "And in real life too. I'm coming for that ass, in more ways than one. I've got a whole sleepover planned with Sophia coming up starting tomorrow. I'm meeting up with you on cooldown, not just when I catch a glimpse between certain periods. You know I'm already getting pretty close in here, I've already impressed your real self. How much longer do you think you can hold out before I win once?"
She rolls her eyes. "And how are you going to do that? You literally can't touch me. I'm not getting close to any electricity around here. You have a time limit, and I'm only even allowing myself to be a target because you begged me to beat the shit out of you so long as you didn't use your powers."
"Aside from the time-limit, the real version of you would have said exactly the same thing just a minute or two ago." I smile. "And, you know? Aside from the fact that she hasn't gotten used to my moves yet, she was better than you."
She holds a finger up in front of her as if to object. "But I have gotten used to you. Unless you have a time-travelling power up your sleeve, the ship has sailed on that one unless you fancy trying to win this challenge the proper way - and we end this charade."
"You get used to me, but you don't get any better." I correct. "Which is why you're changing everything about yourself that you can to try and keep ahead. You know that I'm catching up. I see you've taken your helmet off already, I know you got tired of getting hit from your blindspots - and, sure, you beat me solidly about ten times in a row after that. But now, I'm right back to landing hits on that lovely face of yours - and now what? If you want to take the top half of your costume off, it will have the same effect I assure you - if, for entirely a different reason."
She gives me a disgusted look. 10/10. Sophia never disappoints when it comes to looking at me like I was less than dirt. But she doesn't offer a retort. She knows, perhaps more than I do, the truth of what I'm saying.
"But if not-" I bring my guard up. "-I don't think you have any tricks left to stop me."
"Maybe." She concedes. A rare move for her. "But that sounds like a problem for future me, not to mention my real self. Here, now - no matter how fast you're getting better, you're not good enough yet!"
We both dash forward, a wild grin on both our faces.
--
"-uard your head! A shitty little mask like that won't help you block a real punch. If you get a concussion, it's all over!"
I shake my head to clear the remaining spots from my vision. That was the third round, both in real life and in my mind, of the night. Productive. And Taylor and Sophia were at it again, floating around maybe two or three times that number thanks to how fast each fight was ending. I wince as Taylor attempts to lock up Sophia's arm, only to get herself hurled to the ground for her trouble with a muffled admonishment about footwork that I can't fully make out from this distance.
Sophia brushes flies off her mask as I approach, or, attempts to do so. Upon closer inspection - she's just moving her hand over the space where the insects were, and they're flowing around her hand like water - repositioning themselves back in their spot with ease no matter how many times she tries to fully clear her vision. A few hard slaps to her own mask sends a number of dead bugs to the rooftop, or otherwise leaves their broken forms smeared halfway across the mask - but even with the greatly-reduced size of the swarm, there are still more to fill in the gaps. "This is a good trick." Sophia concedes. "Really useful, you should do this all the time if you can. Even when you're playing nice, it's hard to not flinch with something so close to your eye."
"Not quite useful enough." Taylor pushes herself to her feet, a hint of bitterness at her own continued failure in her voice. "Still got me thrown around like it was nothing." The bugs return to her side, forming the usual 'ready' pattern around her body.
Sophia shifts on her feet, almost looking a little awkard. "You were fine, if we account for your lack of experience. Don't beat yourself up about being trash right now, you would only need to beat yourself up if you knew that you were trash and weren't doing anything about it. Being here, getting your ass beat, getting back up again to get beaten a little less next time... that's more than most of this city could do. It shows you've got guts, that you aren't just going to lie down and be a doormat because you didn't start with a winning hand." Sophia looks around, considering me for a second. "Fuck it. I make a terrible demonstration. Let's go and find some useless, drugged-up homeless guy and use him as an example for showing you that you can handle yourself against someone that isn't years ahead of you. It would be nice to see you actually go to town on someone as well, just to see how you roll with my own two eyes."
If she was expecting a protest from me at the idea of using some of the cities most downtrodden people as a punching bag, she was going to be disappointed. "Sure. It might take a while to find someone, we didn't spot that many people on our patrol earlier - no obvious dealers hanging around-"
"There's a pair about four-hundred metres that way." Taylor points off to the distance. "I've been watching them for a while. One man stays in the car, drops the other off, circles the block for a while, then picks him up to drop him off elsewhere. The guy that gets dropped off hangs around at the side of the street, sometimes other people approach him, I can feel their hands moving inside what I guess are their jackets - so I assume it's a drug trade of some sort. The customers just kind of wander around aimlessly, two of them are still in my range - they don't seem to be together." She points in two different directions. "I was going to handle it myself when I was sure, but if you want to check it out in person..."
"Wish I had you around when I was a vigilante." Shadow Stalker whistles. "That's seriously useful. Blondie doesn't know how good he has it. Are they armed?"
Taylor pauses. "Not obviously? I can't sense that well through my bugs. Mostly just outlines, sometimes feedback when they touch or eat something and have a bad reaction to it. Good at finding drugs, not so much at working out if they have a pistol or a phone in their pocket. I'm working on it." She hums to herself in thought. "There's definitely no large weapons to hand, except something with a long barrel in the passengers seat of the car that I can't really identify." She holds her hands out as she mentions the barrel. Too big to be a standard sidearm. "The other guy... no. I don't think so. Something solid in his back pocket that might be a pocket knife or something, but it's not a gun."
"Sounds like a good time." Sophia sounds far too happy. "We should definitely hang out more. I could patrol for hours in the past and not even end up with half of what you've found while getting knocked around. If you ever have the misfortune of joining the Wards, our patrols would be the best I've had since I joined. Hitch a ride in the back of a squad car for twenty minutes, spend the next three hours purging the entire block of every drug safehouse and every den of criminals there is in a single swoop."
"I'm not joining the Wards." Taylor shakes her head firmly. "I'm not interested in any teenage drama crap, and I've got the only partner I need right here."
"I said that too, at one point. Kinda got forced into it at the end. They start playing hardball if they decide they don't like you - put more effort into pressganging me than they did in fighting the gangs." She ticks that point off on her hand. "Secondly, what teenage drama? Everyone in the Wards is too boring to have drama. Gallant's only interest is in setting the record number of breakups-then-get-togethers with his girlfriend. Clockblocker is too lame and boring to have drama with anyone. Kid Win only cares about his toys. Aegis has the personality of beige paint. Vista is basically a toddler. I'm me, and I hate all of them too much to interact with them. And that's all- oh, there's Browbeat too. I haven't really talked to him at all, but he seems to be a basic loser too."
Harsh. Maybe not wrong on all fronts though. It was maybe telling that, even with all the benefits of seeing every episode of the PR videos on our local Wards - the only statement I could confidently disagree on was that Vista was certainly not a toddler. But, being two or so years younger than us was enough of a gap that Sophia seemed to have made up her mind on the matter.
She continues. "Anyway. The point is, whatever bullshit you get annoyed with at school - you won't have it there. You get powers from life shitting on you. The full-ride scholarship sports bros, the queen bitches with a million friends, wealthy heiress with nothing better to do than bully poor kids... none of those people have the mental strength to go through something like that and come out with superpowers. Even then, half the people that do then get filtered out to the gangs if their personality or ethnicity lines up right. You'd be fine. You'd kick all of their asses." Sophia pauses. "But, still. You'd definitely be wasted there. I'd love to have you, but if you want what's best for you personally... duck and run when the recruitment offers start getting insistent."
"You really aren't selling this to me." Taylor seems a little amused.
"It's not exactly the most attractive offer, I wouldn't lie to you about that. They'd definitely hamstring your abilities to make you more PR friendly, but your power is good enough that you'd be useful despite that." Sophia gives a thumbs up. "I'd avoid it personally, let's just do more patrols together. Blondie can come too, if that's what you're worried about."
"You're only 'hanging around' with us for as long as it takes to get me up to your level. Don't get too comfortable, you'll be back with the Wards soon enough." Taylor warns.
"That's never going to happen, so looks like this will be a permanent thing." Sophia responds with more cheer than I even knew she was capable of. "But we can argue about that another time. Let's go check on these drug dealers of yours. Or, maybe one of their customers first. Just to check that they're not, you know, handing out food bank vouchers or something. Trust me, it gets awkward if you have a misunderstanding like that."
"Maybe there was a good reason you got dragged into the Wards." Taylor muses.
"Please. It's the government." Sophia vaults over the side of the building. "They don't have a good reason for anything they do."
A distant set of footsteps tells me that Sophia has landed on the bottom, already heading in the vague direction that Taylor had pointed in. "Hurry up!"
Taylor heads over to the ladder first. I lean over the edge as she makes her way down, Sophia already out of earshot. "Not as bad as you expected?"
"She's okay." Taylor concedes. "I guess I wasn't really thinking about her as a current veteran hero, and more of... well. As another 'me' in our partnership. Someone who needed as much help and attention as I did, when we first started. I know I'm not an expert fighter or anything, I just wasn't expecting that much of a difference between us."
I wiggle my eyebrows behind my helmet. "You were hoping you could give her the good old one-two, tell her to stay away from your man and tell her that her services were no longer required?"
Taylor pauses in her descent, looking up to me with a chagrined look. "Wh-what? No." A heavy silence. She starts descending again. "Maybe. Would that have been so bad?"
"No. It's cute." I assure her.
Taylor pouts at me. "I'm not trying to be cute. I'm trying to be a reliable partner. An equal, not a leech." I vault down, shadow state saving me from the drop. Taylor makes her way further down before speaking again. "You've got all of these powers, you'll probably get even more - and I'm just desperately trying to keep up with bugs. Taking them as far as I can possibly get just to stay level with you for a little bit longer."
"I think you're being a bit too down on yourself. Are you telling me that you didn't feel useful against Oni Lee? As much as I did the stalling, you did most of the work there in terms of actually beating him." I help her down from the last steps of the ladder as she hops off, using my shoulder as a brake.
"I know I managed to help then. It's probably the proudest moment I've ever had in my life. I'm not underselling what I did, I'm just being a realist. You already got one, two, however many new powers since that fight - if that fight happened again in a month, would you even need me?" Taylor turns to me with a frown. "Not that- I'm not saying I think you're the type to throw me away just like that, but I like to think that even if I don't have the best power in the world - I'm at least doing the best I can with what I have. Being beaten by someone my age, not using any powers - that breaks that delusion in half nicely."
"This is getting a bit heavy-" I acknowledge, raising one hand as Taylor waves her hands at me as if to tell me not to worry about her dark musings. "-but even if I'm no good at motivational speeches, I'll just say that I really think you're overthinking it. I don't need an equal. I don't expect one, because my expectations are that unless my powers hit a hard limit soon - I'm going to be on the same level as the Triumvirate. The same kind of future that people used to speculate about for Dauntless, before he got his ass kicked by diminishing returns. All I want from you, is what you're already giving me. You're a great partner. Stop doubting yourself. Stop comparing your worth to other people. They're not you. Shadow Stalker spent years becoming a close-quarters master, but her power doesn't have the versatility of yours. You're different people."
"I started out with more aspirations than being a human sonar with the ability to drown people in bugs." Taylor grimaces. "Her helmet isn't fully sealed off, and I wasn't trying that hard to get in - but the sheer difficulty of getting the right bugs in fast enough is just showing me how hard it's going to be to fight someone in serious protective gear, or a Brute. I just don't have any answers in that case."
"Nonsense. You just haven't needed a solution for that yet." Should I... sure. What was the harm? "You've already made this costume of yours, right? The base material is light enough for your bugs to move and work with?"
"Yes?" Taylor responds slowly, if trying to decipher my meaning before I finished the sentence.
"Then what if you had your bugs carry strings of that stuff around, or other types of strings? You could tie people up just like Parian can, dozens of threads at once carried by thousands of flying bugs - enough to stop a robber in his tracks, all capable of being done from the safety of your own home. You could carry items like that, maybe even replace that bag you carry around. If you had the control, you could probably hold a gun in the air and set it off-" Exactly like her challenge self had done not so long ago. "-and who even knows what else. You already have a level of control that most shakers dream about. Just because you control bugs, doesn't mean you can't do everything that they can do as a group but better."
Taylor looks distant, nodding to herself as she murmurs under her breath. "That could- yeah. Actually. That could work. I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't." She sinks deeper into thoughtful silence as her nods get more and more pronounced. "Void- this could change everything for me!" I smile to myself at her surge of excitement. Taking credit for what her challenge-self had employed against me felt a little wrong, like I was stealing her homework before she'd even written it yet and passed it off as my own work - but if it helped her now, if it made her appreciate me a little more... what was the harm in accelerating her a bit?
"And at the same time, change absolutely nothing." I point out. "Because even now that you have an awesome idea about strings, you're still just my awesome partner. Nothing has changed on that front. Nothing will ever change about that, unless you want it to change."
"Right. But still, that would - that would really work. I could do so much with that, I never even really thought about using bugs to carry things en-masse." Taylor can't hide her improved mood. "Listen. I'm... I'm sorry for being a downer. I hear what you're saying, I just... I'm not used to someone just wanting me like that. I want to prove myself, in case someone else comes along and does it better - taking my spot. And I know, I know, that you aren't like that - but I can't quite shake the feeling of dread at the idea." Am I supposed to feel guilty? This definitely feels like something the whole 'Greg' thing might have caused, but is it actually my fault or is it just a bit unlucky that things unfolded the way that they did? "I never want this to end. So I'm going to keep getting better. I'm going to make sure that you know you can always count on me. And I am going to knock Shadow Stalker flat on her face one day soon."
"I think she'd appreciate that a lot more than you realise. I might have to start fighting her for your affections." I tease.
"Funny." She deadpans. "Speaking of her, let's catch up with her before she starts to wander where we got to."
We start walking. "Has she gotten lost already?" She's long gone out of sight, that's all I know.
"I'm guiding her to one of the customers with my bugs. The sellers are about to move again, so we would need to wait for them to stop anyway - assuming that they aren't heading home for the night." She quickens her pace a little. "Well, I suppose you could catch up to the car - but neither of us could. Unless you have speed ready to hand out?"
"Regeneration." I deny. I usually made a solid effort at bringing Othala's slot machine power back to one of the more useful sets when I had Taylor around to cycle through them. Healing and speed were always my favourite choices to hold for emergencies. "We can tackle them all together. There's no rush, any dealer desperate enough to sell around here has barely gotten started for the night." All the smart ones sold to the rich guys near Empire territory, and all the ones associated with a gang had better buyers than beggars scrounging and stealing enough to get their next fix in.
It doesn't take us long to catch up with Sophia, and given that we end up meeting her at a near right-angle I suspect that had more to do with Taylor leading her on a detour than any great amount of haste on our part.
"Took your time." Sophia grunts at us. "That our buyer?" She gestures at a man hunched over in the streetlight by a park.
"That's him." Taylor confirms.
"Well. We can skip the part where we check if he's on drugs or not." I state, eyeing up the shivering, manic movements of the man as he clings tightly to the rail fence next to him.
"Right. Looks like you're up, girl scout. Go and beat him up for us." Shadow Stalker enthuses.
"He hasn't really done anything wrong. I don't know if I'm okay with just... attacking a guy like that." Taylor looks pained.
Shadow Stalker blinks, then turns to me. "Do you have a problem with it?"
"Not really." I admit. "But that isn't to say that I can't see where she's coming from. The thing is, this guy isn't just an unfortunate homeless beggar - he's a homeless beggar that's managed to scrounge up enough cash to feed his addiction that's costing him hundreds of dollars over the course of a week, even ignoring the need for food and whatever else he buys. This isn't exactly a giving part of town, so he's almost certainly committing some kind of crime to get that cash. Secondly, the only way his life is going to recover back to any salvageable point is if he gets the care and attention that he needs - prison and a bit of rehab will be a vast improvement over eventually dying of an overdose around here. And thirdly, even if you don't want to fight him - he'll take one glance at our costumes and attack us - then it will just be self-defence."
"Sure, something like that." Shadow Stalker appends after a beat of silence. I had a feeling that her opinions on the matter were a little less well-reasoned.
"Fine. I'll go take him in. Non-violently, if I can help it. Sorry to disappoint." She directs that at Shadow Stalker.
A hand on her shoulder stops her first step. "Wait. You've got all the time in the world to think ahead now, start thinking about the fight now - rather than reacting when he rushes you on sight. Does he have a gun? A knife? You said that your bugs couldn't find one, can you see one with your own eyes now?"
"I can't see that far." Taylor scowls.
"Obviously." The dripping, condescending tone is doubtless to rile Taylor up. "I used to use binoculars. A phone camera with zoom actually works pretty well too, if you can do something about the light giving your position away. Let's assume that he has some kind of shiv tucked into his pants, and your bugs just can't tell where his disease-ridden junk ends and the weapon begins. What's your plan when he pulls it out?"
"Cover his face in bugs, sting his hand until he drops it, block his mouth and nose with bugs, knock him to the ground and then tie him up." Taylor responds promptly.
The ex-vigilante turns to me. "See? Hardcore. I like this girl." Back to Taylor. "Sounds good. But you aren't allowed to just hide away at range. I won't allow it. Get up close and personal. Take advantage of the fact that the other guy can't see or hear shit when your bugs are clamouring around him. Do everything you can to avoid him latching on to you at all costs, and put him in the dirt with every cheap shot you can muster. Got it? Get some appreciation for the advantages you can get in a fight against someone who isn't me."
"It won't come to that." Taylor tries to protest. "They're not stupid out here, they know a Cape when they see one. He'll see me approach, be happy to answer our questions and surrender without a fight."
I snort.
Sophia snorts.
"Screw you both." Taylor grouses. "Watch this then."
We watch as Taylor closes the distance with the clearly-unwell stranger. We hear the distant cry of "Fuck you Cape bitch!" Followed by an incoherent stream of yelling, then screaming, then whimpering.
"You have no idea how bitter I am about the kind of partner you have there." Sophia tells me flatly. "Useful power. Vicious and pragmatic, but doesn't even realise it. Give that power to any of the other Wards and it would never cross their minds to just cram bugs into their nostrils so that they can't breathe anymore. That kind of power, that kind of thinking, that's what you need in a partner. I had to make do with a non-Cape as my backup. She had the right attitude but..." Sophia pauses. "...it was more about helping her, than it was about her helping me. She needed the boost of feeling like she could fight back in her own way, but the extra pair of eyes didn't really help me hit the gangs at all. Just limited my overall mobility, if anything." Emma? I could see that.
"I would have thought that the Wards and the PRT would make for pretty good backup, even in comparison to us." I raise an eyebrow as Taylor slugs the man in his exposed side, before sweeping his leg and snapping a zip-tie around his hands with a quick, practised motion.
"In theory, yes. In practice, they never actually put those resources to any use. All the Wards are coddled and babied, told to run away from basically every engagement and wait for the real heroes to arrive. Piggy thinks that if the gangs are all reasonably balanced against each other, they'll just cancel each other out and the Bay will be peaceful forever." The derision in her voice is clear.
"You disagree?" I query.
"Naturally. The gangs don't want a slice of Brockton Bay. They want all of it. They're in a state of status quo right now only because they're missing the piece they need to crush the other one without losing enough for the Protectorate to finish the winner off while they're weak. Ever since Purity failed to kill Lung in that ambush last year, both sides know that they can't be sure that they'll win if there is a real, all-out fight. The Empire doesn't have a reliable way to kill Lung that doesn't risk losing their entire roster in a straight fight, the one thing that he's good at. The ABB doesn't have the force projection to take over the Empire territory without losing everything because Lung can't be everywhere at once. If either side gets one Cape that fixes those problems, the city is going to explode - and the Protectorate will throw their hands up and declare themselves powerless to actually do their jobs."
"Pessimistic view on things." I comment.
"That's life." Sophia dismisses shortly.
Taylor drags the insensate man towards us. "Don't wanna hear it." She grumbles.
"Never a good idea to bet on someone around here doing the smart thing." I nod sagely. "I mean, just living in the area is a bit of a red flag on its own for their decision-making capabilities."
"You did alright." Sophia takes the higher ground. "Though you still punch like a sissy. You need to throw your weight behind it. No need to be smart and try to do a combo if you've blinded them to the point they never see the first one coming. You're not good enough to do it right, so just make the first hit count."
"It worked, didn't it?" She drops the guy at our feet, looking somewhat annoyed at his decision-making skills.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll give you that. But you can always do better next time." Sophia crouches down. "Now, let's see if this guy can tell us-"
I lift my gaze from his challenge box. "No need to ask. He's a merchant."
"Merchant?" Taylor echoes.
"Archer's Bridge Merchants." Shadow Stalker rolls him over, making a sound of agreement as she notes the messy tattoo on his arm. "It's what happens when a bunch of independent drug dealers get together to try and make some cross between a union, a gang and a permanent nightclub - and then get lucky and have one or two of their crackheads trigger instead of dying to an overdose. They're not really a big deal, just some small fry that neither of the gangs hates enough to waste time stamping them out."
"They have a Tinker, big tanky vehicles and the like. You see them on the news every now and then when her junk falls apart and they crash into a building." Honestly, one of the last Tinkers in the Bay I was interested in. Still a Tinker, and therefore worthwhile, but it wasn't even a matter of personal distaste - it was hard to get excited about someone who regularly got outclassed by every one of their peers around them. One of their best fights on PHO had them getting packed up neatly by Vista, only escaping in the end by blowing up their main ride and escaping the scene on a suped-up motorbike - while the heroes rescued civilians and gang members alike that were caught in the blast. That wasn't the impressive kind of feat that anyone wanted on their summary page on PHO.
That, and having a partner called 'Skidmark' wasn't exactly helping their case.
"And they're close by? We could raid them?" Taylor's expression brightens.
"Probably not." Sophia shoots the idea down. "If they were around, it would be pretty obvious. The merchants are still a gang, any event where they had a bunch of product to throw around - they'd have a big security presence and their pet Tinker throwing their weight around to remind people to not fuck around. They're not subtle about their parties and gatherings, they don't even try to hide the time that they happen - only the final location until the last minute. The PRT only comes in to clean up after the smart ones have gone home, nobody wants to fight a Tinker that has all of their toys ready for a fight - even if it's a shit one. This guy? Just a groupie, getting his regular fix from his usual supplier." Sophia turns to Taylor. "Not that I'll discourage you from gatecrashing their next event, whenever that is. Just because the gangs don't care and the PRT won't do anything, there's nothing stopping you two from rolling up and ruining their day. If I'm not stuck on console, I might even come and discretely assist if you give me the heads up."
The information about the Merchant gatherings was completely new to me. The idea that you could just... get invited and show up to somewhere where two Capes were - D-listers or not - was something I would have loved to be making use of the last few weeks. Maybe I was socialising in the wrong circles, and just didn't hear about this kind of thing. I wasn't a druggie, after all. It was a point of pride for me that all the bad decisions that I made could be attributed solely to me and not a drop of any foreign substances.
"We'll have to discuss it between ourselves later." I interject as Taylor glances at me. Personally, I was only a little bit interested. Two additional Cape challenges to try would be useful, but they weren't as singularly world-changing as getting a Brute or Blaster power would be.
But then again, the real trouble with Capes wasn't picking the ones I wanted - but actually finding them out in the open to challenge them without either outing myself or showing up as some suspicious creep on a security camera. It was hard to just pass up on a likely opportunity to grab two more powersets - even if they were likely on the weaker side of things. Not to mention, even if I couldn't handle their challenges - the street cred from busting an entire gang, however insignificant, would go a long way towards building trust and confidence towards me. It wouldn't even be that hard. Taylor could solo the entire event unless Squealer had already made some anti-bug countermeasures, but she wasn't really renowned for her foresight and I would be there to play interference as well.
We would just need to find the place. Even if Taylor wasn't around, that didn't stop me from having a go in my civilian ID. Maybe I could even just get a proper invitation if I mind-whammied the right person, discretely join and challenge the pair of Capes throughout the evening, and then leave, with nobody the wiser about the attempt.
Something for the future, perhaps. When I had some more free time. I had no intention of getting a Merchant on my side in full view of Shadow Stalker. The leeway my power gave me when making changes was best left untested in this case. That, and they clearly weren't out in force here.
"I'll call this guy in." Taylor frowns down at the man at her feet. "He's in no shape to be out here on his own anyway. Even before meeting us, I mean."
"I'll do it. You two go on ahead. Bug can guide me to the right spot once they've taken him off of my hands." I wave them off. "Just don't get shot. I'll be all broken up if you get taken down by some petty drug dealers that aren't even part of a proper gang."
"Suit yourself." Sophia shrugs as Taylor hands me her phone. "Let's go, girl scout." She takes a swipe at Taylor's backside as she passes, attracting a growl of irritation and starting an immediate argument as the two pace out of earshot together.
Yeah. They're getting along eerily well. It wasn't that obvious on the surface, but I knew Sophia and I knew Taylor. The catty, snippy back and forth didn't come out for people they despised. When Taylor hated someone, she seethed quietly with a stone-cold look on her face and murder in her eyes. When Sophia found someone she despised, cruel barbs slip out with every word - and the slightest bit of disrespect is immediately met with violence.
God, it was going to be so, so hot fucking those two together. It would probably only get hotter once they discovered the identity of the other, initial ugly fallout aside. And that dream wasn't so far off now at all. In all likelihood, despite all the variance in how their challenges had panned out - I was expecting that I would be able to mark this weekend as the first time they'd both sucked my dick, an important milestone in any relationship. Both girls unaware of the other, naturally. That would be scummy if it was any other guy, but this wasn't cheating - this was... the formation of a harem that hadn't realised what it was yet.
I eye the direction that Taylor and Sophia disappeared in. I doubted they would be back anytime soon, and they were probably enjoying their girl talk or something anyway. They wouldn't mind if I handled this guy in my own way.
"Hey." I pinch the guy's cheeks firmly. "Time to wake up, buddy. Got some questions for you." A bit too insensate, perhaps. I would guess that was more the result of his drug of choice than Taylor, but that didn't matter now. I swap away from Glory Girl's power only long enough to briefly tap into Othala. "Consider yourself lucky, you have no idea how long I spend cycling through this power to land on healing. It wouldn't matter if my version of Panacea's was a bit better, but this will have to do for the complicated stuff for now-" The guy stirs. "-there we are. Wakey wakey, friend."
"Who the fuck are you?" The man slurs at me.
"Void Cowboy. Hero." I tip an imaginary hat at him. "I'm also the guy healing you right now, free of charge. Ignoring the drugs, I'm sure a guy like you has all sorts of aches and pains that I'm healing up. So don't go giving me a reason to stop, hm? I just wanted to ask a few questions, rather than just drop you off with the police and have them ask all sorts of pointed questions about how much funny powder is in that pocket of yours. It's a... get out of jail free card."
"I'm-" His voice strengthens a little. "I'm listening. But I'm not a snitch, that gets you killed around here." A marked improvement already. Did the regeneration power just attack the drugs directly, or did they just start rebalancing everything that the drugs knocked out of place? Was it removing the presence of the drugs, or just bringing the high to an early end?
"I don't want to arrest anyone. I want to see what the Merchants are like." I gesture at his arm. "I mean, I've heard that they arrange all sorts of parties and everything - but I have no idea how to actually get involved. Just want to see and experience it a little, you know? Don't know if I really want to join, but I guess I won't know until I've been and seen what it's all like over there - you get me?"
He swallows heavily. "You need to be invited. Two people need to vouch for you that are full members, and then you need to pay admission at the entrance. It costs a lot for new guys, but man-" He adopts a wistful look. "Skidmark knows how to throw a fucking party. The juice flows like water. More lines on every table than a fucking..." He gestures aimlessly in the air, trying to think of something that had a lot of lines. "Something. And the hookers! They'll let you do anything if you grab them a drink first, even a guy like me."
"Sounds like a fun time." I smile encouragingly. "And where would I find a pair of these 'full members' you mentioned? Are there tiers to this? Do they hang around a certain place? Any public contact that I can get a hold of and arrange a meeting?"
"Give up on it, kid. They don't roll over like that. You need years of street cred to get in their good books, unless you're one of the guy's bringing in the supply - which, no offense, doesn't seem like your thing." He shakes his head. "And I don't really know if powers alone will get you in the door either. Skids doesn't like outsiders trying to join up, nobody smart outside of our community wants to be a Merchant - especially not those with obvious opportunities elsewhere. He'll smell a rat a mile out."
"That's not what I asked, friend." I don't let my smile fade. "I don't need to know my chances of joining up the normal way. These members that could get me in. How. Do. I. Find. Them?" I enunciate each word slowly.
The man is sobering up fast. Perhaps getting the impression that some of my friendliness wasn't entirely genuine. "I don't want trouble. Not with you, not with them."
"Who said that there would be trouble?" I smile. "Don't worry. I'm not going to run in, guns blazing, against the first guys in the list you give me. That would cause you trouble, I get it. Hell, you don't even have to give me names. A general location is fine. A third-party supplier that talks with the right guys would work too. I'm looking to be discrete. I'll sneak in if I have to. I just... need a trail to follow. That's not much to ask you, considering the free healing I'm giving you - wouldn't you say? Not if you give me information that any random guy on the street could tell me."
He mulls over my words. Eventually, I get a nod.
"There is a guy." The man starts. "Completely legit. The police raid him constantly, never find a thing. Used to be a member, did his time in prison - somewhat reformed now. He sells a lot of alcohol for events all over town. Skidmark uses him a lot for catering his parties. I don't know what the fuck your powers are, but he'll definitely have his finger on the pulse of where and when the next event is going to be - and a bunch of Merchants will be doing business with him while organising the whole thing. That's, that's all you need, right? I don't think you'll ever get on his good side, nor any of his associates - but he'll be involved somewhere along the way."
"Sounds perfect." I get ready to make notes. "Now then. Names and places, please."
He talks. After a little encouragement, two more names get added to the list. "But you didn't hear any of this from me!" The man insists.
"Naturally not." I straighten up. "Moving on, let's consider this trade done and forgotten. How do we proceed from here?"
"...you let me go?" The man suggests.
I smile laconically. "I'm a defender of truth and justice right now. I don't know if you remember this, but a few minutes ago you were banging your head on the fence of a children's park and then tried to stab my partner with a knife when she approached you to see if you were okay. I don't know if it would be quite right to release you back into the wild. You're dangerous."
"Don't talk about me like I'm an animal." He grumbles. "I'll behave. Took a hit that was a bit too strong, that's all."
"And if I just walk away now, you'll take another. Won't you?" I shake my head. "You know, I'm actually a bit concerned that I might be responsible for your death if I let you go. You do hear about parahuman healing sometimes removing tolerance to drugs built up over a long time. I don't know how mine handles drugs. You might take your normal dose and immediately die, you don't want that on my conscience do you?"
"We all make our own decisions, kid." He attempts to break his hands out of the zipties. Failure. "Maybe I die, maybe I don't."
"Something for you to decide once you get back out on the streets then." I nod amicably. Moral quandaries and ethics aside, it wouldn't do for this guy to immediately run to his friend and warn him before I had a chance to check him out. Assuming the information wasn't complete bogus, of course. Not to mention that I didn't feel like explaining to either of the other two that I ended up letting him go. Shadow Stalker might not know or care, but there was little doubt that Taylor was tracking both of us and would realise what happened if we split ways. She probably wouldn't be that annoyed... but it still sounded like an unnecessary pain for someone that was pretty obviously a violent addict - however sober I had forcibly made him now.
He stares up at me for a second. I smile back.
He jumps up and tries to run.
He doesn't get far.
--
"And how are my favourite ladies doing? I mean, lady?" I wave at Taylor as I approach, a somewhat uncomfortable pair of officers trailing behind me. The bugs had been pretty clear that I should drag them along, but I couldn't entirely blame their apprehension at following the roiling mass of bugs along the street and around a dark corner.
Guess Sophia was hiding, opting to not be seen by the cops and therefore sidestepping any presence in the report that would doubtless come of this.
"I've got one guy here-" She gestures down at the guy shes standing over. "-and the other guy is in that car over there." She points to a car that's lodged itself into a guard fence at some speed. "I would have tied him up, but he rolled the windows up while I was taking him down and the door was locked."
I raise one, lone eyebrow. "I think you'd be forgiven for breaking a window in the course of stopping a criminal."
"It might not be his car. What if the owner can't afford to repair it?" Taylor retorts.
The police officer to my left strides forward, briefly peering into the windows of the car and nodding to himself before bashing in the window with a series of sharp strikes. Taylor winces at the action, but doesn't seem to want to concede the point. I give Taylor a pointed look.
"That's the police making that decision. I did everything I could to avoid damaging property unnecessarily." Taylor reasons. "There's nothing wrong with that."
I give a silent, lengthy appraisal to the front of the car, where the car and iron fencing had met and the car had lost.
She follows my gaze. "That happened afterwards. He woke up before I managed to work out how to turn the engine off. Panicked a bit. I think I started letting him breathe again too soon. My fault."
The officer audibly gags. "Oh, Christ alive..."
Taylor and I both turn to regard the man as his partner approaches, who then also gags at whatever she found there.
"Is-is he dead?" The woman asks.
"No!" Taylor is scandalised. "I'm not- No! He's just unconscious. I was very careful not to do any real damage, he could somewhat breathe the entire time he was out and he didn't get bitten a single time. I'm careful about these things. The only thing I messed up was letting him switch on the car and start it rolling, and even, then, I managed to turn it off the road before it got out of hand. You're being overdramatic-" One throws up into the side of the street, quickly joined by the other. She turns to me. "-Void, help me out here."
I purse my lips in silent thought, then step past the officers and peer through the broken window. "Bug."
"Yes?" The quiet, optimistic voice responds.
"There is a trail of spiders and creepy-crawlies leaking from his mouth." I inform her.
"I know, I'm making sure I get them all out. It might cause him problems later if I missed one and left them in the wrong place." Again. The voice sounds reasonable. The words...
"I'm assuming, based on what you were saying a moment ago, that you stopped this guy using only your bugs?" A nod. "And that process involved shoving all of your bugs in the area deep into every orifice you could find?"
"Not deep, that wasn't really needed. Just kind of... tickling the inside of the ears and doing my best to plug up his mouth and nose without fully cutting off the airflow. It was more of a distraction to stop him from grabbing the gun when he saw me go for the other guy at the same time." She crosses her arms. "I was happy to wait for them to come back around, but-" She shifts her head towards the dark alley behind her. "-I had to hurry in case someone else got bored and decided to join the fight." Sophia telling her to start or she'd shoot the guy herself? I could easily see that.
"It just looks a bit harsh." I tell her. "I mean, great job on taking them out without any trouble - but it's not the prettiest of sights. I'm pretty sure I watched a horror movie like this once. The larva started hatching in the guy's brain halfway into the movie and started piloting him-"
"I'm not- I told you." Taylor looks halfway towards stamping her foot childishly. "I have control over them! No bites! No eggs! No larva! No eating people from the inside! They don't even shit unless I tell them to. This is the cleanest takedown that any of us could have done on this guy. You and- you would have broken his arms, crippling him for weeks and months - that guy can get up and walk into prison in less than five minutes with nothing more than a feeling of discomfort in his throat. Tell me I'm wrong."
"I think the broken arm might be the kinder fate." I wish I could snap a picture of the honest look of confusion on her face.
"It's not that bad." Taylor stops herself. "Is it?"
"I mean, he's a criminal - right?" I deflect. "A bit of trauma coming up the next time he goes back to his old ways might make him change his ways."
"I wasn't trying to traumatise him." Taylor insists, voice sounding a little weak as she comes and peers next to me at the scene. "It- fine. It looks bad. But only because you can't feel the level of control I have over everything. It's way, way better than it looks. And I didn't even need to sting him once to get him to stop!"
A cockroach rolls out of the guy's ear. "Why didn't you? I would have thought that would be quicker and easier than all of that."
"He might have an allergic reaction." Taylor shakes her head. "I have epi-pens, but-"
"But you wanted to save the window, right." I can't quite stop the amused quiver in my voice at that.
"I-" A strangled silence. "Not just for the window-" Taylor clarifies. "It's not that the window was a priority for me, I just didn't see the need for it. I feel like you're getting a bit too hung up over a minor detail. If you could, say, use Clockblocker's power on anyone for as long as you liked, you wouldn't feel the need to throw every criminal you find onto the ground, break their legs, tie them up and stick a bag over their head - right? You'd just do the easy thing that you can reliably do to lock them up. It's an extra, unnecessary step. Overkill."
The police officer next to us seems to have heard enough. "I'm going to call this in. It will take a while to categorise all of this evidence. And, we should probably get this guy to a hospital just in case there are any-" He looks queasy. "-critters still inside."
"That was the last of them." Taylor tries to keep the smile in her voice.
"Just in case." The cop attempts to give a reassuring smile. "You seem pretty earnest, I'm not really the best suited to this kind of scene - but I'd just like to say that I'm really glad you're on our side."
His partner speaks up, also looking pale. "If you ever feel like pursuing a life of crime, give us all two weeks of warning so I can hand in my notice."
"I'm not a villain. Not even considering it." Taylor pleads with the officers. "This is just what my power is, I didn't get to choose it!"
"Come on, let's make ourselves scarce before you scare the nice policeman into an early retirement." I pat Taylor on the shoulder.
"Can't you defend me here? Tell them I'm not like that!" She fumes at me. "After everything we've been through today, shouldn't you be on my side?" Taylor allows herself to be led away down the street.
"It's because of everything we've been through today that I feel so comfortable teasing you." I assure her. "I'm appreciating the contrast between horror movie antagonist and my cute, lovable partner." I shake my head. "Besides, you wouldn't be getting so wound up about my words if you didn't think there was an element of truth in them. I'd embrace it. Trauma for criminals everywhere. Fear and terror descend on Brockton Bay like a swarm of locusts, villains everywhere quake at the movement of common spiders in their bathrooms. Every ant, every cockroach, a harbinger of the dread that is yet to c- ow!"
"If you don't start sympathising with me, I won't do a third patrol with you after Shadow Stalker leaves." Taylor huffs. "Even if we don't have much time, I was thinking it would be a nice way to end the day."
"You wanted to do another-" Taylor licks her lips meaningfully. "-ah. A third patrol. Just the two of us. Got it. I'm behaving." I straighten up, exaggerating the absolute ease with which I change tact.
"So shallow." She grumbles, a glint of a smile on her face.
I look around. If Taylor was choosing her words carefully like that then- "Where did the kitty cat go?"
Taylor points up at an angle.
"I don't know what inspired that name, but I'm going to have to ask that you never call me that again." I peer against the darkness above us, only barely making out our missing companion outlined against the wall before she drops down.
I keep walking. "I don't know, I think it fits. You fit the whole panther scheme pretty well, even the name brings it to mind. We just need to get you some cat ears, and you'll have the most successful rebrand of the year. A much-needed one, might I add. The whole package you have now is just overwhelmingly edgy, without enough 'cool'. The name doesn't help."
"Please stop talking. You have no idea how much my opinion of you plummets every time you open your mouth." I have a pretty good idea actually. She turns to Taylor, outright ignoring me. "So, what do you think?"
Taylor's lips quiver slightly. "I think he's right. Shadow Stalker just sounds like you're trying too hard. Something you come up with as a kid, but I feel like you've outgrown it by now-"
"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Sophia eats the bait whole. "I don't wanna hear a fucking thing from either of you. You literally called yourself Bug. You know, at the PRT they have a whole session to brainstorm a non-offensive name to call every new Cape until they come out with one of their own. The one thing they specifically avoid doing is using anything too demeaning. Too embarrassing. Too cringe. So, for example, they would avoid calling a Bug-controlling master something measly and pathetic. Like Bug. Imagine naming yourself something so lame. No different than calling yourself, Worm. Or Cockroach. Slug. It would be like this guy introducing himself as 'Flaccid' or something."
"She's only using it as a temporary name." I defend Taylor briefly, much to her appreciation. "But I do agree, you both have terrible taste for names. If you took my advice, we'd be the coolest trio in the Bay right now."
"No, I'm not done yet." She shakes her head. "The only thing worse than that, is making your literal gamer tag your Cape name. That just screams 'I'm a fucking loser' to the world. On top of, you know, letting everyone see your post history and realising what an absolute tragedy your life probably is-"
I interject smoothly. "I have nothing to be ashamed of, and you have no idea how viscerally satisfying it was to revisit all of my old haters in dead threads - slapping around my [Verified] tag left and right. I may have gotten a timeout or three, but the feeling of satisfaction-"
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. You know this guy hit a record low in life if the first thing he does after getting powers is to go and show off to all his other loser friends online." She smacks her hands together. "But, you know. That's all a personal choice. I wouldn't even begrudge it that much if your profile name was actually something decent. Halfway respectable - just halfway! Not even fully respectable, I know that would be too much to ask. But what was it? Void Cowboy. Like, wow. Wow! What an insanely terrible name. You could win a whole competition for worst superhero names with that one. I'd be genuinely embarrassed to say it out loud in the middle of a fight, I don't know why you put up with it."
Oddly, Taylor doesn't jump in to defend my naming choices. I give her a betrayed look as she fails to meet my questing eyes. "I..." She looks away. "Void is a pretty good shortened version. You don't strictly need to use the full name all of the time."
"Because it's fucking lame and embarrassing, right?" She presses.
"Look." I interrupt the interrogation as Taylor gives me a panicked look. Not sure why, considering it's such an easy thing to deny - but I'll never ignore the plight of a damsel in distress. "The important thing is, I'm the only one out of all of us with a proven good track record for Cape names. Maybe you aren't ready to admit that now, but ask yourself this - do you really want to be showing your kids news reels of your old feats, only for them to ask what the hell possessed you to pick such a lame name?"
"You know, I am so, so glad that we've already got an agreement to spar at a semi-regular timeframe. Without that outlet, I'm sure I'd cause a major incident between the PRT and you within five minutes of meeting." She shushes me with one finger to where her mouth would be. "Zip it. I'm going to do my level best to pretend that this whole topic never happened and recover some of the fried brain cells I used trying to understand you. Back to the real conversation. How are you feeling about your solo takedown? Pretty effective, I reckon. A few scenes like that will get you a reputation not to be messed with pretty fast."
"Not you too." Taylor groans. "I don't want a reputation like that. I'm just fighting crime, like a normal superhero. Void breaks limbs every other fight he gets into. You were probably just as bad before you joined the Wards. I've broken, maybe two. Total. And I didn't even really mean to even in those cases. How is it fair that I'm the one people are getting scared of? I feel like I'm the only one trying to minimise the damage I do." She sulks. "I just wanted to be Alexandria. Was that too much to ask?"
"Alexandria has the scary reputation too, what do you mean?" Shadow Stalker waves her hands in the air. "Legend is the sparkly, happy-go-lucky guy puking rainbows and love everywhere. Alexandria has her entire city bricking themselves at the thought that she might be around. She knows how to use her reputation. Don't fall for the girly, princess-loving, pony-riding Alexandria propaganda bullshit they feed you in the cartoons. Glory Girl is a better example of that trope than her, and even she's a dumb Brute that throws around the reputation of her invincible forcefield like a weapon every chance that she gets. Those drugged-up morons are going to tell all of their buddies about the new bad bitch in town. Those coppers are going to tell every one of their friends that the good guys have the scariest, creepiest new heroine that they could ever have imagined lurking in the shadows and they are going to cheer about it like it's the best news that they heard all year. It's a good thing!"
"Real easy for you to say, turning into a family-friendly puff of smoke on command." Taylor grouses. "My party tricks will send children screaming for their parents."
"That's also a good thing. Children suck, and attending any form of party is the worst thing about being a Ward." Sophia is scowling again, I can sense it. "And the fuck do you mean 'family friendly'? I literally turn into a cloud of darkness. People are afraid of me for a reason. To the villains, I am-"
"If you say 'I am the night' or 'I am the darkness', I'm never going to be able to take you seriously again." I inform her.
"I would say that the feeling is mutual, but I was never taking you seriously in the first place." She sounds put out. Got her. "I'm done here. Bug, you were actually pretty decent for someone so new. Let's do this again. Void, you were-"
"Void Cowboy." I correct absently.
"Void." She insists in a deadpan. "Your partner is smarter than you and knows better. Get used to the feeling of being wrong, especially when it comes to naming things." Taylor declines to defend me again, instead opting to inspect the nearby wall closely while pretending not to be listening. What was with her today? Sophia would start to think Taylor actually agreed with her if she didn't correct the record at some point. "Void. You were mildly tolerable apart from the times when you were talking. You're a better fighter than I gave you credit for at first, I'd like to do this again. Invite me or I'll invite myself and make it hurt for taking too long. If either of you get conscripted by the Wards, I'll find it completely hilarious but we might make the team actually worth something - so don't let me put you off of the idea too much."
"Fuck you." My retort lacks heat.
She flips me off, then breaks away to lunge up the wall - scaling it in seconds as a vague outline of blackened mist. Guess that counted as a tearful farewell for her.
Taylor follows her for a time as we keep walking. "She's gone." She concludes eventually. "Just ran through a spider's web at the edge of my range."
"Try not to celebrate too much." I nudge her.
"Hey, you ditched me and left me with her. I haven't forgiven you for that." She attempts a stern gaze at me, the effect spoiled by her mask hiding her upper face.
"You seemed like you were making a new friend, I thought you would appreciate it." I protest.
"A friend?" Taylor sounds incredulous. "As if. Her personality is terrible. My mental image of our local heroes is shattered beyond repair."
I wag a finger in the air. "You say that, but I think you were starting to warm up to each other by the end."
"Because I can handle worse than a few petty barbs from someone with a fetish for violence. That doesn't mean that I enjoy her company." Taylor seems insistent on the point.
"It's fine if you are friends. I'm not going to be jealous. Promise." Quite the opposite.
"It's not happening." She crosses her arms. "She's a useful tool for me. I'm an interesting side project to her. That's where our interactions end. Everything else is just shared interests and idle conversation."
I'm pretty sure she just described 90% of what the average friendship is right there, but I opt to simply make a non-commital noise instead of arguing.
She seems to sense my lack of agreement, but lets the conversation die on its own. "Do you have any plans for when we should next meet up? I don't know if I'll be able to get past my Dad this weekend without him asking awkward questions, but I should be able to do Monday since Winslow is out?"
I give a regretful jerk of my head to the side. Hopefully, I'd be railing the Trio on that day. "I've got plans already in my civilian ID."
"With your girlfriend?" Taylor's question doesn't have a hint of bitterness or jealousy to it, but there is a certain intensity there. A weight, an intensity, behind the query.
"She'll be there. But it's not just the two of us." Normally, that last fact would imply that this was a standard event and we weren't going to be fucking. The conclusion that I was planning to be fucking everyone else too was a little farfetched for anyone to guess without help. A little bit of deception using the truth, the best way to lie.
"I was just curious. It would be fine if it was just the two of you, you know." She says after a moment. "I was serious earlier. What you do in your civilian identity, that's none of my business. As long as I can have Void, I'll be happy."
"And you do have me, so that's that. Even if this means we don't actually get to see each other until... Tuesday? I can do then. Usual time? I can invite Shadow Stalker as well, if you want." I propose.
"The same as today. Split it in two." Taylor decides. "We can meet up a little earlier, make up for lost time. If she shows up later in the evening, fine. If not, we're more used to patrolling without the dead weight anyway."
I raise an eyebrow as Taylor tugs me down the next alleyway, the surroundings starting to look a little familiar. "Heading back to where we started?"
"It was a pretty good spot. Empty. Dead cameras. Warm. Functional lights. No alarms." Taylor lists off. "The perfect place for us to finish off the night."
"Is that what we're calling it now?" I chuckle as our starting point of the night comes back into view. The abandoned cinema with the half-open door leading in to a reception area. One of many, many failed businesses and investments in this part of town that just abruptly stopped being worth anything once Leviathan started fucking up global shipping and the Boat Graveyard started becoming, well, the Boat Graveyard. All the rich people abruptly left, and nobody wanted to buy. Good for criminals looking for a base, and good for vigilante partners looking for somewhere away from prying eyes to chill.
She practically shoves me through the door. "Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm here to fight you."
"Is that-" I respond slowly. "-an euphemism, or are we talking a real fight?"
"A real fight. With stakes. The winner gets-" Her cheeks color briefly. "-winner gets the loser to do one thing that they wouldn't usually want to do. Something a bit outside of their comfort zone, nothing extreme - but... something they wouldn't do on their own without a push. We both fought Shadow Stalker, but never got the chance to go against each other."
"You're almost certain to lose this, you know that, right?" I probe. "If you want me to do something specifically lewd to you, you can just ask-"
Taylor interrupts rapidly to cut off that chain of thought. "It's not like I'm opposed to that outcome, but I've been thinking of how to approach this for a while now. Don't get too overconfident." She takes a position facing me. "We'll enjoy ourselves either way afterwards, I just want to show you how I've improved. So you can stop worrying about me as much."
I give a hapless shrug. "In one day? Just in a few hours? You don't need to-"
"That only matters for the whole..." She waves a hand in the air. "...martial arts thing. That kind of skill is something I'll need to learn over time. But if there's one thing that girl was good for, it was helping me to think about what I was actually doing in these fights. I already had the control I needed to use all of my bugs to their full potential, but I just defaulted to the easy method of ordering them all to rush at the nearest bit of skin. I wasn't thinking about the parts that mattered in a fight. Or, I wasn't thinking about how anything I was doing would actually help me win other than winning by pure force of numbers."
She puts her hands up. The guard was still a bit off, Sophia had berated her about it earlier - but it wasn't terrible. More importantly, her side of the room darkens as a mass of bugs detach from the walls and ceiling. No small selection of a swarm like Shadow Stalker had fought. Here was the entire swarm, already enough to almost eliminate the light in the room by accident as they swarmed around Taylor.
"This is far less sexy than I was thinking it was going to be walking in here." I complain half-heartedly. "This is killing my erection, I'm telling you."
Taylor falters. "That's- Take this seriously. We can handle that afterwards!" She promises. "But we're doing this first. I want to stop this impression you have of me being a helpless damsel if I'm not hidden away at the back somewhere."
"I've never had that impression." I deny. "That might be the optimal position for a Master, but I've never said anything like that."
"You didn't need to. We both know why you wanted Shadow Stalker to come and help me. Because if Oni Lee had gone for me instead of you, I'd be dead - there would have been nothing I could do against him even if he didn't use his grenades. You wouldn't have needed to distract him or fight him at all if I hadn't been around, you could have just ran to safety faster than he could follow." I remain silent at that. "Maybe he'll get broken out soon, maybe he'll get sent the Birdcage. But he won't be the last person to potentially put me in a situation like that. I don't mind you worrying about me, no - I love the fact that you care enough to worry. I just want you to know that I can handle myself up to a certain point."
I sigh, unable to fully refute the point. That exact thought had crossed my mind before. And I couldn't entirely deny that I was concerned that the majority of the Capes in the Bay would demolish Taylor if she entered their line of sight. That wasn't a slight against her, that was the simple fact that too many Capes were either instantly lethal, capable of ignoring bugs forever or otherwise capable of neutralising her before her bugs got through their costume. Any Master would have the same sort of trouble, it wasn't that I thought she was weak or anything of the sort.
I was just all too aware of how quickly one mistake can bring a life to an end. I'd learned that lesson again and again - even if my power tried to stack the odds against me, I'd still died in preventable ways hundreds, if not thousands, of times by now.
"Let's go then." My ash clone silently appears at my side- and I stop, unable to work out what felt different about the feeling of summoning it. It didn't feel bad. It didn't feel wrong, but something was... off?
Taylor doesn't give me the time to work it out. Her swarm rushing forward while she skips back. I direct my ash clone into the midst of the swarm, swapping over to Glory Girl's power before any of the bugs can get close - protecting me from any harm.
And now I'm blind. Lovely. I'd seen Sophia try to work her way around the mass of bugs roiling across her own helmet, but as my visor is a lot smoother than her eye-slits I should have less trouble wiping them off so long as I can jerk away fast enough from the fliers waiting to take their place. I do just that, sensing my ash clone fading I do so - catching only a glimpse of Taylor's extended leg retreating into the massed swarm, having done the minimum required to dispel the fragile clone.
That was fine. It hadn't been up for long, which meant the cooldown would be short as well. I knew where she was now, at least. I lunge after her, a turn of speed that she couldn't hope to match herself. Her fist flies out to my chest, and I deliberately dispel Glory Girl's forcefield before it can connect. That was my ticket to victory here, the only way to keep the bugs away from anything important even once Taylor was subdued. The punch was somewhat painful, if only because I didn't have much in the way of armour or protection like Taylor did - but I could take it. No big deal.
What was a big deal was that I couldn't see anything, again. I take a guess, lunging to the left to try and grab Taylor - a sharp kick in my side informing me that I'd guessed wrong. I back away from the source of the kick, stalling for the two, three seconds that I needed to get my shadow state back and clear my vision from the bugs that had made their way across the inside of my helmet and were doing their best to crawl all over my face. Not too many yet, but even I could only put up with so much faced with a literal in-my-face distraction.
Finally, I shift away - leaving a cloud of bugs in my wake as I reposition directly into the path of yet another mass of waiting bugs. My power at least has the decency to shove them aside as I reform, but they immediately start retracing the steps of their brethren across my visor and up my neck. Not in time to stop me from noticing that the swarm of bugs wasn't quite perfectly blocking my view of the entire room. There were enough gaps to see to the walls through the roiling mass, except in one particular corner where the swarm was so thick that nothing could be seen past it.
I resummon my ash clone, observing Taylor's obvious hideout carefully. There wasn't anywhere else to hide, but she must recognise that I would know that. Or was she counting on me being unable to approach without being blinded? Forcing me to choose, perhaps. Waste my shadow state and open myself up to a surprise attack or an improvised weapon from a blind spot, or keep it available at the cost of not seeing the first attack coming.
I take my time, and I spend that time mulling over the odd feeling that I got again when summoning my clone. This time, nothing distracts me.
This time, I notice that while my ash clone is in my active power slot - my administrator power doesn't seem to hide itself in my head. The same sensation I get when controlling a bug and can assign it administrator powerset, except this time - with my ash clone. Was this the boost that beating Taylor's last challenge had gotten me? I hadn't had the time to test it out, but I'm sure I couldn't do that before. Did that mean that the power could now be given to any entity made or under the influence of my control?
Did it even make a difference? I reach out to touch the clone, assigning it the administrator role with a thought. I hand it control of the Othala powerset first. No luck. Still can't tag myself, even indirectly. What would the next most useful one be? Clockblocker's powerset was best kept to myself, Vista's was easy enough to do on command...
Maybe... there was some synergy with Taylor's other reward powerset? I hand it bug control, swapping my active power around to order it to keep bugs away from me as its sole command before dropping it again.
And, much to my glee, bugs start to vanish from my visor. Not in any great mass. It didn't stop the ones on the inside either, particularly not when a trio of flies try to settle on top of my eyelids, forcing my eyes completely shut while I wait for my shadow state again. I shift in and out again, observing the results. It wasn't controlling more than me, yet the crowd of bugs was noticeably thinner now. I take a step forward, noting the crunch of bugs underfoot. Was the clone just capable of multi-tasking the power? No. It was easier to see the effects now. One bug drops erratically out of the air followed by another, and another and another. It's not using a better power than me, it's just cycling through orders faster than me. Swapping targets better. Swapping to a bug only long enough to stall its flight or send it into a dive, disrupting its movement and ensuring that it would take far longer to recover than the fraction of a second that my administrator invested to slow it down.
Kind of like watching dozens of people climbing up a bunch of ladders, only for someone to fly around pushing them off as they get halfway up. One moment of attention stopping a great deal more effort. Except however fast the flier was, there were still thousands more ladders in this case. I didn't even want to calculate how many bugs Taylor had brought with her. There must be thousands of bugs amassed around her shroud alone to stop the light from piercing through, let alone the numbers trying to cover me and restrict my movements.
But Taylor wasn't trying to kill me. She wasn't having them bite, nor go any further than covering the inside of my helmet and face. A horrible sensation, yes... but I was used to the absolute worst that this exact power could do. I'd lost and literally been eaten alive before. This was... unpleasant. That was all. An inconvenience still, because no matter how used to it I was - nothing could suppress my body's instincts when something with wings tries to dance on my exposed eyeball. And experience didn't magically allow me to see through a helmet that had several hundred bugs clinging to the visor with all that they have.
But that meant that there were only so many bugs that actually mattered. The bugs around the rest of my body were just unpleasant, but I didn't need to worry about a poisonous bite there losing the fight. All my administrator needed to do was to slow down the ones sneaking in through the gaps around my helmet, and keep my line of sight as clear as it could. Not an easy task, but I only needed the briefest glimpse to correct where I needed to go.
Despite myself, I can't help but grin a little. This was... pleasantly different. Bugs aside. The current Taylor wasn't quite as oppressive or well-prepared as her challenge-self yet, but when you took away the immediate fear of death and getting eaten alive - I liked this kind of fight. One that, for once, wasn't stacked against me by my own power - and one where neither of us seriously wanted to hurt the other. A few bruises at worst, but nothing I couldn't heal up.
The question was why Taylor thought that hiding in that corner would help. An ambush seemed likely. But as for what that actually looked like... I had no way of testing it that easily. She would dispel my clone with ease if I sent it in alone to try and clear some space, and it was doing a good job of giving me some small gaps of visibility to the point where I was disinclined to let it get dispelled.
Time to take the bait then. I erupt into smoke again and charge the instant I reform, twisting space between us to cross the gap in the blink of an eye - wading into the mass of bugs with my forcefield up and ready. A sensible precaution, because the first glimpse I get of Taylor is her swinging a wooden stool at me. One leg breaks on contact as it bounces off of my one-time shield rather than knocking me down. I freeze the weapon before she can pull it away completely, taking a kick to my lower body for my trouble - but that wasn't important. A gap opens in my vision, a dark figure moves in the corner of my eye and I grapple towards it. Trails of bugs chitter through my hands as the dark outline is revealed to be simply a far denser pillar of bugs held in a human-like shape.
Taylor, the real Taylor, tackles me from behind - forcing me to the ground. I keep the momentum, twisting my arm out of her attempt at a submission hold - only to graze up against a mass of cables, an illuminated lamp flickering as its power lead is jostled and what felt like the best part of an entire shelf of plugged-in equipment falling on top of us both.
I suppose I did mention Shadow Stalker's weakness as the reason I can't go charging through every wall we see on our patrols, but I didn't expect her to actually try to neutralise it. I could still go through the floor, I think - but I didn't know what was down there or if there was a cable in the wrong place that I might go through. I didn't need to do that though. It was, admittedly, a good plan. But she hadn't managed to completely lock me down. I wrench my arms up and away, lifting both her and her assortment of devices up with my entire body weight before tipping her onto the floor in my place.
We struggle, but this is a contest of brute strength now. This is what I was good at. "Phtlghthb." I tell her, a rogue spider punishing my decision to try and speak. "Pteh. Blech."
I give up. I pin both of her arms to the ground, straddle her and wait for her futile attempts to dislodge me to weaken - mouth set firmly in a stubborn line to stop a repeat performance. The inside of my helmet is infested, but she wasn't trying to block my airway, so I could handle it.
Taylor struggles in vain for a solid half a minute, trying everything she could to flip me and my weight away before slumping. "I give up." The bugs still instantly, an instantaneous reversal as the entire swarm picks up themselves, and their fallen brethren, before scampering away into every dark crook and cranny that the old building has. I spare a hand to tilt my helmet, opening up some space for the minor infestation inside my helmet to leave quicker down my neck. "I can't believe you can just push past that like it wasn't even happening. Everyone else I've tried it on can't do much of anything when I just cover them like that. Even Shadow Stalker was struggling in the end."
"Let's call it experience." Challenge-Taylor was worse. "I've just gotten used to the feeling."
"You're full of it." With the bugs gone, I had a far better sight of how Taylor had surrounded me with so many electrics. She hadn't dropped a shelf on me, or tied them around me - she'd tied all the cables and appliances around herself. Long power cables circling her costume multiple times. Doubling as both a weapon and an effective leash preventing her from moving far from her chosen corner. No wonder she refused to move while she was setting up, she didn't just want to ambush me - she physically couldn't leave if she wanted to. "I've barely ever touched you with my bugs. I remember how it first felt for me, it's-" She shakes her head. "How can you focus on literally anything else that's happening?"
"I told you, I'm used to the feeling." I grin. "The feeling of being awesome." She gives me a withering look, attempting to move me from my position once again with a thrust of her hips and a twist of her arms. No dice.
"You're so smug. I was so sure that would work." Taylor complains loudly. "How did you start messing with my bugs on your visor? I didn't think your version of my power really did anything on that scale."
"I got a bit of an upgrade a little while ago." I confide in her. "I can make my clone an administrator, and it seems that the power is a bit better at processing multiple commands in a row."
"Another power. Typical." She struggles again, perhaps not realising exactly what the movement was doing to my lower half in turn. "Damn it. I'm so annoyed, I really thought I had you at the end there. Can you help me get this off of me, at least?" She gestures at the mass of cables.
"I don't know, there's a certain appeal to seeing you all tied up." I make a show of struggling with the decision.
"Void-" I let out an aggrieved sigh, freeing her arms and disconnecting every nearby cable I could find. "-thanks."
"Don't mention it. I'm a gracious victor. Modest too." I tell her truthfully. "Humble as the earth."
Taylor snorts at that, but not before wincing as I shift my weight.
Ah.
"Now then. If you've gotten all of that out of your system..." Taylor gives a nervous, half-nod as I trail one finger along her torso. "... I think it's about time for you to take this off."
Taylor audibly swallows. "I-I guess I did say that the winner gets one thing-"
"Oh, this isn't my one thing." I deny. "We were both planning to have some fun anyway. Even if you had won, you wouldn't need a special favour from me to suck my dick - would you now? We were already doing that before."
"I wasn't naked last time!" Taylor protests. "I was just-" She stops.
"I think we went a bit past that step." I fill in for her drily.
She crosses her arms. "Fine. It's not that I don't want to, it's just a bit embarrassing. So, you have to do it as well. That way-"
"That's fine." I agree amicably, stripping my street clothes away with practised ease. The shirt won't come off without taking my mask off, so I just rip it down the middle instead. Not the toughest material, and I'd picked it for the fact that it was old, worn and disposable anyway.
I strike an impatient pose in front of a Taylor that's spending absolutely no effort pretending not to violate me with her eyes. "Up to your standards, I hope?" It would be, I knew. That kind of easy self-confidence was something that I was pretty much forced to admit was down to my power's influence. When was the last time that Greg, previously a complete virgin and owner of basically every platinum achievement for every decent dating sim on the market, had even an inkling of worry about his sexual performance or how others might view his body? I couldn't even think how far back it must have been, and I had no doubt that I could blame it on superpowers. Some people end up thinking a little differently after triggering. For me, it was hard to tell what was directly the fault of having powers on its own, and how much the orgy of trauma, sex and violence that having them pushed me into was to blame. I wasn't particularly concerned about working it out either. Sometimes, when life does you a solid - you just say 'Thanks'.
Taylor starts guiltily. "I wasn't staring! I- uh."
"You can stare as much as you like." I grin. "Why wouldn't you? Unless you want to take back everything we said before Shadow Stalker arrived."
"No! No. I meant all of that. I was- I'm not used to this being-" Taylor flails for the words. "I just feel like a pervert."
That wasn't really much of a surprise. Taylor hadn't exactly had much time to adjust to her - our - situation. I hadn't actually expected to get much further than we already had today, but ultimately - I'd happily go as far as I could if Taylor seemed onboard with it. "Nothing wrong with that. What's the point even having a boyfriend if you can't even perv on him every now and then?"
Taylor considers that, then shamelessly lowers her gaze again. "Right. I can't be a pervert if I'm doing it with permission."
"Not quite what I meant, but whatever makes you feel better." I make a grabby gesture with my hands. "But don't just leave me hanging here. I need to put my magic hands to work sooner rather than later if you want to have any chance of getting home on time."
I get a confused look as she fiddles with a part of her costume at the back of the neck, a significant portion of it peeling back a moment later and exposing her shoulders. Then, comprehension dawns. "Wait, were you only doing this to heal me? I thought-" She huffs. "-I thought you actually wanted to see me like that."
"Oh, I absolutely did." I cheer. "And my version of Panacea's power requires me to get up close and personal, so really it was just a paper-thin excuse to grope you." She stops pouting at that. "Feels a bit odd to defend myself by saying that I did have ulterior motives, but there you go."
Taylor visibly fights a smile, and loses. "If it's you, you don't need an excuse with me. You should know that." The outer parts of her costume are coming off faster now, my shameless admission of interest apparently slicing past whatever thought process was holding her back. Even if she hadn't come right out and explicitly said it, I knew what Taylor was like. She was probably thinking something along the lines of 'Oh no, what if he doesn't like my ugly, skinny body and decides he would rather go and fuck Shadow Stalker instead?'. While I admittedly couldn't entirely deny interest in that last part, the fact that she would even consider the first as a possibility said enough about how little she understands how horny the average guy our age is.
I eye Taylor as she sheepishly pulls the rest of her outer costume away, slipping out of the top half of her undersuit as well - leaving the fabric resting against her front, not held up by anything other than friction and the whims of gravity.
She doesn't move to stop me as I step forward, one hand already raised to remove the offending article. I can feel her tense as I pull it away, leaving her breasts fully exposed to me for the first time. We'd definitely done this out of order, but that was the fiddly nature of trying to get some action with costumes. My costume was at least just some normal, expendable clothes - at least until I had some more work done with Parian - but Taylor's was the real deal. Not easy to slip in and out of in a few seconds, as her methodical work on the various straps and zippers holding her own costume together was showing.
"There, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Taylor's eyes flutter closed as I place a palm against her breast. It's smaller than average, but it still fits into my palm and then some. A light squeeze is enough to force an uncontrolled, almost squeaky, breath out of her mouth.
"You don't have to pretend to like them." Taylor murmurs. "I know that they're not... exactly big. Or, impressive in any way - really. You don't need to worry about sparing my feelings, I can handle the truth."
"I don't need to pretend." I tell her proudly. "I'm an ascended male, one that understands perfectly clear that all breasts are to be loved and appreciated equally. Big ones. Small ones. Average ones. None of that matters to me. All of them are worthy of praise, and the only thing that really matters is that I like the person they're attached to."
Taylor fails to hold back a bemused smile at my declaration. "I can't believe you can say all of that with a straight face." Why wouldn't I be able to do that? That was... barely a 3/10 on the cringe scale. If I said that online, the only responses would be a string of comments only saying 'Based' before I ate a temp ban for talking about NSFW topics. "But I appreciate it all the same."
"I'm feeling like you don't really believe me." I frown, one finger circling each areola in turn in a teasing motion. "Which leaves me with no choice."
Taylor makes no move to resist my studious molestation of her chest. "No choice but to do what?"
"No choice but to let my actions speak louder than words. You won't be able to deny the truth of what I'm saying when you realise that I can't keep my hands off of your body." I pinch her lightly between two fingers. "From now on, every time we meet up. I'm going to make sure that you know exactly what your body does to me, just like you're doing now without even trying." Taylor's eyes slide back downwards at my words - and this time, there's no rebuttal incoming. After all, it was hard to claim that I was just pretending to be attracted to her when there was indisputable, rock-solid evidence about my feelings just waiting for her to reach out and verify with her own two hands. "It will be the best argument that I could make, and you'll have no choice but to accept that you're perfect just the way you are."
"Stop, you're being embarrassing now." Taylor's voice hitches a little, a flush of red spreading across her face.
I continue to molest her chest. "Only if you admit that I'm telling the truth."
"Fine, fine! I believe you." She affects a pained expression. "If you're that insistent, I'll admit that you... like what you like."
"I guess that will do for a start." I slide one finger down her torso, noting a slight discolouration that hadn't darkened into a full bruise yet. "I knew it. If you won, and we were doing whatever you wanted instead - would you even have let me heal these?" I don't wait for an answer, pressing one finger against the spot and getting a pained hiss in return for my troubles. "It's something I've been frustrated enough over before, finishing patrols and knowing that you've taken hits in places that it would feel a bit too personal to suggest healing without you offering - but there's no excuse like that now. I'm not going to start liking you any more than I already do if I see you toughing your way through a bunch of bruises for no reason, you know that - right? That's not tough, that's just dumb. Unless you're into that."
"I'm not a masochist." Taylor objects instantly. "And, sorry. I didn't realise it bothered you that much. It just felt like a pretty minor thing. If it was serious, you know I would have asked you."
"So you feel like you can't come to me for anything if it's not serious?" I question.
Taylor groans. "I said I was sorry! I wasn't actively plotting to not ask, we just had other things to do and I could honestly barely feel it at the time." She shifts her weight. "I usually feel fine until we've already gone home. Besides, it's not like I know in advance which hits are going to bruise and which won't. I took a beating pretty much everywhere today."
"All the more reason for me to thoroughly inspect you before you leave." I decide with a firm nod. "See? I knew there were advantages to bringing Shadow Stalker along. I'll have to thank her one of these days."
"Shameless." Taylor grouses. But her fingers are already slipping the lower half of her costume down and away as she shuffles backwards - the fabric coming away far easier without the top-half securing it in place. "And thank her? Bah." She shakes her head. "I'll win next time, and we'll see about that."
"Oh?" I lean forward conspirationally. "Don't just leave it at that, you've gone and gotten my curiosity up now. What were you going to ask for if you won?"
She let out a defeated sigh. "I just wanted you to beat her up a bit, once you got strong enough to do it. Like, completely crush her. So thoroughly she can't even make up an excuse other than to admit that you're just better."
Oho? I grin. "Not that I'm at all opposed to the idea, but what brought that on? A bit of petty revenge? Spite? I could understand that. She hit me pretty hard too. I'd like to return the favour pretty decisively one of these days without needing to catch her off-guard."
"Something about her attitude just rubs me the wrong way. It's not like I think she's wrong, or anything - I just can't help but feel annoyed somehow when she's being herself." Taylor kicks the last of her costume away, mask excluded. No sense of discomfort or shyness this time. After a moment, she even inches her legs slightly apart as she notes the direction of my gaze. I think I could mark that down as a huge win for my 'improve Taylor's self-image by being a massive pervert' plan. I'm a charismatic genius, and basically better than a therapist at this point. "I've got a lot of respect for her as a hero, and, personal misgivings aside, I'm glad that you found someone that showed an interest in us that didn't involve a recruitment pitch - the way she was talking, it felt more real than any Cape interaction we've had other than Oni Lee. I don't hate her, or even dislike her, but-" Taylor sounds vexed, unable to voice her feelings properly.
Taylor clearly hadn't consciously connected Sophia and Shadow Stalker in her head. Which made sense. For all that they were very similar, Taylor had basically no interactions with Sophia as a real person to reference - and her picture of her bully and a respected heroine probably didn't mesh together well. On top of that, Sophia's costume completely covered her - only a select few PHO users even knew that she was black courtesy of a grainy video showing an exposed arm after taking damage in one of her earliest Cape fights as a Ward. While not explicitly against the rules, that video and discussing the minor bit of information gleaned from it is one way to eat a temp ban on PHO - which I would usually be dead against and make a dozen alts publicising the information until the mods gave up... but, there are actual Nazi's in the city that would be the people most interested in that information, so I graciously decided to allow the heavy-handed abuse of moderator power to go unpunished.
"I get it, I think." I fill in the momentary silence as she struggles with what she's trying to say. "There's different types of friendship. You don't always have to only wish the best for your friends. Sometimes, the thing you want the most is to see them fall flat on their faces - especially when they've got an ego that's just begging to be deflated a little. Schadenfreude."
"We're not friends." Taylor denies on reflex. "But, yeah - kinda. Hero or not, I'd just like to see her taken down a peg or two. Seeing her react when you first took her down, holding her there, acting all shocked after saying all of that - it made me feel a little-" Taylor breaks off. "Well. That isn't important. It felt pretty good to see, that's all. A repeat performance, one that she can't find any excuse to deny or comeback from... I'd like to see it. See how long that superior attitude lasts when she gets dominated in a fight and has to admit that she's just weaker." Taylor lingers on the thought for a moment. "I'd do it myself, but I think you'll probably reach that point before me - with the way you keep attracting powers to yourself like a magnet. That, and there's a certain... appeal, to watching you do it. Can't really explain it, I don't know." She gives a hapless shrug.
"And you thought you needed to win yourself a favour from me to get me to do that?" That was maybe the most confusing part.
"...yes? You're friends, aren't you? Fellow heroes." Taylor runs one hand through her hair as yet another bruise fades to unblemished, pale skin. My version of Panacea's power might not be able to spread far from the point of contact, or do anything particularly complex - but bruises weren't really that complicated. I could already heal cuts and set bones if I had close enough contact, cleaning up what was little more than a bit of out-of-place blood and swelling was nothing. "It's obvious that you wouldn't be on board with crushing her like that for no reason. You probably think it's weird of me to even suggest, considering that whatever her attitude - she has been helping us."
Sometimes, I needed to remind myself that not everyone got to hear my inner monologue. That people had an entirely different impression of me than what I thought of myself. Taylor genuinely thought I was a paragon of heroes everywhere, a moral beacon to aspire to - and definitely not someone that was basically slavering over the idea of violently breeding a meek, submissive Shadow Stalker as I returned every harsh word and blow she'd ever handed out. Taylor was feeling guilty for wishfully dreaming of a small fraction of what I was actively planning to do to her.
And, regardless of the fact that I would have been completely on board with knocking Shadow Stalker on her ass at the earliest opportunity, I couldn't help but let my mind stray over Taylor's admission. This was promising, wasn't it? I still had challenges to clear, yes. Sensibilities to test. I needed to induct Taylor into the true depravity that being a part of my harem entailed. All of that was true.
But what caught my attention was the similarities to Emma. She'd practically been drooling over a few fantasies about having me fuck other people once I maxed her out, Taylor and Sophia included. This time around with Taylor, while she hadn't gone as far as to even mention anything sexual... the foundations were already there for her thoughts to go down that direction. The guy she liked pinning down her egotistical rival, someone who desperately needed to be put in her place... She'd already internalised the fact that I was sleeping with at least one other person, and that that fact was completely fine. Was it such a stretch for her imagination to stray beyond a simple beatdown and humiliation, to something a little lewder? Whether she'd ever admit those thoughts unprompted, I didn't know - but I was sure that the foundation of something special between the three of us was there.
If Taylor knew the fully story, she would probably be disappointed at missing out on the sight if things went as I was hoping this long-weekend. But, even if I did manage to end up fucking Sophia - there was a difference between Sophia and Shadow Stalker, and even further than that, a difference between fucking her in private company and exposing her as my personal fucktoy in front of her junior superheroine.
"Let me assure you." I tell her. "I'm completely on board with that idea, even more so now that I know you want it too."
"Really?" She gives me a searching look. "You aren't just saying that to humour me?"
I wasn't humouring anyone. In the same way that some people just had a really, really punchable face - Sophia had an attitude just screaming for someone to validate her life philosophy from the other end than the one she was usually experiencing. To turn her into a submissive little fuckpet that eagerly acknowledged and served her master's every whim... but Taylor wasn't at the level where I could just come out and say that. "Promise. I'll need a bit of time to get strong enough that she can't even compete anymore, but when that time comes - you'll get to see one humble little kitten coming to terms with her place in the food chain. To be honest, I was completely planning to do that anyway."
"I didn't expect that from you." She admits. "I guess it's true what they say. Great minds think alike?"
"Something like that." Taylor had a way to go to catch up with the true extent of my thoughts.
"Guess I didn't need to bet anything on that fight in the end after all." Taylor rues. "If it was just to get you to do something you wanted to do anyway."
"Completely wasted." I agree placidly. "And handed straight into my hands instead, what a blunder."
"I told you, I'm not opposed to this outcome." Taylor relaxes. "To be honest, I... kind of like it when you take charge. You know what you're doing more than me, after all. It's a win-win situation either way."
"And what if I didn't want to do anything lewd at all?" I puncture her self-satisfied aura. "I could branch out a bit, say... we could fix that temporary name issue of yours. I've got a bunch of ideas-"
"No!" Taylor reacts with a horrified expression that is really a bit of an overreaction to an innocuous suggestion. "I'm-I'm working on it. I'll think of an amazing one any moment now, just- something lewd instead! Please!"
I tut. "What would Shadow Stalker say if she could see you now? Begging for a guy to use his favour on his preferred way to violate your body just so that you can try and pick out a different name."
"Fuck her." Taylor shakes her head. "Besides, she'd understand too if our situations were the same." She bites her lip. "I didn't think you'd consider anything that wasn't... you know-" She does a pretty impressive demonstration of a blowjob with her hand and tongue against the inside of her cheek.
"Weren't we going to be doing that anyway? You seemed pretty annoyed at having to wrap it up early once Shadow Stalker arrived, and you seemed so keen not so long ago." I slide both hands along her chest. One to brush up against another bruise, the other to tease. "You weren't hoping I would just waste it like you were going to, were you?"
"No-" Taylor protests unconvincingly. "-it's just, I can't help but feel nervous about what you're planning when you're holding it over me like this."
"In a bad way?" I check.
"Not entirely." She admits after a moment of pause.
"Then you'll just have to use your imagination until I'm done here." I inform her, moving back to my 'arduous' task of healing. I circle around behind her as I move on to the next spot, the placement and size indicating that this one was the result of either a well-placed kick or where Taylor had landed badly on the ground.
I wasn't unsympathetic. My first fights with Sophia had definitely been a lot worse, but I also got fully-healed again within literal seconds of losing. By the time I fought her in real life, I was... if not on the same level as her, then damn close. I never had to go through with actually living through any of the beatings she gave me at first - and I'm pretty sure that anyone who had ever fought her could verify one thing: Sophia did not like to pull her punches.
"Not long then." Taylor muses as I move again.
"Mmhm. Have I missed a spot?" I finish off the last obvious spot on her back. Quick work.
She runs her hands over her arms, then her chest, then her legs. "I don't think so, though I wouldn't say no to regeneration if you end up cycling around to it at some point later." Taylor pauses as my hand roams south. "You certainly won't find any bruises there."
"Does it hurt to be sure?" I brush against her slit gently, not so different from our position while we were waiting for Shadow Stalker earlier - but this time, there was no pesky costume in the way.
Taylor's legs inch wider, implicitly accepting the new position of my hand between her legs. "I suppose not. Although..."
"Although...?" I encourage as my touch turns into a slow, circular rubbing motion. I could feel the heat there, and the dampness wasn't entirely due to sweat. But perhaps the most promising sign of this encounter was just how relaxed and compliant Taylor had become, practically purring under my ministrations despite how things had rapidly developed.
"I can't help but feel that this is a bit one-sided." She leans back against me, deliberately pressing the small of her back against my cock - making slight twists of her body from side-to-side, making it precisely clear that she knew what she was doing to me. "You know I'm happy to follow your lead, but when I pictured what you might want from me when given the chance - this wasn't quite what I expected. Don't you want me to return the favour?"
"This still isn't my favour. This is just me showing my appreciation for my lovely partner, is that so wrong?" I probe as Taylor grinds back against me once again, even as my hand turns slick from the results of my fingerfucking adventures.
"No." Taylor takes on a soft voice. "We're boyfriend and girlfriend, so it's fine to do this kind of thing - and this does feel good, but- but I want to make you feel good too. Before Shadow Stalker came, I-" Taylor bucks against my fingers as her speech cuts out momentarily. "I- I liked that. Having you in my hands, in my mouth - every little thing that I could do to get a reaction out of you. The feeling that - in that little moment - I was in control. That I was the one that could make you feel and react like that. I felt... really hot. Sexy. And, I wouldn't mind doing it again. That's all."
"Sounds like you're in luck." I whisper into her ear. "Because my favour has a lot to do with that."
She leans into my neck. "Yeah?"
"Mhm. You see, I was as frustrated as you were about the fact that we had to keep ourselves presentable with Shadow Stalker on the way. But, we don't have that problem right now. That pesky costume is already off, and that can't help but remind me of exactly what I wanted to do when I saw you in just your undersuit earlier." I swap hands, letting the other slide a trail of wetness along the bare skin of her stomach.
"And what was that?" She matches the hushed tone.
"I wanted to cum all over you." I bring the finger upwards. "I wanted to cover your face, your tits, your chest, your legs - I wanted to absolutely coat you in my seed."
"I thought guys preferred it when people swallowed?" Taylor prods curiously. "You seemed to enjoy that too."
"Oh, that's nice too - don't get me wrong. And I'm dearly looking forward to you doing that again." I confirm. "But there's also a certain appeal to the idea of seeing you covered in my cum. Kind of like a declaration to the world that you're mine."
"Sounds nice, when you phrase it like that." Taylor admits. "Kind of romantic, almost." She bites her lip. "I don't think there's a shower in here though, I don't think the building is that advanced. Or even has water, seeing how disused it is."
"Probably not." I affirm.
"I'd still have to get home afterwards." It's not a rejection, but a thoughtful whisper. "How would I even get cleaned up?"
"Up to you. There's probably a toilet somewhere, or you could use something as a... rag, of sorts. Or you just race home and clean everything up when you get back" I press an additional finger inside her inner walls to join my rhythmic motions.
"Void!" Taylor sounds scandalised at that last one, but the recrimination lacks heat. "Are you suggesting I let you cum all over me, put my costume back on, and then walk home with cum still dripping off my face?"
"That would be your choice." I reply laconically. "Although, when you say it out loud - that does sound hotter than I was originally thinking."
"...that's so- so perverted." Taylor states. "So perverted." She repeats. "Deviant, even." But the voice sounds a little distracted.
"I didn't hear a no." I point out.
"It's- it's slutty, right. You'd have to be a complete slut to do that- that kind of thing. We're heroes." Taylor protests. "If I did that in daytime, I'd get arrested for public indecency, or something like that. And rightly so!"
"It's not daytime. It's past midnight. I don't think there's anyone left on the streets with a reputation to uphold, or anyone at all, really. Aside from you and me, the streets are empty - and even if they weren't, nobody is going to notice that kind of detail with a real Cape walking at them." I spread her legs a little wider, as if to make a point. "As for the rest, maybe you're right. The question is, do you feel like my slut?"
Taylor trembles in my grip. "It's so lewd." She goes back to her first point, dodging my question. "I'd make a mess of the costume, too. Do you have any idea how hard this thing is to wash? It takes ages, even using bugs as labour."
"We won't see each other again until Tuesday anyway." Am I the devil on the shoulder here? In truth, I was originally going to be perfectly happy leaving my mark on Taylor and calling it a day full of progress - pushing her boundaries one last time before calling it a night. The offhand idea to wear it home had just met with a surprisingly weak resistance - or, better to say that she'd fixated on that one option and started making weak arguments against it. I just couldn't help but sense weakness and push it.
Taylor seems to struggle with the idea, and I could see her weighing it up. Something about the thought seemed to be sticking with her, and I was pretty sure that I could feel her gradually getting even wetter as I continued my slow fingering. "I guess, we'd be the only ones to know. Really."
"I wouldn't tell a soul." I echo in agreement.
"And it's a one-time thing. Because you won, and this is what we bet." She reasons.
I elect not to clarify that I had originally only been intending to bust my load over her before leaving her to cleanup, or that she was the one that was taking an offhand comment seriously. This was one misunderstanding that I was all too happy to let go on, because the lewder Taylor got, the faster she was going to accept that she really did belong to me now. My obedient, happy little slut. Still Taylor, of course. Still a scary bug-controller. Still my reliable, sarcastic Cape partner. Still a grouchy figure with a bone to pick with the Trio. All of those facets would still be there, but ultimately, down to their core - her world was going to revolve around me eventually, just like Emma, and everyone else that I managed to max out.
Taylor is oblivious to my thoughts. "When you think about it, it's not that much worse than all the sweat and grime that builds up anyway. I'll have a shower when I get back, the costume will be as clean as always by the next time I wear it. And this way, we wouldn't be leaving any real evidence that we were here. Temporarily taking over this room alone is bad enough, even if they weren't using it. We can't just help ourselves to the rest of the building like we own the place."
"Sounds like you've made up your mind." I pipe up.
"I haven't! I haven't! I was just mulling over the possibility." Taylor is practically steaming red. "I- you know what, I'll think about it. If I'm feeling generous, in the right mood when you're... done, then I'll consider it." She spins around to face me, long legs sliding out behind her, her body tight against my left leg and one hand already wrapped around my cock while the other holds against me for balance. "Whatever I decide, this is the first step anyway. So I don't have to make up my mind about whether I'm willing to- to humour you, right now."
"As you say." I respond easily.
She strokes the tip. "If we're going to do this, you're going to need to give me a lot of warning. Otherwise, you'll only get my face - right?"
"I'll let you know when I'm close." I assure her as she lowers herself towards my cock, breaths brushing against my exposed shaft before her tongue sets to work on my tip. If it was Emma, or one of my other regulars, the mask would have gotten in the way - but Taylor couldn't quite take me all the way to the base yet anyway, so there wasn't any need to try and work around it.
I relax back against the wall, leaving my hands free to roam across her hair, shoulders and back as encouragement for her efforts. Compared to last time, she seemed more than content to take her time - her temporary embarrassment fleeing in the face of concentration and a dancing, teasing look in her eyes as her mask glances up to meet my darkened visor. She was very, very comfortable in this position, a far cry from the flustered mess she'd been a moment earlier - the instant her lips had attached themselves to my dick, it was almost like she was a different person. Putting on display the easy self-confidence and drive that she usually only showed in moments of action, a far cry from her civilian persona to say the least.
The confidence wasn't entirely unearned either. She was readily making it clear that the glimpse I got of her potential just a few hours prior was no fluke: For all that Taylor had no idea what she was doing, she definitely knew what she was doing. On the face of it, that sounded like a complete contradiction - but there was no other way to illustrate the contrast between her status at the start of the day as someone who had likely only ever touched a guy when required to hold hands for class activities, and the meticulous, almost slavish devotion to the task in front of her that put the efforts of most of her peers to shame. Emma had been... well. A bit of a mess when it came to blowjobs in the beginning. Serviceable, certainly. But if I really had to assign her starting efforts a rating, they would be perfectly average, at best - only improving through focus and dedication. Pure repetition had been the best teacher, pulling her aside at least once a day to drain my balls - getting a little bit better every time until she actually knew what she was doing.
But Taylor, Taylor couldn't be put into that same category of 'enthusiastic and slutty, but needs time'. Taylor was a natural talent. Aside from the slight detail of not managing my full length, Taylor was already rivalling her... well. Rival. In this department at least, Emma obviously had other assets to pull ahead with overall - but I had to concede, Taylor could give head like a champion. All while looking like a doe-eyed innocent girl that would flush at the idea of holding hands in public.
Actually, I was pretty sure that was exactly how she would react if I tried that. Which was kinda funny, for someone currently attempting to suck my soul out through my dick.
My hands unconsciously dig into fists as she continues to tease, licking and sucking with almost religious fervour while her hands match the pace of her mouth for the parts that she had yet to personally reach. "Mmk?" She directs the wordless question at me with a glance, asking if that action meant that I was ready to blow.
"Keep going." I groan, relaxing my grip. "You're way too good at this."
The disbelieving snort is almost tragic. Of course she would think that I'm just being nice. At least when the entire cat is out of the bag, I can be honest and say that she's a better cocksucker than Emma. That will probably cheer her up once she stops being mad at me.
Reassured that I wasn't about to erupt down her throat, she returns to her motions. Completely absorbed in her task, seemingly forgetting all about the outside world as her mind focuses solely on the dick in her hands, in her mouth, on the sounds and reactions she could wring from me with a mere flick of her tongue or a twist of her fingers. Briefly, she makes an attempt to take me further into her throat - but swiftly decides against it and returns to her original pattern as if nothing had happened. Not that I was complaining. Deepthroating was a skill, and definitely hot on its own, but not really necessary. In truth, she could have limited her efforts to almost purely my tip and I'd have eventually spilled my load onto her waiting tongue.
We'd have to try that sometime.
But in the meantime, I was just about ready to blow thanks to receiving the full package. The Deluxe Taylor treatment. "I'm there." I gasp out.
Taylor pulls away, a torturously long process, lingering just long enough to make me wonder if she's decided that she'd rather take my entire load down her throat once again - but then the moment passes, and she pulls off with a wet, pleased 'pop'.
"Go on then~" Taylor purrs. "All over me, that's what you wanted, wasn't it?" She slides backwards, reclining at an angle as I rise off the floor, jerking myself to keep myself right at the edge where she had left me. She mimes a circle, from the outer curve of one breast to the other and back again - a target marker, perhaps.
And I can't hold back any longer, not after all the work she'd put in to get me this far - not when she was making herself such a tempting, delectable target. All but daring me to stamp my claim all over her. "Here I come." I hiss out. The first jet fires out, landing in a long streak that crosses the gap from her lower stomach up to her neck. A second, and a third, and a fourth plaster creamy legs, then her chest again before I adjust myself forward - the last, dying spurts of my climax settling into messy, gooey lines from the top of her half-mask down to her chin. I squeeze out a few more with a few firm, decisive motions - aiming for large areas of skin that I'd missed the first time around until nothing was left to come out. My aim was shaky, and some of my shots fell wide - but taking a step back, I was pretty pleased with the results.
And so, apparently, was Taylor.
Strings of cum stretch between her fingers as she scoops up one small puddle pooling in the valley of her breasts, holding it in to the air to appreciate it as it races down her fingertips again and drools back down onto her body once more. "I didn't expect there to be so much of it." Taylor lets her hand drop again, this time smearing another splatter across her stomach and up to her tits as if applying lotion. "I guess it's hard to get a good sense of how much there is when it's all going down my throat, but it's nice to think that I can get all of this out of you with as little effort as that."
"If that was only a little effort, I'm almost worried about what you would call hard work." I respond drily, taking in the sight of Taylor soaked in my cum. A decisive kind of milestone, and a small, petty part of me couldn't help but grin in triumph at how her completely-uncalled-for argument earlier in the day had ended like this - even if she didn't realise it. She'd made such a loud, pointed gesture of turning her back on me - only to unwittingly submit to me further than ever before under another guise. Honestly, she was pretty lucky that I still liked her. If I had wanted to, I could easily have made this rank among the worst days of her life by cutting her off as Void Cowboy too. I can imagine a few guys doing that in the same situation, hotheads acting out of spite and wounded feelings. A spurned friend resolving to spite the other no matter what - the fact that I was still planning to resolve basically all of the problems in her life and add her to the harem with her one-time best friend was genuinely the best streak of luck that Taylor had ever had.
And if you took away the small, small details of the names of a few specific members of that harem and our teensy-little-argument before - I don't even think Taylor was that far from agreeing with that statement.
She squishes her thighs together wetly. "You know, I think I'm starting to see the appeal of this." Taylor muses, pushing herself fully upright and watching the cum flow down her body in rivulets. "I never really saw the appeal of facials or anything before-" Ah, a facet of porn that Taylor was aware of. Interesting. "-but thinking that this is from you, specifically, kind of makes it special." She flicks one finger against her chin to dislodge a hanging droplet. "Like you said, it's kind of like proof that we're together. A claim for all the world to see." She blinks. "Well, not all the world. Obviously. It would be terrible if anyone else saw me like this. Not- not completely terrible, I mean. Embarrassing, maybe. It's one thing for people to know, but I'm still trying to be a hero." She clarifies hastily.
"Hard to come back from that kind of reputation." I agree easily.
She considers that for a moment, before a daring grin alights on her face. "Then I'd better cover up, and make sure that nobody sees me on the way back." Taylor decides, already pulling her lower costume back on. The look she sends me is impish. "I can't believe that you're making me do this. Such a pervert."
"If I recall, I left the choice entirely up to you." I deflect blame. "But if you're happy with the idea of going out into the streets, pretending to be a moral, upstanding heroine - while literally being my cum-coated slut on the inside, then be my guest. Everyone has a fetish or two."
"I don't have any fetishes." Taylor denies a bit too quickly. "It was your idea. I'm just being a good girlfriend." She makes a face as she fully covers her thighs, then pulls the combined armour and undersuit up around her hips in one motion - looping her arms through a set of straps in the next movement to pull the costume further up. "And, I don't really mind that label, just between the two of us. I obviously don't want anyone else to know, which is why I would never do this normally. The danger that somehow, someone might discover the truth is a little exciting - true - but I definitely don't want it to happen."
"I'm pretty sure that forbidden thrill you're describing is literally a fetish." I drawl over her protests.
She makes a wordless growl at that as her undersuit is pulled up to cover the sheen of her breasts. "It's not! You're trying to make it out like I'm a pervert, when you were the one who wanted me to do it in the first place. I'm not- I'm not an exhibitionist."
"I'm a pervert too." I admit shamelessly. "I can't help it, given the chance to see my lewd girlfriend doing lewd things - I'll take that option every time."
"You'd be a terrible boyfriend if you didn't." Taylor holds her hand out. "Speed?"
I activate Blessing. "Strength now." I poke her hand and apply it. "Speed next. You're just going to run away from the conversation?"
"I'm going to run towards my shower." She tells me primly. "It's easy for you to sit and laugh, my costume is all gooey and wet on the inside, and it hasn't even been raining today."
"A shame I couldn't manage the outside as well. If only we had a bit more time." I sigh mournfully.
"The outside- Not a chance." Taylor shuts me down with a strangled voice. "Even if you're my boyfriend, we've got to keep some of our... heroic dignity when it comes to our costumes. At least for appearance's sake."
"Isn't it even better when costumes are involved? More convenient, as well." I gesture around our current room. "Next time we meet up, the odds are that we won't have an abandoned room like this to claim as our own - we might have to make do with a dusty back-alley. We wouldn't have the luxury of comfortably disrobing, instead we'd just have to brush a few articles of clothing aside and set to work. I can already picture you, to be honest-"
"Only if we get desperate." Taylor completely fails to deny the possibility. "It would be better to make it somewhere a bit special, because, you know-"
"I know...?" I didn't know.
"You do know." I maintain my blank expression. "The thing we talked about before? Me making some arrangements..." Taylor seems to want to avoid spelling it out. "...to be safe? I could do that for Tuesday, easily. If-if you think it's a good time, obviously. If you think it's too early, you know about this thing more than I do-"
"Ohh." I nod. "Fucking."
Taylor winces at my bluntness. "You could say it more romantically, but, yes. If that's what you want. I'm a complete novice, obviously, but - I'm your girlfriend too. I want to experience all of you, and I want to give you all of me."
I resist the urge to fistpump the air at the blatant admission that I've won, that Taylor was completely down to sleep with me before I'd even gotten close to clearing out her challenge list. Not entirely a surprise. I'd definitely gotten that impression just a few hours ago, and really, if I had to draw up a big list of all my potential relationships and the people most likely to be desperate enough for love and attention that they'd be willing to bone without my power railroading things completely, Taylor was at the top of that list. By a lot.
"The feelings mutual." I make a thinking gesture. "I can find us a place to patrol where we can stop somewhere- actually. Do you even want to do a proper patrol on that day? Aside from whenever we meet up with Shadow Stalker later at night. We could just make it a comfy afternoon, unlike our usual fare. Enjoy each other's company, you know how it is." Spend the afternoon fucking, take a moonlit walk, fuck some more. I could pick an affluent area so that we were forced to skip over the boring attempt at finding petty criminals and maybe try to generate enough attention in us to bring other patrolling heroes to us - something which I was going to be much more interested in myself.
"I'll leave it up to you." Taylor hands over blanket permission to do whatever I like without even blinking. She knew exactly what the plan was going to look like by doing that, and we both knew it. "I'll go along with whatever you want to do." She held her hand out again. "Speed?"
"I've got it." I wag my finger in the air, Othala already selected now that the previous blessing had expired. "Just can't wait to get away?"
"Don't be like that." She chides me. "You know that isn't true." She waits for a moment as I press down on her hand. I apply the blessing and- "Iloveyou-" She's already gone, a black and yellow blur of motion towards the door and out into the street - the only sign that she was ever here was the mess we'd made of the abandoned office and the fast-fading echo of her voice rushing out a flustered, embarrassed admission without leaving the possibility open for a proper acknowledgement or reply.
I smile to myself as I get dressed again. Everything was... good. The day had ended up going well, despite the minor clash between Taylor and my identity as Greg. Taylor and Shadow Stalker were getting on in their own way, Taylor was happily giving Void Cowboy everything he could possibly ask for, Emma had given up any pretense at not being my personal cumslut and was actively supporting my hopes of doing the same to her friends and Taylor alike. I had a potential lead with the Merchants to follow-up on at some stage.
And now, this weekend, all that was left was to bring this chapter of my Cape journey to a close. Bringing the Winslow adventure as a whole to an end. There was nobody else, I knew. Unless someone had managed to dodge me through blind chance, or was skipping school - I'd at least attempted to fight all of Winslow at this point. I hadn't been actively trying to win - but I had been looking for secret Capes like Taylor and Sophia. And now I knew. There wasn't a single other Cape. The only reason to stay at Winslow, was purely to keep up appearances. The only people of note were Sophia, Taylor and the other members of the trio because of their closeness to the other two. When I was done with them, and this coming sleepover was my best chance to do it, there would be absolutely nothing to progress at school. The majority of the day, wasted.
Time for change. I'd stagnated a bit too long, mostly off the back of the difficulty in finding targets that generally didn't want to be found or easily tracked in a city this size. It didn't really matter what I did. A serious fight with the gangs to lure out Capes in successive battles was on the cards. A transfer to Arcadia, where the Wards were ripe for the taking. Express an interest in joining the Wards or Protectorate, just to use the guided tour as an all-I-can-eat buffet of powers? I had options, although, none without risk. Arcadia would be the most consistent, but the hardest to actually pull off. The gangs would be the most risky, but easy to do and not likely to put me on anyone's radar for suspicious activity. I needed to think about it. None of the options were amazing.
Better than doing nothing though. Better than knowingly wasting my time and potential. It would be better to be a vagrant runaway than that, if only for the ease of answering opportunities it would give me.
But that all required handling the obstacles that remained in my path at Winslow. There was no sense complaining that I wasn't getting opportunities to grow stronger when I was still legitimately losing to two challenges with power rewards attached every day. One big push. That was what I needed.
Taylor wouldn't be able to see the results of her wish this time around, but that didn't change my plans. I was going to make Sophia my mewling bitch this weekend. That went for both challenge-Sophia and the real deal. I'd already handled Emma. Madison would be trivial, I hadn't even bothered attempting her challenge for a long time - but I could handle sneak attacks and force of numbers by now. I'd bring this whole, petty bullying saga to an end in the span of just a few days.
That was a promise.