Gowonzu's Snippet Thread (Worm)

[Gowonzu]

Tattletale scanned through the documents on her computer. Various printouts, scans and reports filled her desk, and she leafed through the ones that had been placed face down to her left, checking for any details she might have missed. Even with powers like hers, information gathering meant long hours of pouring over data. The busy work that no one ever saw.

With the city still recovering from Leviathan, and the Undersiders firmly in control of various territories, most of the team knew not to disturb her when she was in this frame of mind, and Tattletale was able to focus on her work without distraction.

But, then again, most of the other Undersiders were kids.

"I have some new information you're gonna wanna see."

The words appeared from nowhere but didn't frighten the hyper-focused Tattletale. She was far too aware of Imp's shenanigans by now to be surprised by her sudden appearance. Tattletale ignored the interruption, reading through her screen and comparing what was written against a handwritten list she'd made earlier.

"I'm a little busy here, Imp," Tattletale mumbled into her computer. "Why don't you go play with Regent or something?"

Imp sauntered into the room and produced a camera from a small pouch on her back, placing it down on Tattletale's desk. She presented it with the confidence of a poker player holding a royal flush.

"Trust me, it's worth it," Imp said with a mischievous smile behind her mask.

Imp's power made her well-suited for information gathering. The Undersider's secret weapon and Tattletale's best recon tool. The information Imp had gathered was almost always valuable, and even if she couldn't understand the significance of her pictures, Tattletale could. However, her effectiveness was only as useful as the assignment she was given. And Tattletale hadn't given Imp an assignment today.

"Imp," Tattletale sighed again, wishing the distraction would go away. "The last time you said that, it was a picture of Bitch petting a cat…"

"And that wasn't mind-blowing for you?!" Imp baulked.

Imp had charged her two-hundred dollars for that photo, claiming it would be worth every cent and reveal Bitch's deepest, darkest secret. Since then, Tattletale swore only to pay Imp for work Tattletale herself assigned. She looked at the camera and back up to Imp, who was giving her best attempt at a puppy-dog look with her mask still on. Tattletale wasn't buying it.

"Whatever. Trust me. This is worth the price," Imp insisted. "I guarantee that you will be blown away by this. This is the scoop of a lifetime. I risked my life to get this to you. If they find out what I know... I could die."

Tattletale stared back at Imp's over-exaggerated story. Blinking a few times before looking back down at her pile of work. This distraction had gone on for too long.

"Yeah yeah," Tattletale dismissed, waving Imp away with her hand as she went back to work. "Now move along, I have a busy d-"

"I have Skitter singing!"

Imp yelled the confession out and Tattletale felt it echo through the room. Her hand stopped in place, hovering over her keyboard. Tattletale turned slowly to look at the camera and then back up at Imp. The impossible had been stated as fact.

"...Bullshit," Tattletale whispered.

"I am not," Imp replied, her tone deadly serious. "I swear to god," Tattletale looking Imp directly in her eyes, trying to read her. "Well, not singing singing... But humming a tune. And she whispers a few lyrics too!"

Excited, Nervous. Aware of how dangerous her intel is. Believes what she's saying. Telling the truth.

"You… you're serious?..." Tattletale asked, still struggling to believe it.

"As a heart attack," Imp responded, nodding confidently. "It's on there. Listen for yourself."

Tattletale's attention immediately went back to the camera. Her hand instinctively moved to reach for the camera but Imp pulled it towards her. Imp dropped her serious demeanour and returned to her usual playful self, grinning behind her mask. She wasn't planning on giving this intel away out of the goodness of her heart.

With a long sigh, Tattletale closed her laptop, giving her full attention to the girl in front of her. All her work was secondary now, there was nothing more important to Tattletale than getting to see what was on that camera.

"Alright, Tattletale said, putting on her professional tone and clearing her desk. She looked up to Imp, signature smirk forming on her face. "Now let's talk price…"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skitter sat alone in her base.

There was no immediate emergency taking place in her territory and Charlotte had the children off to school. It made her place feel far too quiet.

The villain worked at her desk, looking over a map of her area, trying to figure out how best to disperse her limited resources. Her bugs searched every corner and every nook and cranny, looking for anything that could cause problems for her later. But, for the moment, all was clear.

It was mostly busy work, but it was work that needed to be done. She was just thankful that it gave her the opportunity to do it alone. The place had been buzzing with noise the other day. Charlotte and a few others had managed to find a new Aleph import of a popular children's movie and roped everyone into watching it. Even Skitter.

She didn't mind the odd distraction, it was good for the children.

Now the children were at school and Skitter could focus on the work that needed to be done. She could sit alone and think about the day's problems without anyone breathing down her neck. It was a welcome respite and allowed Skitter to relax in ways she wouldn't dare do in the presence of anyone else.

A movement behind her made Skitter turn with speed. All she could see though was her door, slightly ajar. Skitter sighed, shaking her head as she moved to close the distance. She often found herself too caught up in work to remember if she closed the door properly or not. Skitter chalked it up to not having Charlotte around and returned to her work as quickly as she was distracted from it.

As she conferred with her city map, relaying real-time information from her bugs and sticking post-it notes onto her wall, Skitter's mind drifted back to the movie she had forced herself to watch. Namely, that infuriating song that now played on repeat in her mind. Work and the stress of managing the area were forgotten and Skitter found herself tapping her fingers to the song, humming the tune under her breath.

"Let it go, let it go..." She whispered unconsciously while she worked.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Hey look. This thread isn't dead, yet. Here's a silly lil idea I had to write down. There was another scene to it but Im too lazy to write it. So maybe it'll get a squeal bit later. Also, a shout out to Terramancer and Scapegrace from the Earth Vav server, who added lines to my original idea that I shamelessly stole added to this.

---

"Control, Everything is clear here," Clockblocker reported into his headset, standing at the edge of the boardwalk, looking down on the beach. "As usual…"

"Roger," Control responded, a grumpy female voice said back into Dennis' ear. "Boring fucking patrol route anyway."

Dennis chuckled at his vulgar patrol. As boring as patrolling the safe zone of the boardwalk, it's nothing compared to being stuck at base and being control for a boring patrol in the boardwalk. Sophia's mandatory punishment for back-talking Piggot.

"Cheer up, Stalker," Dennis chuckled. "You only have two more weeks, then you'll be able to have a taste of all this action."

"Shut the fuck up," Sophia growled before disconnecting the call.

Dennis could only smile at the reaction.

"Why do you always do that?"

Dennis turned back and looked to his patrol partner, Kid Win. Chris looked at him like he was the crazy one.

"What?" Dennis shrugged, still smiling smugly.

"Pissing Stalker off?" Chris asked. "You know she's only going to hit you back later, right?"

"I know," Dennis chuckled. "I like getting a rise out of her."

Chris could only roll his eyes at Dennis' response. Dennis often found himself prodding Sophia verbally, sometimes physically. She was fun to tease. Sophia would get mad and violent as expected, but something about her reaction to Dennis especially was cute. So Dennis kept his up his game.

Chris smiled at him behind her mask.

"What?" Dennis asked, smiling back.

"You like her," Chris said, realising the situation.

"What?" Dennis said, trying to deny it but his smile betrayed him. "Okay, fine. Maybe I think she's hot. And maybe I find it funny when she growls and acts tough." Chris nodded his head along. "Don't tell anyone. Especially not her. She'd probably kill me."

"I won't," Chris said, raising his hands defensively. "I think I get it."

"What? You like her too?" Dennis asked.

"God, no," Chris chuckled, shaking his head. "Stalker is a little too... loud, for me." Dennis nodded, Sophia did have a knack for yelling when she got pissed. "But women like her."

"Oh yeah?"

"You know... Okay, this is gonna sound weird." Chris began, a slight blush forming under his mask.

"Lay it on me, man," Dennis said. "You'll get no judgement from me."

"So, you know, the Undersiders," Chris admitted, his face going red.

"Ah, I see." Dennis chuckled. A team of villains wouldn't be his first choice for a crush, but hey, to each their own. "So which girl? Tattletale's kinda cute I suppose. Unless? Oh, you don't mean Bitch do you?"

"No, no," Chris defended. "I was actually thinking about that new girl they have. The one from the bank…"

"Skitter?" Dennis asked, blinking in surprise. The bank job had been months ago and the Wards had tangled with the Undersiders a handful of times since then. Skitter's reputation seemed to only grow since that day.

"Y-yeah. Skitter," Chris admitted. "She's just... It's like... when she moves, or talks. She had this grace about her. This... sex appeal, I guess. She just oozes confidence and charisma, even in dire situations," He said, his face going even redder. "Like, yeah. She's scary. But have you ever considered how... in a certain way. Skitter's kinda... hot?"

There was a long pause. Dennis could only think back on the multiple times he confronted Skitter. The myriad of spiders and bugs that crawled around her, used as a weapon. The way her swarm could talk, threatening death and agony. Her body language was always guarded, always cautious. And those terrifying yellow eyes that haunted his nightmares.

"No..." Dennis finally said, disgust in his voice. "No, I don't."

"Never mind, forget I said anything," Chris said, turning away in embarrassment.

"Look," Dennis sighed, rubbing his chin. "There's confidence, and there's stone-cold killer. Skitter is the latter."

"I know..." Chris admitted, shaking his head. "And I just find that... hot.

"She would probably tie you up in her silk ropes," Dennis argued. "Have roaches crawl all over you. Disgusting."

To his complete shock, Chris blushed even harder at that comment.

"Really?" Dennis asked.

"Look, just shut up, okay," Chris begged, covering his face with his hands.

Dennis sighed, patting Chris' shoulder. "Kid. She's crazy, she's a cold-hearted ice maiden who doesn't want anything but to destroy you."

"…"

Chris' blush only deepened.

"Are you serious?" Dennis balked. "Oh my god. Okay. I thought I was stupid for liking a girl who occasionally punches me. But you. You're a whole goddamn imbecile."

Kid Win could do nothing but shrug with a smile. "I guess I'm an idiot."

"You're both idiots," Sophia growled over the comms, surprising both of them. "And you're shit outta luck Kid, she's obviously gay."

"Stalker!" Dennis cried. "H-how long have you been listening in?"

"Control can't be muted," Sophia huffed. "Idiot."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: So instead of working on the myriad of projects I already have. I let the plot bunnies win and spent the last two days working on this. This is chapter 1. I already got 4.5K words of chapter 2 written up which Ill either post later today or whenever. After that, I guess we'll see.

---

This was not my city.

Brockton Bay looked like a tidal wave had broken over it. Every building looked borderline condemned. The streets were choked with debris, the windows were boarded up, and the roads themselves were cracked, broken, and crumbling away. There were entire blocks on the Docks that were flooded from the aftermath of whatever tragedy had passed through here.

I watched as people on the street picked through rubble and trash for things they could salvage. I wanted to help them, though I wasn't sure how. There were too many people, too much pain on the streets, and not a single emergency service in sight. The damage to the city didn't even look that recent. Whatever had hit this city, happened weeks, or maybe even months ago. Yet no one had come, no one had helped, no one had made the smallest attempt to get the place on the road to recovery.

I told myself that it wasn't my problem. That I couldn't help everyone. My duty of care was to myself, and myself alone. I didn't know how I would get home from here, but I knew I would. My team wouldn't leave me here forever. All I had to do was sit tight and wait for them. With nothing else to do but sit and wait for backup, I continued to observe the city.

Even beyond my narrow view of the street, through the use of my myriad of bugs, it didn't look much better. One buried street moved into the next, as even the sections of the city that hadn't been directly hit had succumbed to looting. Even the most stable-looking buildings had their windows shattered.

The city's infrastructure had failed, and there wasn't a single sign that anyone had tried to fix it.
At the edge of my radius, I took notice of a man who had spent several long minutes digging at a pile of bricks from a fallen building, someone was trapped under the rubble. Waiting was no longer an option.

My bugs could do much beyond biting and surveying, but I tried my best to help. Running in that direction, hoping to lend a hand. It took forever to reach him. My swarm had eyes on the man the entire time, pulling the legs of whoever was trapped.

I wanted to call out to him and let him know that pulling them with that much rubble still on top of them would only cause them more pain, but I couldn't

It didn't matter in the end. The man wasn't pulling on their legs to get them out. With another hard tug, he removed their shoes. Inspecting them against the soles of his feet before putting them on.

By the time I reached the rubble, the man had left. Whoever was trapped under the rubble had been long dead. No ID, no identifying marks, no one to give them a proper burial. Just a body for someone to loot. A thing people could salvage.

My stomach churned as I pulled myself away.

This was not my city.

-------------------------------------------------

The more I saw of this city, the more I found myself falling into despair. I could just sit still and wait for my team.

I'd watched a group of people almost stab each other to death over a can of dog food. At the same time, a few streets over, a gang was strong-arming people into their territory with the promise of food and shelter. Half my swarm was already moving to intercept the group fighting over food when a woman from the second group made a rash attempt to take a bag from the gang members.

That's when the fighting started.

I was already dealing with one group of people trying to cut each other, I didn't have enough time to think before people pulled out guns. I sent a swarm in both directions, fighting two different groups in two different streets.

It didn't take long to subdue them, most of the combatants were scared civilians, not hardened killers. It was the gang members who put up the most fight, falling back to wherever they came from. If anything, the people were mostly confused and scared of the sudden appearance of my swarm. I didn't like how they feared away from me, but I could hardly blame them given the circumstances.

The group fighting over the can of food quickly abandoned the food. In the end, no one got to eat, and I couldn't say if I had really helped much. They avoided potentially killing each other today, that's all I could focus on. If I was there in person, I would've told them to share.

How bad had this city gotten that people were willing to kill each other over a can of dog food?

Dealing with the second group was as heartbreaking as the first. While the gang members had run away, it still left three hungry people standing in the cold of the street. I couldn't give them any consolation, they also ran off long before I could reach them. If they were less afraid of my swarm, I might've led them to the can of dog food. Not that it would help much, most everywhere had been looted and what little food I did find already belonged to other people just trying to survive.

Both fighting groups had fled without anyone so much as to get a scratch, however I didn't feel my duty of care was done. That gang, whoever they were, appeared to have plenty of food to spare if they were willing to hand out samples on the street, yet they chose not to share with everyone.

I followed them, my swarm blending in with the dark city night as I trailed behind. It didn't take long for them to lead me back to their stockpile. An entire building filled with food and supplies, most of which appeared to have been collected in neatly stacked boxes with labels. Completely with delivery trucks.

One could've assumed this was a government-operated relief station with the amount of supplies they had set out and organised. But there wasn't a hint of legal authority here. No government stamps, police officers, or military guards were to be seen. Just a bunch of gangsters hiding in plain sight. The building had been made to look as ratty and destroyed on the outside as the rest of the city, while the inside was locked down tight and patrolled by a handful of armed men, wearing the same colours as those who had attempted to recruit the group.

I'd seen this kind of operation before, on a smaller scale. Questions of where they were getting the supplies, and why the government wasn't already distributing them to the population at large filled my mind, but I couldn't get distracted by the bigger picture. All I could do right now was help those who were in need.

--------------------------------------------------------
Recovering the food didn't prove to be that difficult. Most of the gang members surrendered pretty quickly once they caught eyes on my swarm. I was actually a little confused that it was so easy. I had expected them to try and put up more of a fight.

They were mostly scared and unsure, none of them even tried shooting at the swarm itself. The moment I attacked one of them, the rest laid down their guns and fled. I briefly considered interrogating the man I caught to find out who their supplier and boss was, but I had no plans on taking on an entire gang without any form of support. I was here to help a handful of people, nothing more.

Loading up one of the trucks with as much food, water and medicine as I could fit, I set out to find the people I'd seen before, along with anyone else who needed these supplies. I wasn't sure how I was going to distribute everything, but I had to try.

I parked the truck on the same street where I had originally seen the group fight over dog food. A feat that proved more difficult than it should have been, considering how much of the city's streets had fallen into disrepair. Add to that my lack of driver's license, and it was a miracle that I even drove the truck as far as I did.

Several groups of people had taken notice of the truck as I got myself situated, turning off the engine and opening the back of the truck. I couldn't simply just yell out 'Come and get it,' knowing the cautious and violent state of the city. Many of the bystanders who watched inside broken buildings, did so with improvised knives and clubs clutched in their hand.

I'd hope that my costume would've alleviated some of the residual fear. People would be more trusting of a cape handing out free supplies rather than some random person who might be trying to con them.

It didn't take long before the first wave of people came out of hiding, cautiously approaching the back of the truck. I kept an eye out for trouble with my bugs but hid the swarm from everyone. I didn't want to risk scaring anyone like I had done before. They looked at me, their eyes filled with hunger, suspicion and fear.

I counted the approaching people, reaching in the truck for a handful of ration packs. They had neatly been packed, ready for use. Each pack had a bottle of water and some kind of vacuum-packed meal.

"Here, grab a couple and share around," I said, placing the rations down between us. "There's enough to go around."

One man stepped forward, his head tilted as if he couldn't quite understand the words that were coming out of my mouth. I gestured to the food and watched as he cautiously walked up and snatched a handful, rushing back to his group with haste. The moment everyone realised that there was no immediate trap, the rest of them moved in, hands extended for a share.

It was the most human contact I'd seen in this city. A part of me had worried that everyone would rush me at once and I'd be overrun. Instead, the people grabbed a share and returned to their groups, talking amongst themselves, their faces lit up with what I could only describe as gratitude.

I made sure everyone present got at least one ration pack before handing out any doubles. Admittedly, I watched some individuals glaring at those who managed to score extra rations, but no one was willing to start a fight over it. The presence of a masked cape usually dissuaded people from acting too brashly.

"T-thank you,"

A woman approached me a short time after all the rations had been handed out. Most everyone had left back to whatever building they were taking shelter in. Her face was slightly bruised, but her eyes were filled with kindness.

"It's okay," I said, trying my best to smile even with how depressing this city made me feel. "Did you get enough food?"

"We did, yes," She nodded, loitering about the truck. "Are you one of the Wards? I'm afraid I don't recognise you."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that question.

"Yes," I lied. Understanding the question behind her question. She wanted to know if I was a hero. It didn't matter that I wasn't a Ward or whatever.

The woman smiled a little wider at my response.

"Do you have anywhere safe to go?" I asked, "Is there anyone you can go to?"

"Not anymore," she replied, her expression becoming sad. "My apartment was flooded when Leviathan hit. It was a miracle that I was visiting a friend uptown that day. However, she's not around anymore... I'm camping out in an office building up past 6th Avenue."

"Why aren't the emergency services helping anyone?" I asked, stupidly.

The lady chuckled bitterly.

"Maybe in the green zone, the boardwalk and such," The woman sighed. "But all the way out here, our options are slum it alone or risk joining Undersider territory. Besides, the PRT can be as bad as the gangs from what I've heard," She looked up at me apologetically. "Uh, sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Don't worry about it," I said. Trying to understand the situation from what little she said. I had spotted the green zone on the edge of my radius. It looked as torn up as the rest of the city, but it did have an air of life to it. Namely in that it had working lights and uniformed security around it.

I told myself that it wasn't my problem. That I couldn't help everyone. I'd already done far more than what was expected of me. My team would find me soon enough. But looking at the woman before me, I couldn't bring myself to abandon her.

"Hey, listen," I said, my voice soft. "My team is coming to pick me up in..." I checked my watch. "Two? Maybe three hours," The lady looked up at me, confused. "I don't know... Maybe they might take you with them, or they'll be able to get more supplies or something for you. I need to find a place to sit tight and wait for them anyway, so?... Would you mind?"

I closed up the back of the truck and threw the keys by the door, leaving it for anyone who wanted to take it. The woman didn't give me an answer but motioned for me to follow behind her.

"What's a Ward doing so far out this part of the city anyway?" The woman asked. "Don't tell me that the PRT is sending children into gang territory?"

"Just... got a little lost, is all," I said back. Technically the truth.

"Hmm," The woman hummed in response, turning to give me a once-over look. I wasn't sure if I had said the wrong thing but she kept walking. "Well, you be careful. I'd hate to see one of the good ones get into trouble around here, especially so close to Skitter's territory."

I nodded, opening my mouth to ask a question but choosing not to say it aloud.

'Who the hell is Skitter?'

-------------------------------------

I shifted and groaned in my bed. Reestablishing control with my bugs as I slowly returned to consciousness. A phone sat on my bedside table, buzzing away as it rang out.

While I couldn't see the clock on my wall, the flies I had tagged on it let me know it was still early in the morning. 3:41am to be exact. I suppressed my frustration as the phone continued to ring.

Placing glasses on my face, I read the number and woke myself up further as I realised it was Lisa. Lisa didn't call this early without good reason.

"What the hell Skitter!?" Lisa barked out the second I accepted the call.

"Good morning to you too," I groaned back tiredly, pushing off the covers of my bed and sitting up. "What's up?"

"What's up?" Lisa asked back with a hint of annoyance. "What's up, is that I've had several reports of Skitter attacking her own men in the last few hours. What the hell have you been doing all night?"

That woke me up from whatever groggy state I was in. I shot up and moved to my wardrobe. My Skitter outfit hung neatly amongst my clothes.

"Sleeping," I answered honestly. "Went to bed just before midnight. Who's saying I attacked them?"

"Shit..." Lisa muttered. "I hoped you'd have an easy explanation for this."

"What did they say, exactly?" I asked, already halfway into my costume. I wasn't getting back to bed anytime soon.

I ran through all the possible scenarios in my head. Most likely, they were either completely stupid and ran into a wild hornet's nest or the like, or someone was out there impersonating me.

"Let's see..." Lisa began, sounding like she was reading off a message. "Altercation between some of our men and some scavengers down on 4th. Would've been just another minor scuffle over food rations but it was broken up by, a swarm of bugs," Lisa paused to give me time to respond, hoping that she'd know what it was about, but I stayed silent. "The swarm attacked both sides until weapons were dropped. Then bugs tailed the men back to a supply house and attacked the rest of them there. Lost two weeks' worth of food rations for the area. Also, the men are confused and calling my people for answers."

"Are you sure it was a swarm?" I asked, needing to get the full picture. "They used those exact words?"

"Tay, I have video footage from the storehouse," Lisa replied. "It's a swarm. Your swarm. I've only ever seen bugs move this precisely with you."

That was not good.

"You don't think..." I began. This wasn't the first time I'd had to deal with an imposter. Coil had once managed to recreate my powers and have someone betray the Undersiders on my behalf, and then there was Echidna and her clones.

"A remaining Echidna clone?" Lisa finished my thought. "Possible?"

It was bad enough that someone was running around with my abilities causing trouble for the Undersiders, but if they had my face too…

"Alright, I'll take care of it."

Lisa paused, I could feel her worried concern over the phone.

"Are you sure?" Lisa asked. "If it is an Echidna clone, you're going to have to-"

"I know, Lisa," I said, cutting her off. "I'll take care of it."

"Want me to send someone?" Lisa asked. "Grue, Bitch? Imp?"

"No," I said, hesitantly. "Grue needs rest," He still wasn't himself since Bonesaw, I couldn't ask him to do something like that for me. "And we both know Bitch won't be awake at this hour. I'm heading over, send me the exact address of both attacks and I'll go from there."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Damn this got long. I ended up writing a major part of this. Anyway, I know I have several different fics/stories up in the air, but let me know if peeps are interesting in seeing where this one would go.

---

I left my territory without a word.

Charlotte and the children were still asleep, and I saw no point in waking her. The sooner I dealt with this imposter business, the better. I needed more detail

I took Atlas with me and flew towards the edges of Tattletale's territory, following Lisa's text address. From the skies, I could see the ruined city streets below, filled with the homeless and refugees who'd managed to survive.

This city had gone to shit.

Again and again, the people of Brockton Bay had been screwed over, and now there was nothing left.

Leviathan had torn through the docks, sinking a quarter of the city with him and killing a significant chunk of the cape population. Before the city even had time to pick up the pieces, the Slaughterhouse Nine carved their way in and murdered even more. People were still stepping over the shards of glass Shatterbird had left.

The Teeth returned to stake their claim, bringing their own flavour of death and destruction with them. Coil had tried multiple times to kill me and my team, only to fail spectacularly and end up with a bullet in his head. Then his pet monster broke loose and turned this shithole into yet another warzone.

As far as my swarm could see, I saw the hopelessness in everyone's eyes. The look of people who were so far down on their luck, it was a wonder that they hadn't simply given up right there and then.

It was impossible to help everyone, only a fool would try. But I at least made sure that everyone in my territory was taken care of.

I reached the first location Lisa had given me, finding a truck parked out in the street. The keys had been left on the floor by the driver's side door. I couldn't imagine anyone leaving a vehicle like this unattended.

My bugs spread out, searching the vehicle for any kind of trace. Any hint that might explain why it had been abandoned. It was empty, whatever supplies it had carried were already handed out.

Through my swarm, I spied several people hiding from me, some clutching ration packs that were no doubt stolen from Tattletale's storage. I briefly considered if I should make an example of one of them, theft couldn't be tolerated and these people had every chance to enter my territory if they needed food that badly.

However, I knew that none of these people were to blame. My imposter had obviously handed out supplies here. They were simply hungry. Confronting them would only confuse them at best and result in violence at worst.

My phone buzzed again in my pocket. I answered it immediately, putting the phone to my ear as I continued to survey the area.

"Hey," I said, not bothering with a greeting. "Just hit the ground. Food rations have been handed out to the locals. Truck is left unlocked with the keys still inside. Looking to see which way they might've gone. Got any more info for me?"

"Possibly," Lisa said back, the sound of keyboard strokes in the background of the call. "We have an image of our mystery imposter but it's shit quality. Trying to find a better angle."

"She loaded the truck all by herself," I grumbled. "Why don't we have security footage of that to use?"

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea," Lisa said sarcastically. "Why don't we film the inside of all our illicit warehouses?"

"Yeah, yeah. I realised it the moment I said it."

"I'll keep you posted if I find anything noteworthy, and send some men to pick up the truck," Lisa continued. "From what I can see, it's a woman with long dark hair. Seems to have her own outfit, wearing a mask but no lower face cover."

I let out a small sigh of relief. At least this clone had the decency to cover her face. The last one didn't.

"Alright, thanks. I'll be in touch."

"Hey, Taylor?" Lisa stopped me before I hung up. "Be careful."

I ended the call and placed my phone back into my pocket. I'd already taken far too much time here. I sent my swarm outwards, covering a three-block radius with ease. My bugs crawled and flew across the ruined streets, checking each building.'

I noticed two things in particular, the first was the local bug population in this section of the city was significantly reduced. It told me that my imposter had gathered a swarm and had it at her disposal. The second thing, and far more glaring, was when I briefly lost contact with every bug I had in the east of me.

Like a light flickering, control was reestablished almost immediately, but it was enough for me to notice. Something or someone had tried to call my bugs further east, outside of my radius.

I had to act fast. If I could sense the brief flicker of control loss, then they would surely feel when I took it back. They were probably already aware that I was hunting them, they had chosen to attack my territory and the last Echidna clones had a drive to harm me personally.

I climbed onto Atlas and took to the skies again, letting the bugs in the east go and act as a compass for me. I didn't relinquish control of all of them though, making sure to keep eyes on where the swarm was forming and who was around. It was a risk, as I could sense every individual bug that was pulled away from me.

I wasn't sure how a direct, open confrontation would go with someone who had my powers, my first plan was to act weaker, give up control of my bugs and lull the clone into a false sense of security. The issue was that she could be doing the exact same thing to me. There were too many variables.

I reached the edge of my clone's radius of control. My power fluctuated around three to four city blocks most of the time, with the rare exception. I could feel with my bugs the cut-off point where my imposter could take control of them. It would've been possible for them to see me coming, but so far none of the bugs had turned back to look at me.

Worst still, I couldn't see where my clone was hiding either. The swarms were being gathered in three places, but so far I only had eyes on one of them. I guessed that the other two locations were somewhere outside of my current range, but it made me question if they had a larger radius of control than I did.

"Stop," I told Atlas. Landing him on the very edge of the radius. I couldn't risk flying him in when my clone could at any point wrestle control from me and send me plummeting to my death. "Follow me," I added, commanding him to follow behind me.

I knew I didn't have to speak to him. It felt wrong, however, ordering him around with just power alone. I'd been anthropomorphizing him for a while now. Naming him, feeding him, speaking to him. Calling him a He in the first place. He had become more than a means of transportation. A pet, if I was honest. The idea of leaving him behind to get attacked discomforted me. As long as I kept a wide enough berth from him, any slip of control could be fought before Atlas could be made to attack me.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped into my clone's range of control. One way or another, this was going to be over.

-------------------------------------

The lady was kind enough to let me stay with her at her makeshift camp. It was the fourth floor of an office building, all the levels below it had been flooded at one point.

The lady, Olivia, explained that she actually used to work in this building and chose this spot in particular because she knew her coworker kept a stash of snacks under his desk.

"Unfortunately, the snacks ran out after a week or so," Olivia explained as she finished telling her story.

"Can I ask, why you haven't tried to leave the city?"

A part of me already knew the answer, but I couldn't stop myself from asking.

"Where would I go?" Olivia shrugged, looking around. "I'm old, I got nothing and no one. I've lived in Brockton Bay all my life. Might as well die here like I planned to anyway."

I looked at her with worry. She didn't even look that old, early to mid-thirties if I'd guessed. However, she had this look about her, eyes sunken into her soul. I'd rarely been confronted with such an utter lack of hope from anyone before. I tried to think of what I could say to her, let her know that help was coming and that when it did, I could possibly take her away from this place to somewhere safe. But I already knew my offer would be rejected, on both sides.

She offered me some of her food, the ration that I had handed out to her earlier. I shook my head in decline, even if I was a little hungry at this point. My team wouldn't be too much longer, I was sure of it. In a few hours, I'd be having a bath and a hot meal.

Even in the relative safety of Olivia's camp, I didn't dare relax too much. I kept three swarms bunched up in buildings across from me. Making sure to hide them from sight, I didn't want to draw any attention from any potential threats or scare those who were trying to sleep. Olivia hadn't asked me for my name, cape or otherwise, nor had she even questioned what I could do.

I wasn't used to such apathy towards superheroes, especially considering she was the one to ask me if I was a... what did she say again? A Ward?

Olivia mumbled something else, before turning in for the night. She sealed up the rest of her food and climbed into a sleeping bag she had prepared on the floor. It didn't take long before she fell asleep, I'd like to think the idea of having a hero watch over her was comforting enough to sleep easily. She looked like she needed it.

I stayed up, listening to the sounds of the city. The creaking of old buildings, the sound of the waves hitting the shore, and the distant sound of gunfire, which worried me. It was too far out of my radius to do anything about it, and again it wasn't my problem. I couldn't help everyone. I had done enough and needed to focus solely on surviving the next hour or so.

The longer I stayed in this bleak, ruined perversion of a city, the more helpless I began to feel.

"They're going to find me. They're going to find me."

I recited the words like a mantra. Willing them to be true. Checking my watch for the hundredth time tonight. The minutes dragged by. The night seemed to drag on for aeons. I'd only been here for a few hours, but it felt like a lifetime.

In the pocket of my belt was my beacon. My lifeline to my friends and my only way home. I could feel the hum of its battery between my gloved fingers. I tried to remember the calculations in my head. See if I could predict to the minute when my team would arrive.

At one point I was told, but it all blurred together into Tinker nonsense in the end. Either I had an hour, or two. Unless I was completely misremembering everything and was going to be stuck here for far longer.

I shook my head at that thought. Nothing good came from it.

"They're going to find me," I said again. Choosing to keep hope for now. I'd re-evaluate if they didn't show by morning. "They're going to find me. They're going to-"

Something caught my attention. My swarm to the west, all... died?

----------------------------------

They weren't dead. The bugs tried to disperse, but I called them back immediately. Moving the swarm out to spot whatever, or whoever had done that. For a good three seconds, I lost control of them completely. Like being caught in a damping field, but only for that swarm in particular.

It happened again.

Complete radio silence from my swarm. I didn't even see it this time, but I could feel it. The swarm was splitting into several smaller swarms when I pulled back control again. I couldn't keep them split so small, so I ordered the swarm to regroup further away.

My first assumption was some kind of Tinkertech. Maybe a grenade or a sonic... gun thing. Something that would force swarms apart until they were too small for me to manage. But those would make sound and need to be fired. My swarm could see a full 360-degree view around itself and I couldn't spot a single thing hitting it.

The swarm ripped apart again. I managed to hold half of my bugs, forcing them to witness whatever was happening to them. To my complete and utter shock, the other half split into four smaller groups and stayed that way. Moving off in four different directions.

They split again and again. Four, eight, sixteen, and so on until I couldn't even call them a swarm anymore. I couldn't call them back anymore. Not as fast they they dispersed. At best I could briefly tell them to stop moving before they scattered again.

Panicking, I pulled my other two swarms closer to me. Watching as they moved in to flank my first swarm and hopefully show me another angle.

In the dark of the night, I spotted a lone figure moving down the main road. They wore all black, a cape costume. Long, dark hair flowed in the wind behind them. The mask had intimidating yellow eyes, with two mandible-like sections protruding from the bottom. It reminded me a little bit of my old costume before I gave it some colour. Worse still, was the large creature that followed somewhat behind the cape. A giant beetle.

My second swarm blinked in and out of control as the cape turned to look at it. I wrestled control back only to see the cape in question looking at me. Not my swarm, but me. Their head locked in my direction as if they could see me as clearly as I saw them.

"What's wrong?" Mumbled Olivia, waking from her brief nap. She obviously noted my stressed body language and sat up on alert.

"Unknown Cape," I answered. Feeling as my third swarm also began to blink out of control. "Might be hostile, unsure. They're messing with my power." I didn't know enough yet, to call it an attack. The outfit and creature made it obvious that it was a bug-themed cape, there was every chance our powers just didn't mesh well. I tried not to jump to conclusions about what those powers might be. I needed more information. "Female, long hair, kind of like mine. All black suit. Yellow eyes and bug mandibles on the face has a giant-"

I didn't need to finish my description to see the fear in Olivia's eyes.

"Skitter!" She gasped in a hushed tone. Looking about the room like she was being watched. "Oh god... What's she doing here?"

"Skitter?" I echoed. Olivia had mentioned that name earlier. Skitter's territory. As in Skitter's gang. As in... supervillain. "What does Skitter do?" I asked, turning to see Olivia already making a break for it. "Hey! Wait!"

I reached for her, but she had already made it out the door. Leaving me behind. I could hear her footsteps clattering down the stairwell.

"Shit!"

The cape, Skitter had somehow paralysed all three of my swarms and was making her way towards me on foot. I checked my watch again. There was a chance, my team would show up in the next ten to fifteen minutes. All I had to do was survive that long.

I waited for her to come to me. I didn't see the point in hiding, she could track me in much the same way I could see her. I didn't like the implications of her power though. If this Skitter could control bugs in the same manner as me, it would explain why my swarm was frozen in place. It would also explain why the gang members I fought earlier were so confused and scared of me. They thought I was her.

The giant beetle also threw me off. I couldn't for the life of me ever imagine creating that, much less controlling it. It was more rhino than beetle at this point and my power didn't read a thing of it.

"Stay!" Skitter called out to her beetle before walking inside my building.

The beetle stopped where it was, and I at least thought I understood one mystery. Skitter might control bugs through voice commands? A similar power, but limited. I tried to think of ways I could make use of that fact before our confrontation.

"I don't know where you've been hiding all this time," Skitter called out. "But if you wanted my attention, then you've got it."

The swarms converged on the building. No longer fighting me for control. I wasn't sure if that was because her power had a time limit, or because she spoke, or if it was all a trick. The swarm merged together and climbed up the side of the building. I'd lost sight of Skitter, but I knew she was coming up the stairs.

"Noelle is dead if you didn't know already," Skitter called out again. I fumbled at my belt for combat supplies, namely a collapsible baton and handcuffs. I didn't know who she was talking about, but gloating about someone's death was setting me on edge. "Whatever loyalty you had to her is pointless. If you can even understand me," At that, Skitter appeared, walking out into the ruin of Olivia's office camp. "Can you even understand me?"

She asked the question with a tilted head like she expected me to respond like a feral animal. Her voice was disconcerting, and not simply because it sounded irritatingly familiar. There was a creepy monotone to it. Completely drained of emotion and warmth.

"I don't understand," I said honestly. I didn't know who this Noelle was or what it had to do with me, or why she thought I'd been hiding for a long time.

Skitter looked at me, I couldn't read her expression of body language, but everything about her screamed villainous.

"Great, you're a comedian," Skitter sighed. My response had irritated her, I think. She paused her walk towards me, inspecting me over. "What's with the outfit?"

I tilted my head in confusion. I wasn't expecting a villain to question my costume choice. Though I supposed that being an insect-themed cape brought out a certain kind of curiosity.

"It was a gift," I responded, nervously. "From my mom."

Villain confrontation 101. Try to establish a rapport with the villain. Light jokes and casual conversation worked better than attacking straight away. Remind them that you're only human and to maybe think twice before trying to hurt you.

Skitter's hand clenched into a fist. I was having trouble getting a read on her but that, that was anger.

She took another step closer, reaching behind her back for something. I had a moment to panic, her costume looked similar to mine and I could already see the knife on her hip she was reaching for. There was a high chance Skitter was reaching for a gun too.

My swarm was still stuck with whatever stalemate Skitter's powers did, I had no choice but to rely on my other resources. I took a deep breath, readying my baton and rushing her. The move surprised her, as she fumbled with the gun just enough to miss her first shot. That was all I needed.

With practised movement, I pushed Skitter's wrist up and twisted the gun in her hand. Disarming the villain and sending the pistol skidding across the floor. She tried then to stab me with her knife, but my baton was already up and ready to block. With a simple twist and a flick of my wrist, the knife was out of her hand and in mine.

Skitter obviously had some hand-to-hand defence training, but was nowhere near as good as me. I could imagine that she relied on her power to do most of the heavy lifting for her. While I had her beat in upper body strength and combat skills, her legs could deliver quite the kick. A solid kick to my knee almost dropped me to the floor, but I recovered quickly and headbutted her in the face.

"I was hoping you'd be malnourished and sickly..." Skitter growled.

I didn't know what she was on about, but I pressed my advantage. Pulling out a spare set of handcuffs from my belt and trying to secure one of Skitter's wrists.

"Stop resisting," I growled in frustration. "You have the right to remain silent-"

She pulled her hands away after I locked in the first arm. Elbowing me in the gut before crawling away.

"Pretending to be a hero?" Skitter spat as she stood back up. "To what end? To mock me on my life choices?"

The swarm pulsed by the window. Still fighting me for control. I kept it in place like before, but not before watching as several spiders and hornets broke off and attacked me. That surprised me.

They didn't even move like my swarm. The hornet moved in quick to get right up in my face, while the spiders dodged every attempt of mine to step on it. Moving two or three swarms in separate directions was one thing, but the precise control needed to attack me like this was unheard of. At least to me.

"How the hell?" I gasped, ducking and weaving out of the hornet's way.

More spiders, wasps and hornets were pulling off my main swarm and acting as independent units. I'd miscalculated. Skitter didn't just have a similar power. Her power was stronger than mine.

I found that I could momentarily stun them by attempting to summon them back into the swarm, but Skitter could pull them off just as fast as I could. It was another kind of stalemate. One that was only getting harder to maintain as Skitter pulled more and more individual bugs away.

Her face was busy scanning the floor around us, and I knew what for. Her gun had fallen somewhere in the mess and she was looking for it. I couldn't brute force my power over hers, so I decided to rush the gun first.

We both spotted it at the same time and lunged across the room to grab at it. We collided on the ground and began wrestling for control of the weapon. I could tell I had the physical advantage but her individual bugs were getting dangerously close to us.

I didn't want to shoot her, keeping the gun on the floor as I pulled Skitter into a chokehold. In what was probably a fit of desperation, Skitter pulled at my costume, detaching my utility belt in the process. A worrying development, as I needed my beacon for my team to find me. Another panicked flail of Skitter's hands had her tearing the mask from my face.

Rudely, she threw it across the room along with my belt and tried pulling on my hair. Out of pure spite by this point, I decided to return the favour and unmask the villain, luchador style.

My smug smile was replaced with utter confusion when I caught sight of her face. My face. I was looking at a perfect mirror image of myself. Same hair, same nose, same everything. It had some minor battle scars and bore a scowl that I'd never even known I could make.

"W-what?" I asked, stupidly loosening my grip in shock. "What the fuck? "What the actually fu-"

Skitter landed a solid punch to my face and broke free from my grapple. Before I even had time to recover, her giant beetle smashed through the already shattered window and bulldozed me to the wall. While I could slow down and stop Skitter's individual bugs, I was completely powerless against whatever this thing was. It was a miracle it didn't crush me outright, but Skitter was too busy gasping for breath now that she was free from my chokehold.

The beetle had me pinned and Skitter, my evil doppelganger, had free reign to pick up her gun. The fight was over and I lost, utterly.

She pointed the gun at me, still rasping her breath.

"Are you the last one? Or are there more of you out there?"

"I'm alone," I lied. My team was coming in either a matter of minutes or hours. But I wasn't about to sell them out to a supervillain version of myself.

"Good," Skitter panted, nodding her head with the first human-looking expression since the fight started. A fly landed on my chest as she raised the gun towards me. "I'm sorry," She sighed as if she meant it. "For what it's worth, I hate the idea of executing anyone, doubly so if they had my face. But I know what you are. And what you clones feel compelled to do. I can't have you hurting my friends or family."

A clone? This fucked up version of me had clones. She thinks I'm a clone. She's about to kill me!

"Wait, wait!" I cried out, Still heaving under the weight of the beetle. I pressed on my swarm again, hoping that I could overpower her control. "I can explain-"

Skitter fired off two shots.

-------------------------------------------------------

I didn't have much of a plan coming in.

I needed to confirm that it was a clone before deciding to take the lethal option.

The closer I got to the clone, the more she messed with my powers. Wrestling control of one swarm proved to be frustrating. I realised quickly my clone had trouble moving smaller groups around. I could shred swarms into smaller groups and hold tighter control over them, but decided to keep that ace up my sleeve for when I confronted her directly.

I'd kept Atlas at a distance, so far my control over him hadn't wavered but I wasn't willing to risk him during the confrontation. The conversation was brief, my clone had the nerve to not only play dumb but bring up my own mother.

I had hoped for a quick and easy kill. It was stupid getting into a physical altercation with a clone. Knowing Noelle, it had every chance to be stronger than me if made correctly. And this one certainly was. The clone was scared. No master to serve, no grand plan for survival. Just following its programming to ruin everything I built. I could almost pity it if I didn't already know what they were capable of.

I told Atlas to pull off and I took the moment of reprieve as the clone lay on the ground. The swarm reverted back to my total control, which was all the confirmation I needed.

I had no desire to inspect my own body.

I still was struggling to breathe properly after the chokehold she had me in. The idea of getting caught up in the similarities of my own face and coming to turn with my own mortality through the lens of a dead clone seemed to be a path of spewing my guts across the floor. So I put a pin in it.

Plus, I needed to find my mask before any witnesses caught sight of me. I couldn't find where my mask had been thrown, but I did stumble upon the clone's mask. She'd been wearing a strange version of my costume, it was green instead of black with an open-face mask. I wasn't sure who had made it for her, a mystery for Tattletale to solve at a later date.

Handcuffs dangle from my right wrist. The clone had her own belt full of gear. It stood to reason that she had the key to the cuffs. In one pocket I pulled out a small tinkertech device. It was cylindrical and looked a little like a communicator from those Star Wars movies. It pulsed quietly in my hand. Someone had supplied my clone with costume and tech, adding to the numerous questions I had. I pocketed it for later and found the key I was looking for.

The Tinker tech device reminded me to do the smart thing and check my phone. I dialled Lisa to give her an update on the situation. Stepping out onto the street and telling Atlas to follow along.

"It's done," I said the second Lisa picked up. "Though I have a body with my face on it waiting in an office building down on 6th Avenue."

"How are you feeling?" Lisa asked, not missing a beat.

"Fine," I answered. "She's... was wearing a costume, like mine but not. And has tinkertech in her pocket. I'll need someone to take a look at it."

Thankfully Lisa dropped the other question, "Alright. I'll get some people to recover the body. You good to wait around for me?"

"I've got nothing better to do," I shrugged. I could hear it in her voice, Lisa was trying to be gentle with me. She'd been the same after I executed Coil. "I'll see you soon,"

No sooner did the call end did the device I picked up started vibrating. My first thought was a bomb, so I immediately chucked it as far as I could throw. The device landed a little way down the street and rolled to a stop. Thankfully there was no explosion.

What there was, however, was a spherical wall of light that formed a few feet from the device. It appeared and then solidified into a portal to somewhere that was indoors. It looked like a science lab, very clean and white.

Three figures passed through and stepped out onto the street. Capes by the odd way they were dressed, the colour variation made me think of that Japanese hero team, Sentai Elite. I took up a readied stance as they emerged.

"Woah..." The first one said in awe. A boy, around my age. He wore an orange bodysuit, less detailed than mine, with some light padding on the chest and wielding goggles for a mask. "This place got messed up."

"What the hell happened here?" A girl asked. Taller than me, and far more muscular. She wore a blue bodysuit that left her arms exposed. The blue mask she wore matched the same one my clone was wearing.

The third cape was also a man, older than the other two by the short beard he spouted. A red bodysuit that looked to have tinker tech incorporated into it. It wasn't as heavily armoured as Armsmaster but with the beard and helmet, my first thought was a red Armsmaster. Another clone?

Not-Armsmaster held a device in his hand, a scanner of some kind, given by the way he waved it around. He zeroed in on the device I had looted from my clone and looked at it with confusion before taking notice of me.

"Ah, Entomogal!" Not-Armsmaster said, waving in my direction. The name caught me off guard. "I told you it would work," He spread his arms out wide in a grand gesture. "Hope you weren't too worried."

He moved closer towards me and stopped midway, taking notice of Atlas who stood a little ways behind me.

"What is that thing?" The girl in blue said, jogging up beside the red cape. "Is it friendly? Also, what happened to your suit?"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. They seemed to assume that I was the clone. Or, Entomogal? Why'd they name her something so stupid?

"Entomogal?" The boy in orange asked once I didn't give a reply. "You alright? Wait, is this where we find out there's like some time dilatation nonsense going on and you've been here for seven years? Is this the future!?"

The blue girl slapped the orange one over the head.

"There's no time dilation, dumbass," The girl said. "That's not how portals work."

"Oh..." The boy sighed, rubbing his head. "Well still, several hours in this place would make anyone mad."

They were bantering with each other. I was at a complete loss on what to do. They didn't recognise me as not the clone, and by this point, I was beginning to question if that even was my clone. It had looked like me, sounded like me, had a variation of my power. But something felt off. And if that wasn't a clone, then I just...

I needed to know more.

"We should get out of here," Not-Armsmaster suggested. "This portal isn't exactly stable and who knows what else is lurking around this city." He motioned me to follow after him. "Let's go."

"What?" The orange boy whined. "But we only just got here. Can't we explore a little more of this post-apocalypse hellscape?" He looked around with wonder before turning to me. "What even happened here anyway? Oh, did the Cold War turn into World War Three?"

I weighed my options of following them and finding out more about where my clone had come from. How she came to be. I was looking at a portal, much the same as the one Tattletale had made downtown, albeit a much smaller variant. It could take me anywhere, and getting back to Brockton Bay was a gamble in itself.

The trio noticed my hesitation and were starting to get impatient.

"Hey," The blue girl said, pointing back at the portal. "It's safe, this time. Red worked out all the kinks. We can even take your new pet... beetle, thing. Right?"

She turned back to the man in red who was already waiting by the portal, playing with his scanner.

"What? Oh, yes. Sure," He said, distractedly. "I'm assuming it's house-trained, right?"

The blue girl smiled at me and held out a hand. I was still wary of their intentions. They seemed oblivious, however, that could have just been an act. A trap. The safer option would be to flee and report this back to Lisa and the others.

But they also appeared to have portal technology at their fingertips. And even if I got away tonight, they could easily come back to Brockton Bay any time to wreak havoc on my life. I didn't like my options, but playing along as this, Entomogal, was the fastest way to find out what the hell was going on. Worst case scenario, I take the red one hostage and portal myself back here.

"Taylor?" The Blue girl asked, still waiting for me to take her hand. I didn't like how they knew my name.

"Let's go," I said, walking past the girl and making sure I kept Atlas close. I ignored her frown, I wasn't sure what relationship my clone had with these people, but I hoped keeping vague and aloof wouldn't arouse suspicion.

Stepping through the portal, I felt the change in air pressure. The cold Brockton streets were swapped out with room-temperature air conditioners. The first thing I noted was the machine that was next to the exit portal. My best guess would make it my ticket home once I had enough information.

"Home Sweet Home," The orange boy said as he stepped through behind Atlas. "Now that we're all back, I'm gonna hit the hay. Glad to have you back, Taylor. Try not to get yourself trapped in any other alternative dimensions next time."

I mentally groaned. I was only one foot in the door and already the risks of my gamble had doubled. I had hoped that the portal would lead me somewhere hidden on earth. But if what the orange kid said was correct, this was another earth.

"Where are?..." I began before stopping myself. "Where did I go?" I said instead, looking at the man in red.

The man walked over to the machine and pointed at a screen. "Same place, different Earth," He said, confirming my suspicion. "Brockton Bay of Earth Bet."

"Man, I'd heard stories of that place," The girl in blue said, walking up behind me as she reached out to pet Atlas. "Mostly just that it was a monster-infested hell hole that imported some alright flicks. Well... Assuming you have a Betamax to play any of their films." She chuckled at her joke.

They trade with Earth Bet. Which made this place, Earth Aleph.

"How did you even manage to build a portal to Earth Bet in this lab?" I asked. A stupid risk that my clone should already know.

The man in red sighed. "Alright, I'll explain it once more. But pay attention this time, Taylor." I relaxed as they accepted my ignorance. "This device doesn't create portals, per se. It can, however, detect and mimic the frequency of other portals and link up to them. It was all just a theoretical waste of money and power. Other, more stable portals exist and this can't even function without them. But, a week ago, I got a hit. A portal right here in Brockton Bay. Four days and thirteen hours ago to be exact."

I did some mental maths in my head. Five days ago, that was the same day we sent the remaining Travelers back home. This machine mimicked Lisa's portal frequency. Whatever that meant. It still didn't explain why a clone of me travelled through it. Or how they got to Earth Aleph, to begin with.

"You okay, Taylor?" The man in red asked. "You're looking a little pale? Or maybe that's just the black suit."

I tried to step back through the portal, but the girl in blue caught me.

"Woah, okay. I think someone had a rough few hours," She said, pulling me away with considerable strength. I was beginning to suspect a brute power. "It's late. And we all should be getting home."

"Good idea," The man said, closing the portal before I could say anything. "We'll debrief tomorrow. I'm sure your mother is worried sick."

I wasn't an expert on all things Aleph, but everyone knew that its timeline split from some thirty years ago. There were some similarities between our worlds. My dad was over thirty, there was a strong chance his alternative version lived here, somewhere. The same for my mother. But the chance that both of them would meet, have a daughter who looked just like me, call her Taylor and have her trigger with a similar type of power. That Taylor of Earth Aleph would wind up getting stuck in my world. That I would meet, fight and kill her.

The chances of that happening were astronomical.

But not zero.

--------------------------------

I woke up with blinding pain radiating through my left shoulder.

The room I was in was dirty and poorly lit, yet expensive and well cared for medical equipment littered the room around me. I appeared to be in some makeshift hospital bed.

I reached out for my swarm, but my head felt woozy. My entire body ached. Whatever they had shot me with was still affecting me.

"Oh, goody. You're awake," Said an overly chipper voice. I turned slowly to my right to see a blonde girl looking over me. Smiling down at me with a pretty freckled face.

"Where?..." I started, feeling the dryness in my throat.

"Don't try to move, or talk," The girl said, placing a finger over my mouth. "You lost a lot of blood. And do you have any idea how hard it is to find blood in this city?" I stared blankly at her. "You're safe. In a hospital, of sorts." She leaned over me and pointed towards my chest. "You had two bullets in you, there and there. I'm guessing Skitter tried aiming for your heart, but she always uses flies to assist her aim. And you," She tapped my nose with a soft flick. "Pushed that fly slightly to the left."

"You know Skitter?" I asked. Worried about the implications. She had my face, and if the woman before me knew her, then I might have been in a worse situation than I thought.

"Sure do," She smiled. "She's my bestie, and business partner, in a sense of the word. Any idea where she went? Because, I told her to wait for me, and all I found was you."

My team were minutes away from picking me up. If anyone would have found me, it should have been them. But if I'm still here, and now Skitter is missing...

"Oh, wait. I see it now," The blonde girl sighed. "Wow, another Earth? Aleph? We just dealt with some people from there last week. Hmm, Taylor Hebert has an Aleph variant, what are the chances? And then you met each other? What are the chances? And then you switched Earths! Wow, what are the chances?"

"Please don't kill me," I said. I didn't like begging, but at this point what else did I have to lose.

The blonde girl started laughing.

"I'm not gonna kill you, silly." She giggled, a smile never leaving her face. "Oh, sorry about my Taylor. We just had this whole S-class threat who made evil clones of us. It was this whole thing. I misread what had happened and sent Skitter on a warpath. But hey, you lived. So, water under the bridge."

"So, you'll let me go?" I asked. "Wait, you dealt with other people from my Earth? That means there's a portal nearby, right?"

The girl's smile dropped for a moment, before returning.

"Yeah, here's the thing," She said apologetically. "That portal is in use for another Earth, and it needs to stay that way. For business. Now, I do know people. So finding you another portal shouldn't be too hard. But, favours like that are expensive, and I don't do things for free."

"I don't have any money," I said, already suspecting what this woman was about to say next. "So I'm guessing you need me to do something?"

"Smart girl, that's the Taylor I know," The blonde smiled mischievously. "Funny story. The only people who know that my Taylor Hebert is on a different Earth are you and me. Everyone else thinks Taylor, or should I say, Skitter, is out on patrol. And I kinda need it to stay that way. At least until my Taylor comes home."

The blonde girl produced a mask from behind her back. The mask I had pulled off my psycho, murderous doppelganger. The terrifying mask of Skitter.

"But," I wavered, looking at the mask and the girl who continued to smile. "I can't do that... We're completely different people. I'm a hero. Skitter's. a..."

The blonde girl laughed, pushing the mask further into my hand.

"What's so funny," I asked

"Oh, nothing," She said, her charming grin turning into a devilish smirk. "Call it Déjà vu."

 

[Gowonzu]

Skitter marched into the Undersider's loft with purpose, ripping off her mask the second she walked in and throwing it to the side. It was a building that hadn't been used as much these days, ever since Leviathan had leveled a portion of the city. Most members of the team had their own base to hide out in nowadays.

The team had just broken off from a very important meeting with Accord's Ambassadors and Taylor needed to have words with Alec and his need to backtalk during every operation.

"Regent, in here," She barked, ordering the boy to follow him.

Imp let out a low whistle as she sang out, "Somebody got in trouble~"

Skitter glared back at the remark before she continued on her way. Brian watched closely behind, somewhat glad at this moment that Skitter had taken over the team. Chewing out teammates was never an easy task.

"What's the matter, Bugs?" Alec smirked as he wandered into Taylor's makeshift office.

Skitter simply stared down the boy, who after a moment seemed to squirm.

"Alec, do you even understand what you get us into when you run your mouth during operations?"

"Uh-"

"People look to us for control in this city," Taylor cut in before he could say anything stupid. "How are we meant to project that control, when my own teammate keeps undermining me during operations."

"What operation?" Alec sighed, it was just another boring meeting about supply logistics or whatever crap. I don't even know why I'm there?"

"You're there," Taylor said back coldly, poking Alec in the chest, "To help project a united front. You're there so that the Ambassadors take us seriously. You're there to do what I need you to do for half an hour so we can keep this shithole of a city from collapsing in on itself."

"Well yeah," Alec agreed, scratching the back of his neck. "But like, I was just asking why I had to be the one to collect the pickup. Like, why not send Tats or Bitch instead?"

"Because," Taylor said in her usual creepy monotone. "I thought that you could handle a simple bloody pickup job, but apparently, I was wrong." Alec rolled his eyes. "If you have a problem with the assignments I give you, bring it up with me, privately. Don't cause a scene in front of business partners of next time I'll-"

Taylor cut off, making an odd sound that Alec could almost mistake for a… chuckle?

"What was that?" Alec asked, not believing his ears.

"I said, I'll-"

It happened again, a little louder this time.

An honest to god giggle escaped Taylor's lips as the once cold and intimidating girl, shook with discomfort.

"Are you okay?…" Alec asked, far more afraid of this new development than whatever chastising he was expecting out of Skitter.

Taylor bent over and grabbed at her side. Another giggle escaped her lips as she looked a strange mix of confused, embarrassed and angry.

Unlike during the meeting, Alec didn't need to be told twice. He took the offer and backed out of Skitter's room. Taylor broke into a fit of involuntary giggles, the likes Alec couldn't even imagine from the girl.

-------------------------------------------------------

A few moments ago.

"Somebody got in trouble~"

Imp sang out teasingly as Regent was marched into Skitter's room. Grue shivered at the glare Skitter shot back and offered to help Bitch with whatever she was doing downstairs.

Tattletale for her part, sat down on the couch and waited for it all to be over. She understood why Skitter was annoyed, she would be too if she was in her shoes. The last thing a leader wanted was an unruly teammate that undermined their authority.

Lisa took off her mask and enjoyed not having to be the one to chastise Alec for once. It was an exercise in futility from Lisa's point of view. No matter how much Taylor barked and hissed, the boy would do what he wanted. It was simply how he was.

While relaxing on the couch and waiting for Taylor to be finished, Lisa spied the spider that climbed down along the wall.

A tarantula, with hairy legs and a body as big as her outstretched hand. It stopped just above the window and paused there. As if the spider took a moment to appreciate the view from the Undersider's loft.

In the past, Lisa would've shied away from such a creature. Though she did not consider herself arachnophobic, she had been raised to be appropriately wary of spiders. Ever since taking in Taylor, however, Lisa had begun to appreciate the smaller terrors of the world.

Now, Lisa was curious. She had no idea what the spider might have been doing there. Taylor often commanded all manner of bugs to act independently, and they usually had a purpose, even if the purpose was to keep track of her teammates, but this one was simply enjoying the view.

Taylor herself was busy in her bedroom-slash-terrarium, chewing out Regent for his shenanigans. The girl was all business these days, rarely taking a break, and almost always occupied with something. Still, even behind all the planning, plotting and chastising. The terrifying Skitter still took the time to turn a spider towards the window and admire the city.

It was a small gesture, one that no one would notice unless they knew to look for it. Lisa wondered how aware Taylor was of her actions, or if it was something more instinctive, like a yawn or scratching at an itch.

The tarantula continued to move until it planted itself securely on the window sill. As much as Lisa knew the spider was just an autonomous drone at this point, she couldn't help but anthropomorphize the arachnid, especially when it was staring at the city so longingly.

"Hey there, Little guy," Lisa chuckled, turning to talk to the spider. "Watchu' looking at?"

The spider didn't react. Taylor was either too distracted with whatever she was doing or ignored Lisa's question. She liked to assume it was the first option.

"I guess the Bay does look prettier at sunset," Lisa continued as if the spider spoke back to her. "Even after all the destruction from Leviathan."

The spider remained silent. Lisa didn't expect it to respond, yet still, she spoke to it like a house pet. Lisa would often ask Brutus random questions and pretend that he responded eloquently. A childish habit she never bothered to grow out of.

"I bet you're thinking about how if the universe is infinite we can't be the only planet with life. Right?" Lisa chuckled to herself. "I know, I think about that a lot too. Especially now, when the stars start to appear each night. Makes you wonder..."

Again, the spider did nothing. Continuing to stare out into the city.

"That's a good point," Lisa nodded, making up a response in her head. "Maybe there are other life forms out there that don't even need planets to live on. Just existing in space itself. I never considered that."

A few months ago, the idea of allowing a spider to get so close to her would have rattled Lisa. But now, she reached out with a single digit and dared to stroke the hair of its back. Unlike with her words, the spider did react.

It shook in place as if startled by the sudden touch. Yet, it didn't try to move away or retaliate. Lisa smiled and kept rubbing her finger across the tarantula's body. It was soft and warm, not hard and prickly like she expected.

That's when she heard it.

All the while, Lisa could hear how Taylor argued against Alec's words. But there was a sudden, sharp yip that gave her pause. At first, Lisa couldn't quite understand the noise. It was so quiet. But then she heard it again.

A giggle. A small, innocent chuckle. Escaping the confines of Taylor's terrarium.

Taylor Hebert exhibits mental control through various insects. Can see, hear, taste and feel through bugs if desired. Taylor reacting to spider's sense of touch. Can feel Lisa Wilbourn petting spider as if it were here body. Correction, giggling. Involuntary response. Spider is ticklish, ergo, Taylor Hebert is ticklish.

A sly smile crept up on Lisa's face, as she considered something she could never imagine before. With two pointed index fingers at the ready, Lisa carefully crept her hands towards the spider. The arachnid sat obliviously on the windowsill, completely unaware of the devious thoughts that were running through Lisa's mind.

One finger gently poked the spider in the side. Another muffled noise squeaked out from Taylor's room. The second finger came and prodded the spider again, on the opposite side. More giggling, louder than before.

"Oh my," Lisa giggled back. "Is somebody ticklish?"

Lisa didn't wait for a response. Her fingers went back and forth, poking and prodding at the spider, all while the giggles coming from the terrarium grew louder.

"I'll take that as a yes," Lisa smirked, moving faster.

After a few seconds, Taylor burst out from her room, beat red in the face as she marched towards Lisa.

"Tattletale…" Taylor grumbled as she glared down at her, and the spider that now rested in her hand. "Might I see you in my office?"

"Oh! Somebody got in trouble~" Imp said again, appearing on the couch across from Lisa.

Even as Lisa looked up at the embarrassed glare of Taylor, she couldn't stop the smug grin that stuck to her face.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: This story is 100% pure crack that I came up as a joke in discord a long while back. I really have nothing to say about it except, I'm sorry. And this is so stupid.
I don't even like the Fast&Furious franchise, but here's a silly crossover fic

---

It wasn't enough.

Legions of capes poured through the portals, an army the likes of which this world had never seen, with the full might of every parahuman Khepri could find on their side.

And yet...

They were losing.

Scion was relentless. Batting away the attacks of even the most powerful among them, carving through entire swathes of the defenders in seconds. Each time they wounded him, he healed a moment later. Every strike resulted in hundreds, possibly thousands dying.

But Khepri pressed on. Simultaneously coordinating the efforts of every parahuman under her command while also desperately searching the multiverse for the handful of individuals that could actually turn the tide.

She couldn't waste her army, no matter how insignificant their contribution was. She controlled the field, and every second wasted was a mistake on her part. A mistake that cost another person's life.

Khepri just needed time. Time to collect all her pieces, understand their place on the board and then make the move that would win her the game. Time she couldn't accrue while Scion was tearing through the defenders like they were nothing.

Just as all seemed lost, Khepri heard the impossible.

In the fray of several hundred parahumans fighting a god, the distinct sound of a 1970 Dodge Charger RT could be heard.

Khepri's head shot up, the car wasn't supposed to be there. She had control of every living parahuman across the battlefield and none of them were currently in a vehicle. She briefly considered creating another portal, taking control of the driver and turning them away. But Khepri needed to know why.

The car sped down towards her, breaking into a sharp drift that parked the vehicle just out of her sixteen-foot range of control. She didn't need to wait for the window to roll down to know who would be crazy enough and have the skill to try driving into a battle between a literal god and an army of parahumans.

"Dom!? What are you doing here?" Khepri wanted to ask. Khepri couldn't speak. Or she could, but what came out of her mouth was nothing but senseless babble. Even still, Dominic understood, nodding back at her.

Dominic Toretto. The Undersiders personal getaway driver and close confidant of Taylor back in her Warlord days. A human who knew cars better than Tinkers and could drive circles around the best capes in Brockton Bay.

Khepri hadn't expected him, she had made sure all her old friends were held back in reserve. Unwilling to sacrifice them until she was certain they were needed. Dom wasn't a parahuman and so Khepri hadn't even considered his involvement in the battle.

Dom gave a short whistle. "Quite the party you've got going on here. It's a bit much for my tastes. Too many capes." He nodded his head towards the ongoing battle. "You got a plan to deal with that?"

Khepri was still reeling from the sight of Dom, she didn't even have the wherewithal to form a response, let alone a coherent one. She had to remove him from the battle and return to her search for a counter to Scion. As if reading her intention, Dom spoke again.

"Look Kid," Dom sighed with a sly smile on his face. "You might've run off to save the world by yourself, but you don't turn your back on family," Khepri tried to rebuttal, even if it was just more babble, but Dom cut her off. "You can try send me away, and I'll just drive right back. I choose to make my own fate. Now, I'm here, let's do this thing. What do you need?"

Speaking was almost impossible. Formulating a plan with someone outside of her control was even more so. She could easily take control of the man, but no one drove cars better than Dominic. Through sheer force of will, Khepri pointed towards the Golden God and forced her handful of subjects carrying her to make one word.

"Dis-tra-ct-ion..." They moaned in unison.

Dom looked back towards Scion, then turned back to Khepri and revved his engine. "Just show me the road."

A portal appeared down the street, and several more appeared across the ruined landscape. A straight shot that passed right through the battle and out the other side. Guilt panged up in Khepri's chest. It was one thing to send hundreds of thousands of faceless capes to their death. But Dom was family.

Dominic nodded solemnly, letting Khepri know that he understood. "Ride or die, remember?" He joked, switching gears and gripping both hands of the wheel.

Dom gunned the engine, racing down the street, leaving behind a cloud of dust and the scent of burnt rubber. In through one portal and out through another. Khepri crafted a track that weaved through the battlefield, never letting the car out of her sight.

Dominic was a force unto himself, driving with both reckless abandon and complete control. It didn't take long for Scion to take notice, and then the real race began.

It was a testament to Dominic's skill, each portal led him to a different place, a different street, a different earth. Even Khepri couldn't know exactly what would be behind each one, and yet Dominic sped on through, weaving his way between the rubble and debris.

The portals opened, the car raced, and Scion chased.

Khepri's heart was racing, and sweat was beading on her forehead. She had the perfect set-up. Instead of managing a battle of thousands, she only needed to focus on one. She could regroup, recuperate and rethink her approach.

All she had to do was keep the car safe.

As the portals closed, the distance between Dominic and Scion grew. He was an exceptional driver, but he was racing a god. Even still, she believed in Dom. So long as she could keep him fighting on the streets Dom could fight.

"Thing about street fights... the street always wins."

Dom's old words echoed through her head. The truth in them hit her hard. Her will to fight was restored as she expanded her search and prepared for the final showdown.

Scion had grown impatient, flying after the car with increasing speed. Dom took the corner tight, narrowly missing the beam of energy that shot through the space he had just occupied. Needing to focus on the road ahead and the attacks from behind.

As Scion's frustration grew, his attacks became more frequent.

Each blast came closer and closer, each one a fraction of a second too late. Dom took the turns tight, never slowing down for an instant. He goaded the alien with his taunting and daring, drawing him further and further down his chosen path.

"I'm ready to meet my maker. Are you?!" He called out, narrowly missing yet another beam.

With a few more turns and a straight shot, Dom was almost to his destination. The final portal shone in the distance, beckoning him. All he needed to do was take the last turn, cross the finish line and his part in the war was done.

Then, a golden beam shot through the back of the car. Piercing the hood and exiting through the front. The engine roared, and the tyres screeched as the car continued forward, losing momentum. The wheels began to wobble, and the car shook violently.

Dominic grit his teeth, he was a good driver, but even he had his limits. With a sharp turn, he lost control of the vehicle. It flipped into the air and spun once, twice... three times, before skidding along the pavement and settling on the end of the street. Only a few feet from where Khepri's portal waited.

Scion, sensing his victory, floated down towards the wreck. The battleground was silent, and the race was over.

The plan was set, a finish line for Dom's race, where second place would be hit with the full force of every single Parahuman across the multiverse that Khepri could command. It was all going according to plan until the gut-wrenching sound of a car door opening broke the silence.

Dominic was climbing out the passenger side window, a hand braced against his ribs. He was crawling, but the smile never left his face. He didn't get far. Golden hands gripped him by the neck and pulled him up. Dominic let out a grunt as the grip tightened, cutting off his air.

"It's the end of the road, Kid. We both knew this day would come." Dom said, his voice rough and strained.

Scion didn't know what his words meant, but Khepri did. Dom had bought her the time needed to launch a counterattack, but not without harming whoever was still left behind. With a heavy heart, she commanded her army to strike.

Every parahuman on the battlefield fired. A wave of projectiles and attacks that hit their target in an instant. A thousand blasts from a thousand angles.

The effect was cataclysmic.

No living creature on the other side of that portal was left alive. Be it the worms in the dirt, to the Gods that floated among the heavens. All that remained was ash.

The battle was over. In an instant, Khepri released her army, free to return to the lives they once had and mend what was left of this broken world. They cheered, they cried, and they celebrated. But Khepri could do nothing but collapse from the exhaustion. She dropped down, only now feeling the weight of everything she had done, everyone she had sacrificed to do it.

The tears came soon after.

As she sat there crying, lamenting the choices that got her here and the monster she had become. The woman in the suit soon came for her, asking her questions, wanting to know who she was, where she was from, and what she had done. But Khepri didn't care.

She didn't want to talk to the mysterious boogyman. She wanted to talk to her family.

"It's been a long day, without you, my friend," Taylor sighed, ignoring or unaware of the gun that aimed at her head. "And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Some more platonic smugbug.

---

Lisa sighed as the cafe entrance bell rang behind her.

It was 4:15pm on a weekday, meaning that students from the local high schools were set to reach the establishment at any moment. They'd be a flood, a tidal wave of adolescence that would make her feel like an ancient, tired old woman.

This was, of course, an exaggeration. Lisa was much the same age as most of the teens that frequented the establishment, but unlike them, she'd long since moved on from the mundanity of school. And save for the small handful of teenage parahumans she worked with, Lisa didn't exactly find young people the most entertaining of company.

Lisa would often frequent this cafe on days when her schedule permitted. It was a nice place, tucked away in a relatively quiet area near the Undersider's loft. It was a perfect spot to sit with her laptop, plan out the next heist or con, and enjoy a reasonably priced mocha latte.

The downside was that it took an hour after the local high school let out before the cafe's customers turned into a pack of raging hormones vying for attention. And Lisa often found herself at the center of that attention. A long line of boys attempted to woo her. A never-ending parade of date requests slowly grated on the blonde.

She'd known she was pretty. Prided herself on that fact. Being pretty was a social tool that got her past many of the roadblocks in life, and it'd been a useful one ever since she'd left home. But sometimes the fact that she was pretty had gotten her into some trouble. The number of times Lisa had been asked out, flirted with or approached in general by leering teens was...well, it was too damn many times.

Lisa had no interest in boys, dating, sex or anything of that matter. She could flirt back, and know exactly how to smile and what to say to get the result she wanted, but her heart wasn't in it. Her power was a curse in that way. She knew what they were going to say, could read their intentions a mile away, could tell their lies from the truth, and it killed any desire to pursue them.

Even then, there were deeper feelings, beyond her power. She had no desire for base comforts, for physical contact, or for romance. She'd known, even when she was younger. That there was a part of her missing, and it took her many years to learn a name for it.

One by one, students filtered in, the bell ringing as they did. Most of them simply ordered their drinks and left, some lingered around with friends or significant others. But a few of them kept glancing her way.

She knew exactly what they were thinking. She was the hot mystery girl, with her laptop and her cute freckles. And no matter how closed off her body language was, she was going to give off a 'challenging' vibe. Like she was just daring someone to approach her.

Her powers already picked up on three separate students who were debating, either with themselves or with friends, about walking over to her and asking if she needed company.

Two of them chickened out, earning a satisfied smirk behind Lisa's coffee. But the third one managed to surprise her.

A girl. Which on its own was a surprise, especially in a city like Brockton Bay. Lisa could at least take heart in the fact she didn't give off any Empire Eighty-Eight vibes in her appearance if a girl was willing to approach her.

But even more surprisingly, was that Lisa knew this particular girl. Not by name, she never bothered to learn the names of any of the random students that dropped by. But she recognised her. Tall, thin and leggy. Long, curly black hair, with glasses and a wide mouth.

A gawky, awkward teen, who Lisa only remembered as the girl she'd seen crying in the corner some months ago. Her powers had deduced that the girl was subject to all manner of schoolyard bullying and would often hide away in this cafe simply to de-stress from the day.

She was something of a regular by this point. The first student to arrive and often still there by the time Lisa packed up to leave. They'd never spoken, never interacted beyond the odd friendly glance.

And now the girl was making her way towards Lisa. Tell-tale signs of sweat on her brow, nervousness and fear, and the fact that she couldn't meet Lisa's eyes.

Lisa sighed under her coffee, trying to swallow it down fast so that she had an excuse to leave. If a guy had walked up to her, Lisa would have given him the cold shoulder, or at least played him along until she was done. But a girl...that was a different matter entirely.

It took a lot of courage to approach someone, especially if you were a teenage lesbian. And the last thing Lisa wanted to do was completely shatter this girl's self-esteem. She knew from experience what it was like. Being a young girl, discovering her own sexuality, and thinking that she could find some semblance of acceptance, of a community, only to be told 'no.'

"H-hi?" The girl said as she finally made it to Lisa's table. Lisa pretended to only just notice her, looking up from her laptop with a polite smile.

"Hello," Lisa replied.

"Sorry to bother you, but...I was w-wondering if... if..." The girl said, her words coming out in a jumble, and Lisa could sense the fear, the anxiety, the desire to flee.

Lisa would've preferred if the girl had simply fled, it would've saved them both from the whole awkward ordeal, but the girl was too stubborn, or too committed to see this through.

"I've seen you... In this cafe a few... a few times," The girl said, starting her ramble from the beginning. "And...and I noticed that you often... turn down the... b-boys who try talk to you. And maybe I'm wrong, but I thought... you might be?…"

It was an odd pick-up line. If one could even call it a pick-up line. It was obvious that the girl didn't know how to talk to women, or how to flirt with them. A part of Lisa was sadistically amused, but the kinder side of her was impressed that the girl had made it this far.

Lisa didn't even get a chance to respond when the awkward girl realised what she'd done.

"S-sorry!" The girl blurted, a blush forming on her face. "That was a stupid thing to say... But I just noticed that... about you. I've noticed. Not that I watch you a lot. But, I was hoping. I mean, wondering..." The girl stuttered out.

Lisa sighed. It was going to be one of those days. She could get a word in over the girl's ramblings, so she decided to wait her out.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go out," The girl blurted out, surprising even herself. "On a date... With me? A date, with me. Romantically... Well not romantically, romantically. But I like you. Or, I think I'd like you. And, I don't know, maybe... we could, go on a date. Together?"

The girl had her eyes shut, her face scrunched up, like she was bracing for a slap or worse.

While Lisa had no intention of slapping the girl. She was now placed in the unfortunate and awkward position of letting the girl down as gently as she could.

"Thank you," Lisa said, choosing her words carefully. "But, I'm afraid that I can't."

"O-oh. O-okay," The girl responded. Lisa could tell that her words weren't registering yet, as the girl was still bracing herself.

"It's not you, Darling," Lisa added with a charming smile. "You were half right, with your observation. I do turn down all the boys. But I'm afraid I turn down the girls too. Boys, girls, whatever in-between. I'm afraid I'm aroace."

Lisa sighed, cursing herself for saying the label out loud. She hated explaining to people what being asexual and aromantic meant. It always took time, and people always got confused and misunderstood. Usually ending with some angry douche-bag telling her to 'stop wasting his time and say that she was gay next time.'

"Oh? Okay?" The girl said again, no doubt confused as well.

If Lisa was lucky, she'd just slink away without asking any more questions and she could skip the awkward explanations. Unfortunately, the girl opened her mouth to speak again, as Lisa braced for the worst.

"I see," The girl nodded like she completely understood. "In that case, did you want to go out on a completely platonic... uh, lunch, instead?"

It took Lisa a few seconds to register the girl's words.

"What?" Lisa responded. She pressed on her power to confirm that the girl understood what she'd said.

"W-well, I like you," The girl stammered out. "And you're pretty. And cool. And I'd like to get to know you better. But if you're not interested in dating stuff, then can we do like, a friend date? Just as friends?"

Her power confirmed that her words were legitimate. This girl didn't even consider a roundabout way to secretly date her, she just wanted a friend.

"Uh, sure," Lisa responded, still confused. The answer was a surprise to even herself.

"Cool!" The girl said, giving Lisa a smile for the first time since Lisa had ever seen her. "I uh, don't have a phone or anything. But we can meet here, on a weekend and do... something?"

"Yeah, sure," Lisa nodded, still a little off balance. "This Saturday? I have nothing on then."

"Really? Cool!" The girl nodded. "I'll see you then," She took a few steps away, leaving Lisa to process what had just happened. "T-taylor, Hebert." The girl said, drawing Lisa's attention.

"What?" Lisa asked, shaking off the confusion.

"My name's Taylor," The girl repeated.

"Right," Lisa said. "Lisa Wilbourn."

"Cool," The girl, no, Taylor, said. "See you this Saturday, Lisa."

Taylor turned and left, heading leaving the cafe early in a rare display, due to her anxiety and nerves. It left Lisa to sit in her confusion, alone in her thoughts.

What just happened?

The answer was simple. She had a date.

 

[Gowonzu]

"And you're sure we can trust him?"

Taylor frowned at the map in front of her. A floor plan of the jewellery store they were set to hit in a few hours. Lisa had done the bulk of the legwork on this one. Verifying that the store goods were legitimate, plentiful and not tied to any known gang.

While any idiot with a gun could rob the store and get away with a decent sum of loot, the bulk of the value came from the vault in the back that would have been a bitch to crack for any other crew. Unfortunately, getting into said vault relied on the use of an inside man, one that Taylor wasn't entirely convinced would do the job correctly.

"Trust? No," Lisa scoffed with a reassuring smile. "But he's been paid off, so it'll work."

Taylor frowned even harder as the blonde's smile grew.

"That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence…"

Despite her initial reluctance, Taylor knew they needed a decent score and soon. It had been over a year since the Undersiders split and went their separate ways. Most other members left town once Coil was dealt with, finding better offers in different cities. Only Taylor and Lisa stayed behind.

They'd done their fair share of scams, petty thefts and robberies. Nothing too ambitious, and never anything that would draw the attention of the Protectorate down on them. But money was rather tight these days and they had three mouths to feed. This jewellery store job wouldn't set them up for life, but it would keep them comfortable for another year or so.

"You don't have to trust him, just trust me." Lisa winked, placing a reassuring hand on Taylor's shoulder. "He's an idiot, but he's also terrified of us. So the chances he'll try to lock us in are slim to none."

"Trusting you isn't the issue here," Taylor sighed. She was still somewhat wary of the whole idea. They were putting an awful lot of trust into a person they barely knew, and one that could easily screw them over. "We can't know he won't go to the cops."

"He won't," Lisa assured her with a knowing smile. "The amount we paid him-"

Taylor shushed the girl before she could say any more. Raising a hand as she spun around to face the door. Lisa, recognising the motion, started rolling up the map and reorganising the table.

The tiny pitter-patter of feet could be heard, growing louder as they approached the living room. Both girls watched as the door pushed open, revealing a young girl, tiredly drooping into the door. She let out a great big yawn as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"Dinah, sweetie?" Lisa smiled, leaning forward. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Mhmm." The little girl nodded as she shuffled across the room. She slumped into Taylor's leg and wrapped her arms around the taller woman's waist. "Couldn't sleep. Nightmare..."

Dinah was the third mouth in their financial equation.

After Coil was dealt with, the Undersiders were left with a drugged-out clairvoyant girl to take care of. At the time, they didn't know what to do with her. None of them were equipped to take care of a kid, and the girl's family had been murdered back during the bank job. Taylor personally felt responsible, but couldn't find it in herself to hand the girl off to some group home or orphanage.

Added to that, Dinah's own prediction of having a better life if she stayed with Taylor rather than deal with the PRT. Apparently, any home she would've been sent to would just have her end up in the Wards, and then working for the PRT, handing out numbers the same way Coil had.

It was an easy decision for Taylor to make. They all got along pretty well, and Dinah was a good kid.

Even as the team dispersed, Lisa and Taylor decided to take Dinah in and look after her. They moved out of the old Undersider base and found a small, cosy house on the outskirts of the Docks. One that was far enough from the gangs to avoid being pulled into a fight, but close enough to keep tabs on the city.

The first year had its difficulties. Dinah had been exposed to several drugs during her stay at Coil's base, and the girl was plagued by night terrors and headaches. Luckily, they'd had enough cash stashed away to see the girl through the withdrawal process.

The nightmares persisted, and Taylor spent many nights calming the poor girl down, reading to her, playing games or doing whatever else she could to take her mind off things. They had rules, they never once asked Dinah to use her abilities for them, no matter the job. Her well-being always came first.

Slowly but surely, Dinah was getting better. She was starting to open up more, becoming more sociable and happier.

"Need me to read to you again?" Taylor asked, trying to inject some amount of warmth into her voice. Dinah shook her head, hugging tighter into Taylor's leg.

"No... Can we have a movie night?" Dinah asked, as Taylor bent down and hoisted the girl up.

Taylor and Lisa shared a look across the room. It was already getting close to midnight and the girls had a job to prepare for.

"Lisa's right, it's past your bedtime," Taylor said, giving the girl a comforting bounce in her arms before setting her back down. She gave the girl an apologetic smile.

"Why don't we all get some sleep now, and we'll put on a movie first thing tomorrow, yeah?" Lisa added, not wanting Taylor alone to take the brunt of being the 'stern mom' in this relationship.

"Okay..." Dinah gave a small pout before nodding. She held up one hand for Taylor to grab as they slowly marched back towards the bedroom.

"Should we check under the bed?... For monsters? Or something?" Taylor suggested. She wasn't sure how else to make the girl feel safe.

"Not that kind of nightmare..." Dinah yawned.

Both girls relaxed a little, it had been some time since Dinah thought Coil was still chasing her. Taylor tilted her head to ask the girl to explain some more, help give her an idea of how to help.

After yet another yawn, Dinah mumbled, "72.168% chance of Mom's getting arrested in the next three hours..."

Taylor froze in place upon hearing that. Turned to look back at Lisa and confirm what they had heard. Lisa stood there, a smile held on her face as the shock washed over her. Calmly, Taylor turned back around and led Dinah back into the living room with Lisa.

Without her lips even twitching, Lisa casually slid tonight's heist plans into the nearby bin and joined Taylor and Dinah as they all walked towards the couch. The girl was confused but happy as Lisa clapped her hands together.

"How about that movie night then?"

It took only twenty minutes into the film for Dinah to fall asleep. Her head rested against Taylor's lap as they all lay snuggled up on the large couch. Neither girl made mention of what could've been, nor did Taylor throw around any mention of "I told you so" back at Lisa.

 

[Gowonzu]

"Rectum? Damn near killed him!"

The table burst into the equal amount of laughter and groans that were expected when Dennis told a joke. Victoria shook her head with a smile as she failed to hold in her chuckle.

"Annnd I've lost my appetite..." Carlos sighed, dropping his spork into his lunch.

Dean patted him on the shoulder in sympathy as they both watched on, Dennis still giggling at his own story.

He had described to the table his latest encounter with the villainous duo, Uber and Leet. It had ended with another one of Leet's inventions failing spectacularly. The resulting explosion had left Leet in the hospital with a metal rod jammed up his ass, and Uber in custody.

"I don't think that's physically possible," said Chris, sitting across from the perpetrator of the awful tale.

"Because it's not," Amy grumbled, rolling her eyes at Dennis's stupidity. In truth, the rod only impaled his upper thigh, Dennis tended to exaggerate his stories for comedic effect. "I treated the asshole myself. It was just a leg wound."

"You treated the asshole?" Dennis smirked, wiggling his eyes at the double entendre.

"I- no. What?!" Amy flushed. "Shut up! That's not what I meant!"

"Pretty sure if it went up his ass, Leet would be dead," Chris continued, prodding on the factual holes of the story.

"You weren't there," Dennis waved him off. "I saw it, it went right-"

"Can we please stop talking about this at lunch?" Carlos groaned, pushing his food further away from him.

"Sophia was with me, she'll collaborate my story," Dennis added, ignoring Carlos' plight.

"She's more likely to jam a rod up your ass if you ask her anything," Chris mumbled, earning a chuckle from the table.

"Then we can get a live reenactment," Dennis giggled. "Or should I say, rectum-actment?"

Victoria sighed. "I'll give you a personal demonstration if you make that joke a third time."

"Oh, touchy," Dennis said with a smirk, "What's up your butt I wonder?"

Victoria gave a mocking glare but again, failed to hold in the smile that twitched on her lips. Everyone else just shook their heads at the boy.

"Get my butt out of your head," Vicky huffed, crossing her arms.

"But it's such a lovely mental image," Dennis retorted. "It'd be a crime to let it go."

"Wooow," Amy cringed. "That's the creepiest thing I've heard all day."

"Dude?" Dean asked, raising a brow.

"Not cool," Carlos added, shaking his head.

"What?" Dennis asked, confused at the sudden disapproval. He rolled his eyes and gestured to Vicky, who was the only one who got his comedic genius. "I was talking about the image of a stick up her butt, not her ass itself..." He paused briefly, considering. "Although..." He added, lips already twitching with another smile.

Victoria huffed, shaking her head. "Join my Onlyfans." She said dryly.

The table burst into chuckles and giggles. Dennis gave a loud snort, laughing along.

"Oh really? What's the username?" Dennis asked, raising a brow and leaning in close, an amused grin plastered on his face.

Victoria smirked, holding it for slightly longer than usual before answering.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

----------------------------------------------------

It was the smallest thing. Barely perceptible to everyone else at the table.

Not many people knew Victoria's tells. She usually wasn't the best liar in the world and no one had a reason to doubt her joke in the first place.

Amy, however, was different.

Amy, who had spent years observing her every move, had learned how to read her like an open book.

Amy, who could easily see the tiny twitch at the corner of her mouth and the small spark in her eyes, betraying her true emotions.

Amy, who had seen her sister blush, saw how her heart raced as she answered the question.

It wasn't a lie. It wasn't a joke. Amy had picked up the trail of a secret, Victoria's biggest and deepest secret. Something even Amy wasn't privy to, something Victoria had deemed too personal and too special to share.

Amy felt her jaw tighten as she saw the realisation hit her.

Victoria had an Onlyfans account.

Twelve hours and four cups of coffee later, Amy was glued onto her laptop. Scrolling through pages and pages of internet threads. Lurking in the deepest, darkest, corners of the web. Searching for a clue, the smallest crumb, a whisper of her sister's name.

There was a part of her that screamed. That told her it was wrong, that she was betraying her sister's trust.

Another part of her wanted to know. Needed to know.

Searching Onlyfans for Victoria had been a bust. She obviously didn't go by her real name, nor did she use her cape name. That much was obvious, Amy would've found out about it long ago if that had been the case. It was also obvious that whatever persona Victoria was using online wasn't in the mainstream of the website.

Aunt Sarah kept an iron grip on New Waves public image. If news about Glory Girl hosting an Onlyfans account ever leaked out into the wider web, the hammer would've come down onto Victoria immediately.

Amy concluded, that whatever account Victoria was using, did not show her face or any obvious identifying features.

It made her search much harder, but not impossible.

Her initial searches had yielded no results. The usual mess of online look-alikes that Amy had come across many times over. Most discussion threads and social media posts were grossly false, either filled with delusional fans or malicious trolls.

As the sun rose through Amy's curtains, she realised that her first night of searching had brought up nothing. There wasn't the slightest hint that her sister had a secret online presence. With a sigh of frustration, Amy closed her laptop and took comfort in the facts. The truth was out there, she only needed to find it.

--------------------------

Night after night, Amy returned to the search.

Night after night, her questions remained unanswered.

Every new lead she uncovered, every new thread she found, was a dead end. She could find no trace, no whisper, of her sister's presence online. She widened her search, thinking that she had taken the joke too literally. Onlyfans wasn't the only website out there where someone could post videos or pictures of themselves.

And Victoria had latched onto a handful of pseudonyms and codenames before she settled on Glory Girl. All Amy had to do was match the right name to the right set on photos and she'd be golden.

Night after night, she came up empty.

After weeks of searching, her frustration began to grow. The more her leads turned up empty, the more she wondered why.

Had she made it all up? The only true lead she got was a vague biological response to an awkward question. It was possible that she was wrong, and the result had been a coincidence. Amy could have projected her own hopes and feelings onto Victoria.

The possibility haunted Amy's mind as the days wore on.

The idea that the whole thing was in her head, a wild fantasy made up to satisfy her own curiosity. A sick and twisted game she played with herself.

She always had the option of going directly to Victoria. But even that wasn't without its problems. How would one go about asking that? Was there ever a causal way of asking your sister if she was secretly a camgirl? Would it be suspicious if she asked for the site and username?

Of course, it would be!

Amy was faced with an impossible choice. Ask her sister outright and risk revealing her secret. Or accept that it was all in her head, that it was a joke that Amy misread as fact. That she'd spent three weeks destroying her sleep schedule trying to find something that did not exist.

With a heavy sigh and tired eyes, Amy closed her laptop one last time.

------------------------------------------

"Amy! You're going to be late!"

Carol called out from down the hallway as the girl tiredly assembled her Panacea costume. Her movements were sluggish and her eyes were half shut, her hands fumbling clumsily with her clothes.

She was running on barely any sleep, her mind weighed down with exhaustion. The constant search had finally gotten to her. Back-to-back nights without sleep had her burning the candle at both ends with nothing to show for it.

It had become a ritual. The nights would pass and she'd stay up, pouring over her laptop and searching. The search would be fruitless, leaving her in the same place as she was before.

Amy had decided. The obsession had to end.

Not her obsession with Victoria. No, that would've been too sensible. But her search for the mythical treasure trove of her sister's secret photos, was well and truly buried at the end of a rainbow.

She didn't want to believe it was all a delusion, a wild fantasy she had conjured. But she was left with no other choice.

So Amy was done.

She waddled out from her bedroom and down the stairs. Not enough time to brew herself a coffee, she would have to rely on the cafeteria's expresso machine at the hospital.

"Wakey-wakey, Ames!" Victoria chuckled, greeting her at the bottom of the steps in all her glory.

Amy could only headbutt Victoria with a weak and sleepy grumble. The taller girl wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her hair with her other hand.

"Ready to go?" She asked. Amy purred at the loving head scratch.

A tired nod completed the conversation as Amy climbed into the warm embrace of her sister. Allowing Vicky to take to the skies and lift the two of them away.

The morning breeze was refreshing and the sunlight was warm. The trip between the Dallon house and the hospital was a short one. But for the weary healer, the trip was bliss.

"Are you okay?" Victoria asked, shortly into their trip. "You seem more tired than usual lately. Everything alright?"

"Yeah," Amy sighed, letting out a small yawn. "I've been... busy lately."

"Oh really?" Victoria grinned, squeezing Amy closer. "With what?"

"Hunting Bigfoot," Amy lied.

"Bigfoot?" Victoria chuckled. "Any luck so far?"

"Nah," Amy sighed again. "Turns out, he doesn't exist."

Victoria gave her a quizzical look. "Is this some kinda computer game thing again? Mom told you the laptop was only for schoolwork," She chuckled and shook her head. "Don't worry though. I won't tell. I can relate."

Amy wondered exactly how Victoria could relate, considering her aversion to all things computer gaming. She couldn't imagine what else her sister used a laptop for besides school. Obvious thoughts aside on what had already been disproved.

The two touched down on the roof of the hospital and Amy climbed out of Victoria's arms, brushing herself off. She briefly considered asking Vicky the same question she'd asked herself a thousand times over. But again, she was struck with the same issue of how to ask. In the end, she simply said.

"Well, thanks for the lift. See you tonight."

She turned towards the door and took two steps before Victoria called out.

"Um, before you leave. I was hoping for a favour?"

Amy turned back and blinked at her sister. Vicky had obviously waited until they were alone to ask for whatever she was about to ask. "A favour? Sure. What do you need?"

"Do you remember that bottle of nail polish Crystal got you for your birthday?" Victoria asked, hand awkwardly scratching the back of her neck.

It took Amy a few seconds to even remember that she had such a bottle. She'd only used it a handful of times and mostly just out of obligation to use the gift her cousin got her.

"Yeah?" Amy asked.

"Can I go into your room and borrow it?"

Amy blinked in confusion a few more times. "Um, sure? Wait, don't you have like, three-hundred bottles of the stuff?"

Victoria chuckled awkwardly and waved the exaggerated number away. "Yeah, but I need a new colour for my photos."

"Ph-photos?"

Victoria quickly looked around, checking to see if the hospital roof really was empty before rolling her head in embarrassment.

"Yeah, photos," She confirmed. "Look, don't tell Mom, or Aunt Sarah. But I've been, posting photos... online. Of myself... For fun..."

"Photos?" Amy said again, stunned by the admission. "You mean, like, O-o-only..."

She couldn't get the word out of her mouth.

Victoria laughed. "It's just this little thing. I don't show my face on it, obviously. No one knows it's like, me. I like the anonymity of it all. Like, proof that people are fans of me and not just Glory Girl. Y'know?"

"Y-yeah," Amy nodded, still processing the information. Admission. Confirmation. Victoria had thrown it right into her lap.

"So, can I borrow your bottle? I'll buy you a new one, I promise."

"S-sure," Amy nodded, her head still spinning. Victoria glided over and gave her a squeeze in thanks.

"Awesome! And again, don't mention this to anyone, okay?" Victoria said, letting go and floating up into the air.

"W-wait," Amy said, reaching up for her sister. "Isn't it dangerous? To take photos of yourself? And stuff?" She still couldn't work up the courage to ask for details, but she did her best.

"Nah, don't worry. There's a few creeps I guess, but no way anyone would know it's me." Victoria said with a smile. "Besides, it's only hand and feet pics, not like I have an Onlyfans account or anything." She chuckled at her own joke. "Later Ames!"

With that, she took off. Leaving Amy, wide-eyed and shocked, standing alone on the hospital roof.

A powerful slap palmed across Amy's face. Feet pictures. No wonder Amy couldn't find anything. She'd been looking for mainstream smut, not niche foot fetish websites.

"Goddamnit," She growled to herself, rubbing her cheek. "Stupid, stupid, stupid. How did I not think of that?!" A second realisation hit her shortly after. "And I still don't know what website or username she uses!"

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Felt the urge to write some toxic Shadow Bug. Aiming for 2 or 3 chapters. Enjoy!

---

"Skitter!" Shadow Stalker growled out from across the rooftop. "How fitting to find you hiding in amongst the trash."

"Stalker…" Skitter growled back with the same tone of distaste. "I'd say I was surprised to see you. But I caught your stench three blocks back," She looked up at the cape from the alleyway she stood in. "Maybe you should consider changing your name?"

A bolt shot passed Skitter's face, but the girl didn't flinch. Stalker jumped from the rooftop above and shifted into shadow form before gently gliding to the floor.

"Back to using your pathetic toys?" Skitter asked, tilting her head. "Need I remind you what a better shot I am with them?"

"I don't need shit to fuck you up!" Stalker yelled back, putting her crossbow away in favour of a gloved fist. "I'll beat you to death myself!"

Skitter's swarm buzzed around her. The mask hid any and all expression she might've had to the audacious claim, but instead of sending her bugs forth, Skitter stepped forward. Stalker claimed she didn't need toys or powers to beat her in a fight and Skitter was fine to prove the cape wrong. Squaring her shoulders, Skitter moved to settle this, fist raised to meet her opponent.

Stalker made the opening strike, ducking low to rush the bug-master before feinting with a high kick. The blow caught Skitter by surprise, however she quickly bounced back with a jab to Stalker's stomach. After a few traded hits, the pair backed away and circled one another.

"Stalker..." Skitter acknowledged, panting slightly as she rubbed her masked jaw. "You've learned some new moves."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet!" Stalker promised, squaring up for the second round.

"Then impress me," Skitter goaded, motioning Stalker to come at her again with a hand wave.

"For fucks sake Skitter," Tattletale groaned from behind her the wall of bugs. "Use the taser already! We already know her weakness!" Skitter ignored her teammate's suggestion, already catching Stalker's leg and spinning into a grapple. "And now they're punching..." Tattletale sighed, watching as Skitter beat down on the cape.

Grue ran up to Tattletale, pulling on her arm before stopping to witness the battle. "Dogs are ready. Come on T. Skitter! What are you doing?"

Skitter chose that moment to turn back, using her eyes to lock in on Grue rather than the myriads of bugs at her disposal. Stalker used that moment to wrench her arm free and deck Skitter in the face. In an instant, the battle was turned, rolling her over and trapping Skitter in a chokehold.

Grue stepped forward to assist his struggling teammate, but Skitter's bugs buzzed in anger at the attempted intrusion. Tattletale sighed and put a hand on Grue's shoulder. Both simply watched as Skitter struggled and flailed under the hold.

"Told you I didn't need bolts to beat you, Bitch!" Stalker chuckled darkly. Skitter was clawing at her mask and arms, but Stalker squeezed even tighter. "Now… You die."

With another tight squeeze of her arm, Skitter's panicked clawing faded away as her airway cut off. At no point did Skitter set her swarm of bugs upon the cape, the wall of insects obeyed their final command of shielding the other Undersiders from the fight. With a sigh of relief, Stalker let go of her fallen foe, watching as Skitter lumped to the floor.

Stalker stood up victorious. Kicking Skitter over so that she lay face down in the dirt. Stalker panted and huffed, tired from her battle, not giving the other Undersiders any more than a second glance. She turned back down to Skitter and sneered.

"My win…" She growled between pants. "That puts me ahead…"

Skitter's not-so-lifeless body moaned in pain as Stalker took a few shaky steps away. The vigilante had no desire, nor intention of fighting anyone else or stopping whatever crime was in progress. Grue and Tattletale watched as Stalker limped away and phased through a wall.

"Jesus Christ, Skitter…" Grue sighed, finally allowed through her wall of bugs. "This feud between you two... One day, you're actually gonna kill each other, you know that, right?"

"Good…" Skitter choked out as she slowly regained consciousness.

"More like fuck each other…" Tattletale sighed under her breath as she helped her teammate up.

"Really, T?" Grue shook his head at the crass suggestion.

"What? I can't be the only one who thinks it?" Tattletale laughed.

"Not fucking funny…" Skitter groaned. "I'll sting your eyes out if you say it again."

"Sure you will," Tattletale sighed with an eye roll. "Well, at least your murder-crush didn't fuck up our job this time."

With the support of both Grue and Tattletale, they moved Skitter out of the alleyway and towards the waiting dogs. Regent, Imp and Bitch all waited, mounted up on dog-back, with bags filled with loot.

"Stalker again?" Imp called out, noting Skitter's frail appearance.

"Did she win?" Regent asked. None of the Undersiders were fazed by the bout at this point.

"Stalker kicked her ass," Tattletale snorted out, hander Skitter off to Bitch. "Caught her in a chokehold."

"Damn," Regent mused, "You just cost me fifty bucks, Skitter."

"Fuck you…" Skitter coughed, holding onto Bitch for support.

"Chokehold…" Bitch mused, "I know a few counters to those. I'll show you when we get back."

Skitter patted Bitch on the shoulder in thanks, then slumped against her back. Grue and Tattletale could only shake their heads at the girl. This feud between Skitter and Stalker wasn't ending anytime soon.

-------------------------------------------------

"I fucking killed that cunt!" Sophia cheered. She had a pillow in a chokehold, demonstrating exactly how she triumphed over her arch-nemesis.

"You talking literally or?..." Madison asked, clutching her own pillow in fear. The gruesome story was bad enough, she couldn't handle it ending in death.

"Of course, she's being figurative, Madds," Emma rolled her eyes. "Skitter 'killed' her last week, remember?"

"Hey!" Sophia snapped, pointing a finger at Emma. "She got a lucky kick in. That's all. Besides, I fucking wrecked her shit in return. So it don't mean shit!"

Emma waved her hands in the air in mock surrender. "Whatever…" Emma rolled her eyes. "You're a total killer, Babe. Just don't ruin my pillows." She snatched the pillow away from Sophia and placed it gently back onto her bed. "Why do you have such a murder-boner over Skitter anyway? I mean, she's gross as fuck, but-"

"I do not have a murder boner for fucking Skitter!" Sophia gasped, offended by the concept.

"Please," Emma laughed her off. "You talk about Skitter the same way Madds talks about boys," Madison hid her blush behind the pillow in her hand. "Every day. I want her so badly. You should've seen Skitter the other day. She's been training hard. I can't wait to fuck her!" Emma teased.

"Fuck her up!" Sophia growled back. "There's a fucking difference!" Madison and Emma laughed at Sophia's growing frustration. "She's my arch-fucking-nemesis! It's a big deal in the cape world. You should fucking know. What about your murder boner over Taylor?"

Emma's face scrunched up in disgust upon hearing her name.

"Eww!" Emma whined, holding up a hand in offence. "Okay, first thing. I did not have a murder boner over Taylor. I never tried to kill her, she was just a pathetic worm that was fun to tease," Emma held out her thumb, then extended her middle finger. "And secondly, I haven't done shit to Tay-Tay in fucking months. It's not fun anymore, she doesn't cry or beg. Just stares at us like we're beneath her… The bitch."

"She so creepy now…" Madison added, nodding in agreement. "She always knows when I'm staring at her, just snaps her head around the second I try to start something. Like some possessed owl."

Emma laughed at the mental imagery. "In any case. Not a murder boner," Emma said, turning back to Sophia. "We're just worried about you, Sophie. Have you ever thought about getting a boyfriend?"

"Or a… girlfriend?" Maddison added. Both girls turned to her in confusion. "W-we don't judge, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Emma shrugged. "Point is, you could direct this energy you have invested in one person. And focus it on someone you actually like?"

"Unless you like Skitter?" Madison mused, before flinching as Sophia moved to tackle the poor girl.

Emma dived in the way and held Sophia back. Arms flinging wildly trying to throttle the smaller girl.

"The fuck you say!?"

Madison backed away in fear and held her pillow out as a shield. "I-it was j-just a suggestion?"

"Well, I suggest you shut the fuck up!" Sophia spat back, relaxing from her attempted murder. She climbed off the bed and stood by the door. "I'm getting some fucking water. We better be talking about something else when I get back…"

The girls watched as Sophia phased through the door. Madison whined into her pillow and sniffled.

"I hate making her mad..." She said.

"Hey," Emma huffed, chuckling back at the frightened girl. "If you didn't say it, I would've."

--------------------------------------

Taylor was pissed.

She often was on days when Shadow Stalker beat her. Not beat her in the literal sense, Taylor often bounced back from the scraps they had. But their feud had a competitive side to it, each cape was keeping score and currently Stalker was ahead by one.

It was a constant push and pull between the two parahumans. A single battle never amounted to much beyond a few bruises, but the overall war had been pretty even across the board. Some days, like today, Stalker would come out ahead. On other days, Skitter would get multiple consecutive wins and declare herself champion.

Taylor could hardly remember how the feud got started. Stalker didn't even take part in Skitter's original outing at the bank, it wasn't until a few weeks into her criminal career that the vigilante took notice.

From the start, she hated Stalker.

A bully who pretended to be a hero. No better than Armsmaster and just as self-righteous. Stalker represented everything that Taylor hated about heroes. A walking abuse of power. The Undersiders might've been thieves, but at least they were honest with their goals.

The rest of the team had tangled with Stalker from time to time. The couch stain was a constant reminder of her brutality. It wasn't until Skitter joined the team, did she became a thorn in their sides.

There was something about Stalker that brought out the worst in Taylor. That turned the cold, calculating and logical Skitter into a frenzy of rage and wrath. Skitter had her bugs, Stalker had her bolts, but neither of them felt the other deserved them. They were beneath that.

The second Skitter clocked Stalker with her baton in their first fight, the game had changed. The raw power of beating your opponent down far outweighed the practicality of the swarm. Batons quickly became fists, as Skitter learned new ways to fight.

Tattletale tried to help. Deducing Stalker's weakness for electricity. It was pathetic to know that her Achilles heel turned out to be nothing more than a simple stun stick. Taylor still remembered watching how Stalker jolted about in pain. How hollow her victory felt…

The stun stick was promptly discarded.

Over the months, their fights got more elaborate. Taylor would never admit looking forward to their next bout or seeing Stalker herself. But it did get the heart pumping.

For now, all she could do was stew in her anger. Wait for her next chance. Train with Bitch or Grue and improve her technique. Until then, she was back to her regular life. Worse. She was back to Winslow life.

Her life had changed dramatically since the year began. School felt nothing more than a benign cover to maintain in between Undersiders' jobs. The students, who had once been a source of anxiety and fear for Taylor, were little more than blank faces to be ignored. And the Trio, who had once hounded and haunted her for a year and a half, now felt like the most mundane of distributions in an otherwise dull false life.

Taylor had fought Dragons, Wolves and Snakes. Executing the latter and disfiguring the former. Whatever pathetic schemes Emma and her cronies could come up with wasn't worth her attention. Not that they bothered her much anyway.

She almost didn't notice them as she drifted out of Mr Gladly's class. With her thoughts occupied on Rachel's grapple counters, Taylor didn't realise until it was too late. Stepping out directly in front of the Trio and causing Sophia Hess to scowl at her.

"Watch it, Hebert!" Sophia grumbled, shoulder-checking Taylor as she tried to walk by her.

In the past, Taylor would've taken the hit and moved on, but her distraction and frustration resulted in an automatic response, shoving Sophia away from her.

"Fuck off, Sophia," Taylor grumbled back, catching the girl off guard and slamming her into the nearby lockers. Taylor hadn't thrown her that hard, but the surprise of the response put Sophia on the back foot.

Several passersby chuckled at the exchange. Sophia however, did not take well to the humiliation.

"The hell you say to me, Hebert!?" Sophia yelled, standing back up straight and posturing like an oaf. "I'm talking to you, Hebert. When did you decide to grow a fucking pair?"

"I said, fuck off, Sophia," Taylor sighed, as Sophia placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm not in the mood for this shit anymore." Taylor tried to walk away. Be the bigger person and leave before anyone started anything. The last thing she needed was to get into a big fight and have anyone looking closely at her life.

"The fuck you think you're going?" Sophia asked, gripping Taylor's shoulder tightly. It was obvious that this bitch wasn't dropping it, so Taylor did the next logical thing. Punching Sophia in the face. "I'm still talking to you, Heb-"

Taylor's fist moved as she spun out from Sophia's grip, however instead of a satisfying thud of her fist hitting her stupid, fucking face. Sophia caught the blow with her spare hand, looking just as shocked as Taylor felt.

The pair stood silently for half a moment, comprehending what had just happened. Taylor had planned for a simple hit-and-run tactic, breaking free to get away, but now her element of surprise was ruined. Sophia's shock quickly turned to anger as she realised how close to a knuckle sandwich she was.

"Did you just try to punch-"

Taylor headbutted the girl, forehead colliding with Sophia's nose. A second jab with her fist planted itself in Sophia's stomach before Taylor tried making a run for it. She got two steps before Sophia swept her leg and caught her by the hair. Yanking Taylor, painfully, back into the fray.

Taylor delivered a swift kick to Sophia's knee, which was blocked by a kick in return. Retaliating, Sophia ducked under Taylor's arms and lifted the girl into the air, carrying the girl a fair way down the hall before slamming her like a professional wrestler.

Instead of hitting the floor, Taylor used the momentum of Sophia's slam to throw the girl over her head, cartwheeling Sophia away from her. Both girls hit the floor with a painful slam, picking themselves up again and promptly charging at one another.

Before long, their fight had made it down the hall and into the courtyard. A crowd of onlookers cheered as the two girls brutally beat down on one another. Taylor could hear Emma and co calling out to stop, which girl they were yelling at was anyone's guess. Sophia's combat skills were surprising to discover, but it was no match to Taylor's life experience over the past few months, combined with the raw fury of her latest loss with Stalker, Taylor wasn't going to let some fuckwit bully from Winslow get one over on her.

-------------------------------------------------------

Finding out Hebert could fight had been one hell of a surprise. But Sophia wasn't going to let some loser freak get the better of her. She had a reputation as a fighter. Not just in school, but on the track team as well. She had won several medals and awards. If there were two things she was good at, it was running and beating the shit out of people.

Hebert was no match for her. Sophia had no intention of losing to the creep.

With a fist full of hair in one hand and her other pulling Hebert's hand from her throat, the pair rolled across the floor, each trying to find a suitable weak point. Sophia could see the faint bruises all along Hebert's body, this wasn't the girl's first fight, but Sophia was determined to make it her worst.

Sophia tried kicking the girl away, only for her foot to be grabbed by her enemy. Before Sophia could react, Hebert had flipped the two around and was straddling Sophia. Her hands still gripped Sophia's wrist tightly, forcing the girl onto her back.

Taylor planted fist after fist into Sophia, her arms taking the brunt of it and shielding her face. It was remarkably similar to her fight against Skitter the other day. She waited until there was a lull in the blows before throwing a punch at Hebert's face. Unlike the fight with Skitter, Hebert caught the first and counter-punched, decking Sophia directly on the nose.

Blood splattered across the girl's face and Hebert's fist. Sophia groaned in pain and threw Taylor's hand out to the side. Her nose may or may not have been broken, but that wasn't going to stop Sophia. A firm grip on Hebert's shirt pulled the girl in close enough for a headbutt, their foreheads cracked together, splitting open the skin above Sophia's eyes.

The surrounding audience winced at the brutal blow. For many schoolyard fights, blood spills would symbolise the end of the fight. Sophia looked up at Taylor, expecting her to give in and submit, but the girl only returned the bloody smile. She was enjoying this. Not the violence. The competition.

Sophia returned a bloody smile of her own. For once, she could agree with Hebert.

This was fun. This wasn't some pathetic, desperate struggle to save face. Hebert was trying to kill her, Sophia was trying to kill Hebert. They both knew this was going to end when one of them was unconscious. And they didn't care.

Sophia hadn't had this much fun since…

"Skitter?"

Hebert's fist stopped mid-punch. The first sign of hesitation since the fight started. The first thing Sophia had done to her that actually caused her to panic.

Hebert frowned. Sophia hadn't said it very loud, to all the onlookers, it would've been another growl. But the reaction was all too telling. Hebert's eyes flashed with recognition, the briefest hint of surprise.

"I'm not..." Hebert began to deny, only to stop herself and furrow her brow even harder. "...Stalker?"

The word felt more of a punch to Sophia's throat than anything Hebert had done to her. That was Sophia's secret, that was her name, and Taylor had said it in public.

Granted, no one else could hear her, not yet. But it was the sharpest weapon in her arsenal. It could easily ruin her life. Winslow was a haven for ABB and Empire kids. If word got out that she was Shadow Stalker, every two-bit punk with a pocket knife would be after her. It was hard enough just being black in this town, she didn't need an additional target painted on her back.

At the same time, Sophia held an equally dangerous weapon. Hebert was Skitter. Notorious criminal Undersider. The scourge of Brockton Bay, single-handedly put Lung into the ICU, tangled with Empire on the regular and was rumoured to take part in Coil's disappearance. The number of people in this city who wanted her dead was probably higher than Sophia's own.

It was like holding a gun to each other's head, seeing who would shoot first. Did she trust Hebert, trust Skitter, not to reveal her identity? Did Hebert, Skitter, trust Sophia not to turn her over?

It would be the end of their little competition, the end of their fun. If the world knew who they were, the game would change. Other people would come for them, maybe even kill them. That wouldn't be satisfying.

It was like the time Sophia realised she could easily neutralise Skitter with a single tranq bolt, phased through her swarm. Sophia still remembered watching how Skitter wobbled and collapsed in seconds. How hollow her victory felt…

No, she didn't want to win this way. She didn't need any weapons to kill Skitter. This was a private affair between the two of them. Anyone else would just get in the way.

A plan was made, not a smart one, but a plan nonetheless. A way to shut Skitter up and keep their little game going. Sophia leaned up, at the same time as Hebert leaned down. The fight ended, not with death, not with the loss of consciousness.

But a violent and bloody kiss.

-----------------------------------------------------

Kissing Sophia had been the obvious solution.

Taylor didn't know where the idea came from, but couldn't argue with the results. It was a surprising diversion, a shock to the system as well as a way to rid themselves of all the adrenaline in their system.

She wasn't expecting Sophia to be as receptive to the plan as she was. But then again, she could admit that Stalker was smarter than she looked.

What Taylor originally envisioned as a quick peck to disorientate and shock the girl, had quickly turned into something more intense. Her lips were already bruised and cut, her entire body ached from the fight. But the taste of blood in her mouth, the softness of Sophia's lips, the way their hands intertwined and grasped one another.

It was the competitive nature of them both. Neither allowed the other to get the last word in. Or in this case, the last kiss. So one quick peck became two. Then three. Then Sophia slipped in some tongue at some point and things went on for far longer than Taylor planned.

The onlookers all gasped and squealed. Some cheered, others booed. Taylor didn't really care for most of them, the only witnesses that mattered were the teachers who eventually took notice. Instead of catching Taylor in the middle of a bloody fight, they caught two students in the middle of a gratuitous display of public affection. A far less serious crime, and one neither Teacher felt particularly interested to comment on.

Sophia and Taylor were promptly escorted to the Nurse's office. The nurse quickly patched them up, lecturing the two the entire time. Neither girl listened to her though, simply staring at each other, both wondering how the game had changed.

After getting dismissed from the nurse's office, the girls were told to return to class. A request they both ignored. Taylor started making her way towards the school's entrance. An act that caused Sophia to slowly give chase. They made their way towards the exit without uttering a word.

Once outside, Sophia broke the silence first.

"Where do you think you're going?…"

Taylor paused on the steps to the school but didn't answer. She sighed out a breath and took another step out.

"Skitter."

Her name. A statement. A question. A deceleration.

"Stalker."

Taylor answered in kind.

"You'll keep that name out of your fucking mouth," Sophia growled in a hushed tone. "If you know what's good for you, Hebert."

Taylor stared the girl down. "I could tell you the same." They stood, watching each other, waiting to see who would make the next move. "I suppose this is the part where you run off to the 'heroes' at the PRT and report me?" Taylor asked with a tilt of her head.

Sophia spun back around and snarled. "As if I'd run to any of those pussies." She stepped closer, her voice a low growl. "Fuck the PRT. Fuck the Protectorate. Fuck the Wards. I don't need any of them. I can beat you myself."

Taylor huffed at the claim, her face scrunching up into a mocking sneer. "Oh, please, I kicked your ass today. We both know that was my win. Consider us even again."

Sophia scowled and took another step forward, the girl's faces only a few inches apart. "Fuck you, I almost had you. If you hadn't caught my fucking punch at the end there. Besides, where the fuck are you going? Ratting me out to your Undersider friends? Or were you planning to run away with them now that you lost your identity?"

"Fuck you," Taylor scowled in return. She didn't run away. She was taking a strategic retreat. "I'll be back at this shit-hole tomorrow. I'm just skipping the rest of the day."

"With the Undersiders?" Sophia asked.

"What? Afraid we'll break into your house and slit your throat?" Taylor smirked. "We're not the fucking Empire. And Unlike you heroes, we have some semblance of a moral code."

Sophia sneered and rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm not letting you go until you promise not to say a fucking word."

"Letting me?" Taylor scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. "Do you seriously want me to hit you again?"

"I want a fair fight," Sophia shot back. "One where I'm not fucking blindsided by you turning out to be my fucking nemesis!"

"Well at least we can agree on something," Taylor rolled her eyes. "But, nemesis? Really? What are you, twelve?"

"Fuck you, Hebert," Sophia said. "No one's watching us anymore. No need to hold back. Maybe I'll just beat you to death right here."

"Oh yeah?" Taylor said, standing toe to toe with the girl. "Take your best shot. Don't bitch out when I put you in the fucking dirt."

They stared at each other for a moment. Hands curling into fists and their feet shifting slightly. The second round was about to begin, only this time there were no rules, no witnesses. Just two superpowered teenage girls who hated each other's guts.

"Are you two alright?-"

The words caught them both off guard. Both girls had been so focused on one another, that they had forgotten the outside world existed. The source of the noise was an old janitor, looking on at them in confusion from the window above. In response, both girls grabbed each other and defaulted to the first option that came to mind.

Another kiss.

Sophia pushed Taylor up against the wall and pinned her. Her lips and hands moved all over the girl's face and neck. Taylor played along, running her hand down Sophia's back and tugging on her hair with a spiteful amount of force. After a brief few seconds of making out, they turned to the Janitor as if they had only just seen him.

"Hmm? What?" Taylor hummed absentmindedly, readjusting her glasses as Sophia's hand held up her leg. "Oh, see what you did, 'Sophie'. You've gone and caused a scene again." Her tone was light and playful, but her eyes shot a murderous glare back at Sophia.

"My bad, 'Tay-Tay'," Sophia replied in a sing-song voice, matching Taylor's acting skills. "I'm just trying to find out where my 'girlfriend' is going," She chuckled, rolling her eyes at the Janitor before locking her own murderous gaze back at Taylor. "I'd hate for you to run off on me to see your other friends. There such. Bad. Influences..."

"Well your 'girlfriend' here, isn't seeing her friends today," Taylor shot back with a sweet smile. "Not that it's any of your business, 'Babe.' I've just had a long day and want to go home. That's all..."

Sophia held onto Taylor, trying to read her eyes to see the truth in the words. Taylor didn't have any plans to visit the Undersiders today, she really did just want to ditch school and rest. Her injuries weren't that bad, but they did hurt like a bitch.

"...Shouldn't you girls be in class?-" The janitor tried to interject.

"Then you won't mind if I accompany you?" Sophia said over the top of the man, turning her gaze away from the janitor. "Wouldn't want anything to happen to you, now would I?" Sophia held Taylor's leg tightly in a grip that implied she wasn't planning on letting go.

In response, Taylor grabbed Sophia by the shirt collar and said, "Of course you can, 'Babe.'"

Taylor pulled Sophia in for another kiss, but quickly sucked in her lower lip and bit it, hard. Sophia flinched in pain at the action dropping Taylor's leg and letting the girl move of freely.

"Fuck you, Hebert..." Sophia whispered numbly, wiping the blood from her bottom lip.

"Fuck you, Sophia," Taylor whispered back, grimacing a smile as she licked blood off her teeth. Her smile returned to the falsely sweet look she had adopted earlier, "If you're not going to leave me alone, I guess it's a date then."

"I guess it is," Sophia smiled back, mimicking the sickeningly sweet tone and expression. Both girls turned to smile and wave at the janitor one last time before heading down the street together.

The Janitor watched them leave, scratching his head in confusion. "Teenagers..." He muttered under his breath.

Their innocent smiles lasted all of a minute before the two girls turned the street corner. The facade broke the moment they were alone, glaring hateful daggers at each other.

"What the fuck was that?" They both said to each other, the words coming out perfectly synchronized.

"Don't ask me," Taylor spat. "Girlfriend!? It's bad enough you kiss me..."

"I kissed you!?," Sophia growled, wiping a spot of blood from her lip. "Bitch, you kissed me. Fucking freak."

"You're the one who got tongue involved," Taylor huffed, rolling her eyes and wiping her own lips. "And if I hadn't played along, we would've had a dozen people calling the police and paramedics."

"Cause you went all psycho on me back in the hallways," Sophia accused.

"Cause you kept getting up in my face about stupid shit," Taylor shot back. "All you had to do was let me walk off, but no. You wanted to start shit, like always."

"Well excuse me for finding it strange that the goddamn dork grew a spine today!" Sophia spat. "But I guess I worked out why."

"I'll show you a goddamn spine," Taylor growled, balling her hands into fists and glaring at the girl. "When I snap yours, you fucking bitch."

"I'm shaking," Sophia sneered. "We both know you're not a brute, Hebert. Stop acting like one."

"Fuck off," Taylor huffed, kicking the sidewalk with her feet.

"Fuck you," Sophia returned the sentiment.

They were quiet for a moment. Taylor didn't feel much like arguing anymore. Sophia probably felt the same.

"...You're not going to the Undersiders, right?" Sophia eventually asked.

"Why would I?" Taylor shot back, glaring at her.

"Just checking," Sophia shrugged. "It would be a pretty shitty move."

"Just like reporting me to the Protectorate would be," Taylor retorted.

"I told you, I'm not telling them shit," Sophia grumbled. "They'd just bench me and get in our way..."

"Our?" Taylor questioned.

"Yes, ours," Sophia explained. "Our battle is between us and us only. It's not for some pussy ass wannabe superheroes to ruin. They'd just fuck it up. You don't get the Under-twats to fight your battles, I don't get the Protectorate to fight mine. We're doing this on our own, without any of their bullshit. Got it?"

Taylor was silent for a moment. Considering what Sophia was saying.

"...Yeah," Taylor said. "I get it. So, we're agreed. None of them can know."

"None of them," Sophia nodded.

"Then what happens now?" Taylor asked.

"Business as usual," Sophia said, folding her arms and walking forward. "Next time I see you in costume. I'll kill you."

Taylor huffed and walked alongside her. "Fair enough. What about school?"

"I just fucking said," Sophia said. "Next time I see you 'in costume.' We can't go all out at school. People will get suspicious. Plus murder looks bad for my parole officer..."

"I meant, how are we acting at school?" Taylor asked. "Apparently, we're a couple now. Are we acting like a couple?"

"Fuck no," Sophia scoffed. "That was just to shut the Janitor up."

"So when Emma eventually asks you why the fuck you kissed me, you'll tell her?..." Taylor asked.

Sophia went quiet for a long while. She eventually sighed and muttered, "...Fine. If anyone asks, we'll play the couple thing. But we're not gonna be hanging out and acting lovey-dovey and all that crap."

"Oh, so I'll just take your word for it that you don't tell her shit?" Taylor said sarcastically. She sighed, rubbing her head. She didn't want to do this next part, but it was the only way to be safe. "I know how much of a fucking gossip Emma is, and how she gets other people to talk. I'm going to have to watch over you, and unfortunately... her."

"You what?"

"We'll come up with a reasonable excuse for your... sudden change of attitude towards me," Taylor elaborated. "Something to keep Emma's mouth shut and stop her guessing alternatives. Once I'm satisfied she's bought it, then I can leave you alone..."

"Fuck off," Sophia snorted. "There's no way in hell you'd be able to stomach watching over Emma after all the shit she's done to you. No fucking way."

"You really think I care?" Taylor scowled. "Believe me, I have no desire to spend any moment of time with the girl. But right now, my only concern is protecting my secret. And if that means I have to tolerate her existence for a little bit, so be it."

"Oh, Emma is going to love this..." Sophia muttered. "Whatever. It'll help me keep an eye on you, too. Make sure you're not going to try and do anything stupid..."

"Good," Taylor nodded. "Then we're done here.

Taylor moved to leave but Sophia grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Wait, hold on. If you think I'm taking your word a face value then you're more fucking stupid than I thought."

"Sophia," Taylor sighed in annoyance. "I'm literally just going to the library until it's time to go home."

"I'm going with you," Sophia stated.

"Why?" Taylor groaned.

"Because I don't trust you," Sophia growled.

"Alright, I guess it's a fucking date then after all," Taylor sneered. "Have fun watching me read, 'Babe'."

Taylor took off walking, no longer caring if Sophia followed her or not. She just wanted the day to be over with already.

"God dammit," Sophia mumbled. "Of all the goddamn people in Brockton Bay and my nemesis turned out to be the fucking bookworm..."

"What was that?" Taylor called out, acting somewhat polite as they found themselves no longer alone on the streets.

Sophia pasted on the sickly sweet smile she'd given the janitor earlier, moving up beside Taylor and linking with her arms. It was the safest way for them to move around the crowded streets as they got further into the city.

"I said~," Sophia replied in a sugary sweet voice. The pair fell into the charade of being a cute, but odd-looking couple. With a smile on her face, Sophia whispered into Taylor's ear. "Go fuck yourself, 'Babe.'"

 

[Gowonzu]

If someone had told Sophia she'd be spending her afternoon with Hebert in the library, Sophia would've punched them. But now, here she was, and they weren't even reading books.

For the third time in a single day, the impossible had happened.

Sophia's back was pinned to the chair as Hebert sat in her lap, kissing her. The pair were hidden away in a corner of the library, their only witnesses the books on the shelves around them.

Neither knew how they got here. It was a weird situation. Hebert was Skitter.

How the hell did that even happen?

Hebert was a nobody. A pathetic little weakling who got pushed around by everyone. Skitter was a ruthless villain who put guys like Lung in the ICU. There was no way the two could be the same person.

Yet, there was no mistaking the way she fought and how she held herself. Hebert was Skitter.

Hebert had calmly entered the library and moved to the back of the building. Sophia had watched Hebert with a glare as the girl picked up a small collection and made herself comfortable on a soft cushioned chair. She acted like Sophia wasn't even there, watching her every move.

Now she was kissing her. Hebert's hand around her neck. Her tongue in her mouth. Willing Sophia to shut the fuck up, and submit. All the while Sophia did anything but...

She had expected Hebert to make up some bullshit excuse at some point and try to make contact with the Undersiders. But instead, she was serious about spending the entire day reading a bunch of books. Her face twisted with an irritated scowl at the image.

Skitter was supposed to be strong, tough, and intimidating. Not the fucking bookworm that was across from her. Hebert didn't even look like she had the same body build. Skitter was built like a runner, with legs that Sophia would never admit to admiring. Whereas Hebert looked nothing more than a scrawny nerd.

Granted, the scrawny nerd was currently wearing baggy clothes instead of a skin-tight silk suit. But still.

Hebert's eyes eventually looked up from her book, finally taking notice of Sophia staring at her. Hebert had sprawled herself out across the cushioned chair, her feet up as she held her book close to her face. Sophia had chosen to stand, leaning against a bookshelf with her legs crossed. There was something about her posture and irritated attitude that juxtaposed the Hebert that Sophia knew.

"Can I help you with something?" Hebert drawled out.

That's all it took for them to start another argument.

Their fight was a heated whisper, a continuation of their conversation outside the school. Sophia still trying to wrap her mind around her new reality of Hebert's identity. Meanwhile, Hebert was pissed at the idea that Sophia had called herself a hero.

With each traded barb, their voices slowly climbed in volume. With every insult they gave, their faces inched closer together. With every snide remark, their hands found a new place to grasp or grab.

Then a distant librarian called out for silence, and it was all over for them.

The girls continued their argument silently. Their lips and bodies speak for them. Hebert grabbed Sophia's collar and pulled her closer, demanding her to shut the fuck up. Sophia wrapped her arm around Hebert's waist in defiance and lifted her off her chair.

Hebert responded by gripping her throat. Sophia replied by pulling her hair.

To an outside observer, it might've looked like an overly enthusiastic lover's embrace. If you didn't pay attention to the fact that the girls were slowly strangling and bruising one another.

This was a battle. One in which the victor was the last person to relent. To stop and give in to the other's demands. Hebert spun her around and pinned her to the chair, but Sophia refused to let go, lips parting briefly to leave bite marks along Hebert's neck and shoulder.

"Fuck you..." Hebert growled in pain as she squeezed Sophia's neck tighter.

"Fuck... you..." Sophia groaned between bites.

The battlefield had changed but the rules had stayed the same. Tire out your opponent before they can do the same to you. Make the other submit before they make you submit.

Hebert's fingers slowly released their grip as and Sophia started to slump against her, panting heavily.

"Tired, bitch?" Hebert smirked.

Sophia's eyes narrowed before she bit down again on Hebert's exposed collarbone. Hebert winced audibly, her breath hissing as she squeezed Sophia's throat harder, forcing her lips apart.

The noise Hebert made was far too loud for the library, which meant she had lost this round. An unspoken rule that both girls understood. Even with Hebert's hand still around her throat and Hebert's body straddling her, victory went to Sophia. She finally let her jaw relax and looked up proudly at her fallen foe.

"You fucking asshole..." Hebert groaned through gritted teeth.

"That puts me ahead," Sophia whispered, licking Hebert's blood off her lips. "...Again."

Hebert's glare of contempt bore right through Sophia. It was the look of pure hatred that Sophia had often imagined lay behind Skitter's golden lenses. Hebert was Skitter. It was hard to deny that now.

Sophia's mouth slowly ticked up into a grin as she watched the girl. Her hand still rested along Hebert's body, Skitter's body. She could feel that runner's build beneath the baggy clothing. Sophia had a hard time remembering to remove her hand, now that the battle was over.

"What?" Hebert asked, still seething

"Nothing," Sophia grumbled, her smile dropping as quickly as it came. She stood up from the seat, pushing Hebert off her with ease. "I'm bored. Going home."

Hebert nodded in response, her mood shifting instantly back to normal as if their fight never happened in the first place. Outside of the fight, the two had barely spoken a word to each other since they arrived. Now that Sophia had decided to leave, she suddenly felt a need to... do something. Hebert shared the same feeling, closing her book and standing up.

Both girls waited for the other one to speak, but Sophia didn't know what to say. She wasn't about to give her a friendly goodbye or anything. Ignoring the funny feeling, Sophia turned and left the building.

"Don't tell anyone," Hebert warned as Sophia sauntered off.

Sophia scoffed, turning to her with a roll of her eyes. She knew the threat was serious. Both girls would rather die than reveal the other's identity.

"Who would believe me anyway?" Sophia retorted, shaking her head in disbelief at the day before turning and leaving.
-------------------------------

Taylor let out a long sigh as she mentally prepared for what she was about to do.

Winslow cafeteria was a disgusting and noisy place. Taylor was aware of how many bugs infested the place even before her trigger event. Not once in her time here had she ever considered having lunch in this hellhole. Doubly so at the thought of eating with Emma and her cronies.

But then Sophia had to ruin everything. It was a weird situation. Sophia was Stalker

How the hell did that even happen?

Sophia was a bully. A pathetic kid who got a high by picking on the weak and following the likes of Emma. Stalker was a ruthless superhero who constantly put Empire goons in the ICU. There was no way the two could be the same person.

Yet, there was no mistaking the way she fought and her mannerisms. Sophia was Stalker.

Sophia was already sitting with Emma and Madison. The two girls were looked to be interrogating her, or trying to. Judging by the sour look on her face, Sophia was not enjoying herself.

"Sophie, seriously!" Emma huffed, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "You can't just act like nothing's changed. What the fuck was happened with Taylor yesterday?"

Sophia's frown shifted, her wall of indifference cracking under the constant barrage of questions. This was exactly why Taylor needed to be here.

"And where did you go afterwards?" Madison added, giving the girl a suspicious look. "Some people said you left school with Taylor?... holding her hand?... and kissing her?... again?" Sophia growled at the last question, causing Madison to flinch back.

"I heard that too," Emma continued, leaning forward and narrowing her eyes. "Like what the fuck, Sophia? You wanna be gay, fine. But Taylor? Why the hell would you ever-"

"Sophie! There you are~" Taylor's sickly sweet tone interrupted Emma's questions. She marched right over and planted herself next to Sophia. Sophia, for her part, barely reacted, keeping her expression neutral. "Madison, it's good to see you. Emma..." Taylor turned back to Sophia, not finishing her sentence. "How's my lovely girlfriend today?~"

"Fine," Sophia answered, her tone flat. "You?"

"Never better~" Taylor smiled.

Emma and Madison were stunned silent at the scene in front of them. Taylor's smile didn't falter. Sophia's expression was neutral.

"Um," Emma finally broke the silence. "The fuck?..."

Emma blinked rapidly, trying to understand what was happening. Taylor could see the gears turning in the girl's head, even as she struggled to form a sentence.

"Girlfriend?" Madison asked, getting her voice back first. "Wait, are you two... dating!?"

Taylor's false smile held and she glared at Sophia, willing the girl to speak.

"...Yeah," Sophia eventually replied.

"But..." Emma's brow furrowed, her eyes darting between the pair. "The fuck?..."

Emma was still struggling with her words. Sophia seemed content to play with her food, although Taylor could see some of the tension from her brow was lifting now that Taylor was here.

"Since when?" Madison questioned.

"Yesterday," Taylor answered simply.

"I was talking to Sophia," Madison clarified, like the bitch she was.

"Yesterday," Sophia parroted.

"The fuck!?" Emma blurted out a third time.

"Okay, but when?" Madison asked again, tilting her head in curiosity. "And like... why?"

This was the question Taylor had been waiting for. The explanation, the excuse. Crafting a believable lie for their actions yesterday, and why they had seemingly become a couple overnight. The idea of actually dating Sophia was so laughably disgusting that Taylor almost scowled at the question.

She turned to Sophia, silently nudging her to start the story. For the two girls to believe it, Sophia would need to set the foundation of the lie.

"The fight..." Sophia began, pushing the mush that was considered cafeteria food away. "After the fight... or well, during the fight." Taylor nodded in agreement. "There was a point at the end where I realised..." She turned to look at Taylor, not saying the truth. "...Damn. This dork can fight..."

Sophia huffed a chuckle and forced a smile on her face as she stared at Taylor. The action was unnatural, but hopefully enough for Madison and Emma to buy.

"The fuck?..."

"All it took was one little fight..." Taylor added, ignoring Emma's broken record and giving a similar smile back. "To see the truth..."

"Little fight?" Madison choked on her food. "You two looked like you were trying to kill each other. Like, did you see yourselves? You both had blood on you. You still have the bruises."

At the comment, the new couple's smiles relaxed into a far more genuine smirk. Sophia's face was as badly bruised as Taylor's felt, each and every mark was given by Taylor, a gift that was returned in kind. Madison watched the subtle shift on their faces with disturbed interest.

"Anyway... That was the first time I saw Hebert get physical," Sophia continued. "Like, really physical. No hiding behind her books, no running away and crying like a bitch. I was..." Sophia paused, mulling her words carefully. "...impressed." The word almost sounded genuine coming from her lips.

"...The fuck?"

"So you kissed," Madison said, still sounding sceptical. "Right there and then, you both just..." She gestured with her hands, pushing them together.

Taylor shrugged, taking a page out of Lisa's book and smirking like a fox. "Sure we did. After I proved that I could beat her in a fight it was only natural that we'd-"

"Excuse me?" Sophia growled, the lie breaking for a moment as her brow furrowed. "You didn't beat me. That one ended in a draw."

"I was about to win," Taylor said, rolling her eyes.

"The hell you were," Sophia snapped.

"I was on top of you," Taylor stated. You were pinned to the floor like a rat."

"I was about to flip you on your ass," Sophia sneered.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Taylor smirked, shrugging again.

"Bullshit," Sophia shot back, the tension in her voice clear. "I would've won that round. And let's not forget who won the round at the library. I'm still on top, Hebert!"

Taylor's smirk fell and she narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"I let you win that one," Taylor lied. "I didn't want the librarian to kick us out."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Sophia rolled her eyes, her own smirk forming.

Taylor's frown doubled as Sophia used her own words against her.

"You looking for another fight?" She growled.

"If you think you can handle me, bitch," Sophia challenged.

"Name a time and place..." Taylor said. "You free after school today?"

"Uh..." Madison tried to interject, holding up her hands in confusion. "I don't think I could stomach seeing another fight like yesterday..."

Both girls ignored her. Glaring into each other's eyes. Taylor wasn't going to back down from the issued challenge.

"Well, as much as I'd love to take you up on that," Sophia added, her tone almost flirtatious. "Unfortunately, I have work today..."

"What a coincidence..." Taylor smirked. "So do I."

A slow, sinister smile grew on both girl's faces as they shared a mutual understanding. Their afternoon plans had been set.

"The fuck..."

Taylor snapped back to reality and turned to face Emma. She had forgotten the girl was still there. Emma's mouth was agape as she stared at the two of them in utter shock.

"Anyway~," Taylor said cheerily with a clap of her hands. "We had a good chat after the fight and decided that we should date. That's how it happened. This is a thing now, so yeah... I might join Sophie here for lunch this week. Don't mind me, I'm just here for her. Act like I'm not here. I know you do anyway." She chuckled in a very not-Taylor way.

Madison looked from Taylor to Sophia, who confirmed her words with a small nod.

"Uh, sure," Madison replied, still sounding unconvinced. "If you're happy, then... whatever. It's cool…"

Three tables across from them, a group of boys were whispering and chuckling. Shooting dirty looks in Taylor's direction. Between the colours they wore and the jokes that she could hear being made through her bugs, Taylor could tell they were Empire affiliates.

"Cool with us... at least," Madison grimaced, following Taylor's eyes. "You good?"

"Not the first time I've been called a Dyke," Taylor said flatly, staring back at the table, ignoring Madison and her double standards. It's only 'cool' now that her friend is gay, it never stopped her from laughing at the slur when it was directed at Taylor alone.

"Not the worst thing they've called me..." Sophia added, her tone dark and cold.

"Oh, they're calling you worse things," Taylor growled, standing up from the table.

"Hebert!" Sophia moved to grab Taylor's arm. "Don't."

Taylor looked down at the hand grabbing her arm and froze. Sophia was trying to protect her identity. As much as Taylor would love nothing more than to wipe the smug smile off the boy's face, the whole reason Taylor was here was to eliminate suspicion.

"How do you do that?" She muttered under her breath.

"Do what?" Sophia asked.

"Ignore it," Taylor frowned. "Act like everything's normal when they're saying all those things about you."

"Because I can't hear what they're saying," Sophia answered simply, pointing out that Taylor shouldn't be able to hear the words either. "And... They're not worth it... There are better battles to pick."

Taylor glared back at the group of boys and let out a slow breath, nodding to Sophia. She still stood but moved in another direction.

"Fine..." She sighed, looking towards the cafeteria line. "Whatever, I'm going to get food."

Sophia let go of Taylor and made an exaggerated display of rolling her eyes.

"Well damn," Madison chuckled, watching the pair. "I knew you were weird Taylor, but you really are perfect for Sophia."

"Huh!? Do you want me to hit you instead!?" Sophia and Taylor both reacted in disgust, causing Madison to flinch away.

Both girls realised their mistake and mumbled an apology as Taylor moved away.

"The fuck!?" Emma asked out yet again. This time she leaned over and tugged on Sophia's arm. "No seriously? The fuck is happening?"

Sophia sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "Ems, you literally told me to find a girlfriend the other day. Well, I got one. Problem solved."

"No. No problem not solved." Emma growled, glaring at her. "I meant for someone else, literally anyone else! Where the fuck did this come from? Why her?"

"We just said," Sophia shrugged, acting like it was obvious.

"Taylor fights you bloody and that's it!?" Emma asked incredulously. "That's it? That's all it took!?"

Sophia nodded her head like it was a simple question. At the same time, the Empire boys all jumped in surprise as something on their table disturbed them. They all pushed their food away, choking and spitting out the contents in their mouths. Emma ignored the scene and continued staring at Sophia.

"Sophie, you're insane. I already knew you were insane but this!?" Emma exclaimed. "Taylor tried to kill you yesterday, if you didn't notice! But of course, you noticed! You just got another fucking... murder... boner?..." Her rant trailed off as she finally gave notice to the table of boys.

Their food was infested with bugs. Not the odd fly, but several cockroaches had made their way into the boy's food. The boys were scraping their tongues clean, gagging and coughing up the remains. Sophia was still looking back at Emma, oblivious to the scene behind her.

"I don't have a fucking murder boner," Sophia huffed, rolling her eyes. "And shut up about our conversations at school. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Emma wasn't listening to her anymore. Her rant had trailed off just as her brain made several connections. The fight, Taylor's odd shift in mood over the past month, the random bugs that were inconspicuously targeting Empire, the way Sophia was acting. Emma turned her head slowly towards Taylor, who was still in the line for food. She had that creepy emotionless stare Taylor sometimes had, looking blankly at the table of grossed-out boys.

A cold shiver ran down Emma's spine as she turned back to Sophia. Her friend continued to glare at her, willing this relationship into reality and telling Emma to accept it. With widening eyes and a growing horror, Emma realised the real reason why Sophia decided to date Taylor.

"...The fuck?
------------------------------

Walking into the Undersider's loft after a long day at Winslow was exactly what Taylor needed. She'd only spent lunch with the trio, and she still felt like she needed a shower.

Rachel's dogs ran circles around her as she stepped inside, panting happily at her arrival. Rachel herself was in some kind of argument with Alec, they were too far away from Taylor and her bugs to get a good read on the conversation, but Brian was acting as a mediator. Aisha on the other hand, seemed to be prodding the pair.

"Congratulations," Lisa said the second Taylor got her bearings. She was standing in the kitchen, a cup of water in her hand.

"For?" Taylor asked.

"Getting a girlfriend," Lisa smirked, sipping her drink. "Or for coming out? Or both."

"Getting a what?" Taylor blinked in confusion, her brow furrowing.

"Oh, sorry?," She smirked, green eyes glinting with mischief. "Was it meant to be a secret?... Trust me, Taylor. I've known you were gay since we met."

"What?" Taylor said again.

"Okay, Bi," Lisa sighed, waving her hand. "Same thing really."

"I'm not-"

"It's about time if you ask me," Lisa said, interrupting her. "Glad you see you moving on from Brian. You two were never that great of a match. My fault honestly. What do I know about relationships?" She chuckled at herself. "Honestly though, I'm a little offended that you weren't planning on telling me."

Taylor stopped trying to correct her, realising Lisa was just going to ignore her. Her powers had obviously picked up on something and Taylor had learned it was better to just let Lisa try to show off rather than correct her.

"I wasn't planning on telling anyone," Taylor grumbled, annoyed at Lisa's ability.

"Ah," Lisa smirked. "Still new and figuring things out. I can understand that," Lisa nodded before laughing again. "Actually, I can't. But I'm sure you'll manage. But that doesn't mean you can't come to me to gossip and share all the... messy details," She gestured at Taylor and then to the couch. "Come come, tell me everything. What's her name? How'd you meet? Who kissed her first?"

Taylor looked at the couch and back to Lisa. Sighing, she rubbed her forehead. "Can't keep anything past you..."

"Nope," Lisa smiled.

"What's happening with them?" Taylor asked, nodding back to Rachel and Alec.

"Nothing," Lisa said dismissively. "Alec was caught feeding the dogs pizza scraps. Stop avoiding the questions."

Taylor sighed again, knowing Lisa was going to keep bothering her until she got the answers. "...it's not important." She grumbled. "We're here to work."

"We got time," Lisa dismissed, sitting down and patting the seat next to her. "Now, who kissed who? And just how feisty is she?"

Taylor's eyebrow twitched as she thought back to the fight, the one at the library, not the one at Winslow. It was true that the kiss had been a part of the fight.

"Who said any of us kissed?" She eventually asked, still avoiding the question.

Lisa smiled wickedly, her eyes sparkling. "Oh, Tay. I don't need powers to know that you've been kissed recently. Just look at the bruises on your neck. And is that a bite mark I see?" Taylor moved quickly to cover her neck, blushing bright red as Lisa's smile grew. "Kinky... Now. Give me a name."

"Lisa..." Taylor said, trying to pull her away from her deduction.

Obviously, it happened at school. But you don't enjoy school and most people there don't like you... So... New student? This late in the year? Unlikely... Someone you already knew."

"Lisa."

"Annoyed? Why do they annoy you? And you're bruised. You didn't have those marks last time I saw you. Did you get into a fight? Wait... Is it the one who gave you the bruises!? Did you kiss and make up?"

She laughed and then paused.

"You did kiss and make up! You made out with your bully. Oh, Taylor, you scandalous girl."

"Lisa!" Taylor was getting annoyed at her usually charming but smug attitude.

"Did you make up with that Emma bitch?" Lisa asked, half amused and half shocked.

"WHAT?" Rachel called out from down the loft.

"Not you, don't worry!" Lisa shouted back.

"No, I didn't make out with fucking Emma," Taylor growled, repulsed by the very thought.

"But you made out with one of them?" Lisa deduced. Taylor's lack of response was answer enough. "Hmm. That narrows things down."

"It doesn't," Taylor insisted, annoyed at how Lisa was so good at her job. "Everyone bullied me at Winslow."

"It does," Lisa corrected. "Are you going to tell me or do I need to go through the Winslow registry again?"

"When did you ever?-"

"You expect to tell me kids are bullying you at school and think I didn't go through the whole damn registry? Please, Taylor, I have a hit list of every single one of the assholes. I'm just waiting for you to give the green light."

"Sophia!" Taylor finally caved.

The name stopped Lisa's rambling, her face shifting from playful to surprised, her mouth hanging open. She went silent in thought for a short moment. At the back of the loft, Rachel tried to throw a punch at Alec. Alec caught the arm with his power, laughing as Rachel twitched and missed her mark. Unfortunately for him, her other fist hit him square in the face.

"Sophia?" Lisa's voice broke.

"Yes," Taylor confirmed.

"Hess?"

"Yes,"

"Isn't she the one who?..." Lisa mimed a shove, avoiding mentioning Taylor's trigger. "Y'know?

"She is," Taylor growled.

"And now you're dating?" Lisa asked, still shocked.

"It's complicated," Taylor said, exasperated.

Lisa went quiet for another long while. Taylor looked away, watching as Brian picked Alec off the floor and forced him to shake hands with Rachel. Hesitantly, Taylor turned back to look at Lisa. She expected another barrage of questions.

Instead, she was surprised to see that Lisa's face had gone from shocked to smug again. A smile across her face.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"Nothing," Lisa replied. "Ready to get to work?"

Taylor raised an eyebrow at the comment, but took the easy out rather than try justify her false relationship to a Thinker.

"Yes," She nodded, sighing in relief.

"Excellent," Lisa clapped her hands. "Go sit with the others, I'll go get the files. I have an idea for our next target."

Taylor nodded and stood up, walking down the hallway to meet with the others. The team greeted her like family as Lisa waited on the couch. In truth, Lisa didn't need the time to get the files, Brian already had a copy. She was instead waiting for the moment she was alone.

Once Taylor moved away and Lisa was sure no bugs were watching over her shoulder, she looked down into her now empty cup and stifled a giggle. Failing to do so, she broke into a silent fit of laughter.

"Holy shit..." She said between breaths. "Oh, Skitter... You finally got your girl..."