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Safe For Work Worm Ideas thread

One that's been bouncing around a bit: shift characters into another universe and back in time a bit. Daniel Hebert, son of a union-organizing socialist, had taken on work in this high profile, undersea construction project. Once it was built, the workers were romised freedom from Government parasitism, a place where a man could enjoy the fruit of his labors.

And so Danny Hebert came to live in Rapture.

Annette was an artist/author/literary who's it. They fell in love. Had a daughter.

Fanny saw how the old construction boys were getting treated. Started agitating toward a union. Got sent to Persephone, then to Suchong.

With Annette under arrest as a confidante of Sophia Lamb, Taylor was sent to the Little Sisters Orphanage.

Together they became one of the first Alpha-series Protector program bond-pairs. Just Little Sister Taylor and Big Daddy Danny Hebert.

Years later, a cardiac arrest from a splicer attack sends Danny into a coma.

Taylor continues on, eventually becoming the first Big Sister, terror of splicers and shepherdess of the Adam cycle.
 
I have the vague thought of Amy dating Taylor after the bank job (it was accidental on Taylor's part, kind of like Silencio), and Amy deciding to get revenge on Those Three Bitches by having someone she knows can emotionally destroy someone go after them ('You want me to owe you a favor, don't you?'). She just has to work out a way to contact Lisa, since obviously she doesn't know yet that Taylor is Skitter.

Doesn't have to be Amy, of course, just needs to be someone who likes Taylor, and knows how evil Lisa can be when provoked.
 
I have the vague thought of Amy dating Taylor after the bank job (it was accidental on Taylor's part, kind of like Silencio), and Amy deciding to get revenge on Those Three Bitches by having someone she knows can emotionally destroy someone go after them ('You want me to owe you a favor, don't you?'). She just has to work out a way to contact Lisa, since obviously she doesn't know yet that Taylor is Skitter.

Doesn't have to be Amy, of course, just needs to be someone who likes Taylor, and knows how evil Lisa can be when provoked.
This...just sounds like a not-at-all veiled excuese for trio-bashingabuse to me. I mean, it's more IC than any instance of Taylor sicking anyone else on the trio. Well, than any version of Taylor with her canon trigger, powers, and thus canon shard influence, that is.

EDIT: fixed for terminology.

TIL: character bashing wasn't what I thought it was.
 
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This...just sounds like a not-at-all veiled excuese for trio-bashing to me. I mean, it's more IC than any instance of Taylor sicking anyone else on the trio. Well, than any version of Taylor with her canon trigger, powers, and thus canon shard influence, that is.
'Bashing' means 'writing a character as worse than they are in canon' (or at least, 'worse than most readers think they are'). There is no need to make them look worse, their canon actions were utterly horrible.

EDIT: Of course, you may be using a different definition of 'bashing' than the one I'm used to.
 
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'Bashing' means 'writing a character as worse than they are in canon' (or at least, 'worse than most readers think they are'). There is no need to make them look worse, their canon actions were utterly horrible.

EDIT: Of course, you may be using a different definition of 'bashing' than the one I'm used to.
Literally never heard that definition of character bashing before. The way I've heard it used before, and the one in which I was using it, was the process of placing a character into a plot whose sole purpose is to abuse the character, i.e: plot-as-bludgeon used to satiate a personal distaste for the character. In short: using the plot to bash the character.

What you're speaking of sounds more like character-libel or a simple matter of defamation.

That aside, if you want to sick the full wrath of Livsey on the trio, there's an easier, albeit less pleasant and darker way to do so than jumping hoops like making Taylor gay. Have them have killed her. It's not a hard divergence to find space for, so long as you're not trying to work with memetic Skitter. There were several times in-story that it could easily have happened between Bakuda and Leviathan. For example: things went differently while Taylor was concussed. She was out of it, her balance bad. Or she picked a less pleasant place to pick a fight. Or the fight went differently.

Lisa finds out that they killed Taylor. Who she was in the process of pseudo-adopting as a surrogate sibling/friend. This puts her directly back into the mindset which led to her trigger event (which is one of the things which leads to powers being more responsive to their users, typically). Viola: a grieving, angry Tattletale is now inclined and motivated to utterly ruin the trio...and possibly the PRT ENE once she finds out who Sophia is.

That...seems like more of a story to me, to be honest. It has fallout, repurcussions. The otheres seems more apt for a snippet.
 
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This...just sounds like a not-at-all veiled excuese for trio-bashing to me. I mean, it's more IC than any instance of Taylor sicking anyone else on the trio. Well, than any version of Taylor with her canon trigger, powers, and thus canon shard influence, that is.

What you are thinking of is called a "Revenge fic" not character bashing.
'Bashing' means 'writing a character as worse than they are in canon' (or at least, 'worse than most readers think they are'). There is no need to make them look worse, their canon actions were utterly horrible.

EDIT: Of course, you may be using a different definition of 'bashing' than the one I'm used to.

That's character bashing.
 
There is no need to make them look worse, their canon actions were utterly horrible.
Yeah, no. Worm has several characters which approach utter horribleness in it. The trio don't even begin to come close. All told, the trio are small potatoes which simply prompt irrationally disproportionate hate-boners from the fandom.

What you are thinking of is called a "Revenge fic" not character bashing.
On further examination, you are correct. It's a stupid reversal of terminology, since the other actually has an internal logic to it, but you are correct. Apologies for the error on my part.

Note: not saying you're stupid or that others who use it that way are. Just seems counter-intuitive to me when the other would be a more intuitive use of the label. *shrug*
 
Lisa finds out that they killed Taylor. Who she was in the process of pseudo-adopting as a surrogate sibling/friend. This puts her directly back into the mindset which led to her trigger event (which is one of the things which leads to powers being more responsive to their users, typically). Viola: a grieving, angry Tattletale is now inclined and motivated to utterly ruin the trio...and possibly the PRT ENE once she finds out who Sophia is.

That...seems like more of a story to me, to be honest. It has fallout, repurcussions. The otheres seems more apt for a snippet.
Lisa's hot button was suicide, not murder I believe. Have the trio kill Taylor but Sophia manages to make it look like a suicide. With Taylor having been in a good head-space the last time Lisa saw her, the apparent suicide would be completely unexpected and hit Lisa just like her trigger did. This should give her all the motivation she needs to explore deeper. When she finds out the truth, and she would, Lisa could begin the revenge everyone is eager for.

Actually, Sophia using her powers and such to try and get away with it could be a method to break Lisa out of her "Cops and Robbers" mindset she was showing in Canon, if you believe it to be her actual beliefs and not something she was saying just to get Taylor to join.
 
Lisa's hot button was suicide, not murder I believe. Have the trio kill Taylor but Sophia manages to make it look like a suicide. With Taylor having been in a good head-space the last time Lisa saw her, the apparent suicide would be completely unexpected and hit Lisa just like her trigger did. This should give her all the motivation she needs to explore deeper. When she finds out the truth, and she would, Lisa could begin the revenge everyone is eager for.

Actually, Sophia using her powers and such to try and get away with it could be a method to break Lisa out of her "Cops and Robbers" mindset she was showing in Canon, if you believe it to be her actual beliefs and not something she was saying just to get Taylor to join.
Fair point and criticism. Personally, I'm not actually that eager for revenge fic, but the idea pinged off bits of my brain, and if I'm truthful including anything as canon-bending and WAFFY as the majority of depictions of Taymy in a trio revenge fic just seems to clash with the presumably intended tone.

Because if you're unleashing Lisa on them, light and happy is not the tone to result. Lisa doesn't do nice, except when dealing with her friends. She is as vicious as canon Amy pretends to be, but unlike Amy, Lisa actually pulls the trigger on the awful things she threatens.
 
That aside, if you want to sick the full wrath of Livsey on the trio, there's an easier, albeit less pleasant and darker way to do so than jumping hoops like making Taylor gay. Have them have killed her.

Ah, but I don't want Taylor dead, I want to see how she develops in this situation.

... also, I miss Silencio, but mostly I want to see how the characters, Taylor included, would develop in the suggested circumstances.
 
Ah, but I don't want Taylor dead, I want to see how she develops in this situation.

... also, I miss Silencio, but mostly I want to see how the characters, Taylor included, would develop in the suggested circumstances.
It'd put a rift between Taylor and whomever had done it, presuming she had her canon power and thus the canon shard's influence. Any attempt to interfere in her school life would've broken down her life's compartmentalization, the escapism of which was a significant part of the purpose of her foray into capehood in the first place. They'd be pressing every last one of her betrayal issue buttons as well as her shard-provided control issues. So...in short, nothing good would likely come of it. But then, much as I do love Silencio, you're not dealing with canon Taylor in any situation where she has a girlfriend. Or where she permits her school life to intersect with her cape life.
 
It'd put a rift between Taylor and whomever had done it, presuming she had her canon power and thus the canon shard's influence. Any attempt to interfere in her school life would've broken down her life's compartmentalization, the escapism of which was a significant part of the purpose of her foray into capehood in the first place. They'd be pressing every last one of her betrayal issue buttons as well as her shard-provided control issues. So...in short, nothing good would likely come of it. But then, much as I do love Silencio, you're not dealing with canon Taylor in any situation where she has a girlfriend. Or where she permits her school life to intersect with her cape life.
As you say, she probably isn't canon Taylor at this point. Something happened at or after the bank, and butterflies flew from there.

It could also be that Taylor isn't awake for this. She's not dead, just in a coma (like a less lethal version of your idea as modified by Necrovore, she went off the roof of the school to escape the trio (or was pushed), who told everyone that she tried to kill herself, and that they were trying to save her). If Amy isn't involved with Taylor, Lisa might seek her out to manipulate her into breaking her rules, but it would be easier if Amy sought Tattletale out - ostensibly, she's there for revenge, but she's also unconsciously hoping Tattletale will convince her to wake up her girlfriend, and well aware that Tt would notice that PDQ. Of course, Lisa already wants to do both, but that doesn't mean she wants Amy to know that she does.
 
You know, while I'm not overly fond of Taylor-centric stories, has anyone ever written a story with the premise that instead of Annette dying in the car crash, Danny does?

It seems so simple, and so effective an opening; You have free reign to develop Taylor into whatever sort of character you want since her surviving parent isn't fleshed out in canon, so long as you maintain her core qualities. Plus, it's a low-key enough change that it wouldn't affect the world at large.
 
You know, while I'm not overly fond of Taylor-centric stories, has anyone ever written a story with the premise that instead of Annette dying in the car crash, Danny does?

It seems so simple, and so effective an opening; You have free reign to develop Taylor into whatever sort of character you want since her surviving parent isn't fleshed out in canon, so long as you maintain her core qualities. Plus, it's a low-key enough change that it wouldn't affect the world at large.
I've read a few fics with that as an element, but none where it's the focus. Most of them were fixfics where Annette surviving meant that everything in Taylor's life was vastly improved.

I have an idea that goes against that trend. Annette struggles after Danny's death because losing a spouse is difficult, but she winds up coping in a different way. She enters a new relationship and remarries less than a year after her husband's death. This drives a deep wedge between Annette and Taylor, who sees it as a betrayal of her father's memory.

The alley still happens, but because Taylor isn't going to Winslow she avoids the majority of the bullying. Unfortunately, she's introverted and doesn't have very good social skills, so she's not making any new friends and is incredibly lonely.

Danny died before the administrator shard jumped from him to Taylor, so she doesn't trigger with it. Instead, she triggers with a bud from her stepfather, Thomas Calvert.
 
Bottled Shards don't bud. The best she could do is have an original shard and trigger with him in her radius.
 
In a similar note, has anyone ever written a Merchants!Taylor?

I mean, I get why they don't, but I've seen ABB!Taylor, E88!Taylor, S9!Taylor, Protectorate!Taylor... Actually, I've seen her in just about every established gang short of Merchants and Accord's.
Also, has anyone written about the inside of the Birdcage outside of those few chappies of Atonement? It's a fascinating concept of society, and I'd like to see it fleshed out.
 
In a similar note, has anyone ever written a Merchants!Taylor?

I mean, I get why they don't, but I've seen ABB!Taylor, E88!Taylor, S9!Taylor, Protectorate!Taylor... Actually, I've seen her in just about every established gang short of Merchants and Accord's.
Also, has anyone written about the inside of the Birdcage outside of those few chappies of Atonement? It's a fascinating concept of society, and I'd like to see it fleshed out.
I think Tanuki-san (Biigoh) did a short one.
 
In a similar note, has anyone ever written a Merchants!Taylor?

I mean, I get why they don't, but I've seen ABB!Taylor, E88!Taylor, S9!Taylor, Protectorate!Taylor... Actually, I've seen her in just about every established gang short of Merchants and Accord's.
Goblin Queen omake says hi~ :3
 
In a similar note, has anyone ever written a Merchants!Taylor?

Besides that one Goblin Queen omake, and a one-shot or two about junkie!Taylors I vaguely remember in various idea threads, there's also a couple that sort of involve the Merchants-

Centipede (alt-power, Tokyo Ghoul crossover)

Taylor takes over the Merchants, rebrands them, and sets them in a new direction after purging their existing 'leadership.'

Tertiary

'Independent' cape merc Taylor who's considered by many to be affiliated/associated with the Merchants after working with them on a number of jobs, as well as saving them from Oni Lee on her first night in costume & getting paid for it, as opposed to the Undersiders & Lung.

Also, has anyone written about the inside of the Birdcage outside of those few chappies of Atonement? It's a fascinating concept of society, and I'd like to see it fleshed out.

There's been a few fics based on the idea of Taylor getting Birdcaged, usually due to getting railroaded after a bad trigger incident makes a mess out of Winslow, but those all seem to die fairly quickly. (TBH, most of them didn't seem to be that good, and what feedback they got was often negative and/or the typical litany of hatred of the trio/Winslow administration/PRT one gets from parts of the fandom.)

Only one I'm aware of that's active at the moment is Exponential Growth (alt-power from Magic: The Gathering crossover elements.)
 
EDIT: Moved over to NSFW, b/c of ideas I had for later in the quest.
 
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Some of you might remember me posting the original of this two years ago (bloody hell, where did the time go?) but i decided to clean it up and possibly even continue it.

Worm: Merrie Melodies
1-1

"Just shoot the kids. If you find the little bitch, shoot her twice just to be sure!" Lung shouted. He was was standing in a parking lot in the northern end of town, right on the edge of ABB territory. The parking lot was surrounded by tall buildings and the only way in or out was an alleyway that was only just wide enough for a car to fit through.

Around Lung were gathered nearly two dozen men. Most of them were holding bats, metals poles, and who knew what else. I didn't doubt for a moment that many of them were also carrying guns.

Hiding behind a nearby dumpster, I was having a minor panic attack. This was my first night out, I barely had control over my powers, and I didn't know the first thing about fighting.

Oh God, he's going to kill kids?!

The smart thing to do would be to run. To get away and call for help. But I didn't have a cell phone and the chances of me finding a working pay phone in the area were low and even if I did, would the PRT get here in time?

Kill, kids. The idea sat on my mind like a lead weight. I didn't have a choice, if I wanted to stop Lung, I would have to do it myself. I only hoped my power was stronger than his.

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I let go of my power and slowly stood up. Stepping out of my hiding place, I appeared behind Lung.

"I-I won't let you kill anyone!" I said, not quite keeping my voice from trembling. Oh my god I'm going to die!

Lung didn't quite jump, but his body tensed and his head spun to face me with an audible crack.

"Who the fuck are you?"

His voice was deep and heavily accented, making him sound slow, but I wasn't fooled. I could see the intelligence in his eyes.

"I-"

"Leave. Now," he warned, drawing himself up to full height. He turned his back to me and walked away. His men had spread out while we were talking, forming a semicircle. They parted quickly, letting him pass. A number of them had drawn their guns.

"No!" my mouth said, sounding much more confident. Oh god, shut up! Even so, I could feel my power expanding, rapidly filling the lot.

Lung's mask flexed as he looked over his shoulder, following his expression as he smirked at me.

"You think you can stop me?"

"Yes." There goes my mouth again.

His arm moved so fast it seemed to blur, driving itself deep into my stomach and sending me flying. I hit the ground so hard that I bounced twice before slamming into a wall. I was still seeing stars when he gave the order to kill me.

His men raised their guns and fired.

Eyes wide in terror, I pulled myself off the wall and ran, jumping and ducking randomly as I tried to get away. I wasn't quite dodging the bullets, I was simply one step ahead of them. Spotting a nearby manhole, I jumped as high as I could and dove for it. I hit the cover, causing it to flip end over end like a bin lid before slamming closed after me with a clang.

I reappeared inside the same dumpster I'd been hiding behind earlier and carefully lifted the lid. In the distance, with their backs to me, the ABB were struggling to lift the manhole cover. Even Lung couldn't make it budge.

Smirking to myself, I could feel my power building. The fear from earlier was giving way to excitement. I could do this.

Climbing out of the dumpster, I walked calmly up to the group, stopping at the edge of the crowd and tapping one of the thugs on the shoulder.

"What's going on?" I said with total sincerity.

The thug didn't even spare me a glance when he answered.

"Some crazy cape just tried to jump the boss."

Despite everything I'd done at home with my power, I couldn't believe this was working.

"Crazy cape? Was she tall?" I said, holding my hand in the air to indicate height and the man nodded. "Wearing a hoody and jeans? With long hair?"

The man nodded absently, but I could see realisation starting to dawn. 3...2...1

Eye's wide, he turned to look at me, "Hey-!"

Before he could finish his shout, I shoved a fizzing red stick into his hands, kissed his forehead, and ran off so fast I left a me-shaped dust cloud.

He barely had time to realise what he was holding before it exploded. The blast knocked the gathered people flying and created a mushroom cloud that could be seen from the far side of the city.

When the smoke cleared, everyone but me was covered in soot. In one perfectly-timed movement, they all slumped to the ground unconscious. Even Lung was left in a tangled heap of limbs. Sighing in relief, I was just about to start zip-tying people when Lung exploded.

I wave of fire swept across the lot with Lung at its center. The only reason Lung's men were still alive was because of my power.

"GOO ITCH! I KEEL OUU!" Lung screamed. Scales were rapidly covering his skin and his face had started to stretch forwards, becoming more maw like and slurring his speech. Before I could move, he sent a burst of fire at me. There was nothing I could do but close my eyes and hope for the best.

When the fire finally stopped I was nothing more than a vaguely human shaped piece of charcoal. Swaying on the spot, I coughed, breathing out a small cloud of smoke.

"Did you order original recipe, or extra crispy?" I said weakly as Lung advanced on me.

Snapping out of my confusion, I shook the dust off me like a dog shedding water. Giving Lung a weak smile, I bolted. Lung was between me and the only exit, so I ran towards a nearby fire escape and bolted up to it.

Leaving nothing but a blur in my wake, I reached the roof before Lung could stop me. I found a door on the roof and, without pausing to check if it was locked, pulled it open and ran inside. Locks were for other people.

Outside, there was a crunch as Lung landed on the roof. I was fairly sure he'd jumped; there was no way he'd made it up the fire escape already.

The door rattled twice before Lung was able to wrench it open with a growl, his neck lengthening as he continued to transform.

Faced with an enraged Lung, I let out a high pitched scream and turned away quickly, desperately trying to hide my body from view. My clothes had vanished, leaving me in only a towel that was far too small for my suddenly curvy form.

Lungs blush was visible though his scales. He quickly pulled his head back and propped the broken door against the frame with an embarrassed "Gooury!"

Two seconds later and with a roar of rage, Lung tore the door off its hinges, but I was already gone.

I stepped out of a rooftop door on a building on the opposing side of the parking lot. I suppose I could have just ran away, but there was no guarantee Lung would stop looking for me or that he wouldn't just carry on with his original plan.

"Yoo-hoo! Are you looking for me?" I called to him with a cheery wave. Lung's head snapped in my direction and I quickly ducked back through the door. Lung cleared the distance between the buildings in a single jump, landing on the roof with enough force to shake the building. He tore the door open, but again I was already gone.

"Over here!" I yelled, from another roof. I wasn't sure I could keep this up. For one thing, I was running out of doors. For another, Lung was only getting bigger.

Leaving him on the roofs, I stepped out of a door on the ground floor, walked into the center of the parking lot, and let out a high pitched whistle.

Lung crashed to the ground behind me, but I refused to turn around. Instead, I kept my attention on my finger nails. I could feel him though, standing right behind me, heat rolling off him.

At some point, my hood had fallen down, exposing my long hair. It was the one thing I took pride in and I realised it was starting to curl up from the heat Lung was giving off.

Turning around, I shoved him backwards. "Hey! Stop messing up my hair! Do you know how hard it is to keep it looking like this?"

Lung looked more surprised than I was when he slid smoothly backwards, even as the tarmac was starting to melt under him. He looked more dragon than human at this point. He was nearly ten feet at his hunched shoulders. His face and neck had elongated and his feet were claws.

"Now listen here, you! You can't just go round setting things on fire and killing people!"

Lungs eyes narrowed and he took a step forward, growling menacingly. Too drunk on adrenaline and my own power to be scared, I pulled a rolled up newspaper from my pocket and hit him over the nose with it.

"No! Bad dragon!"

Shocked, Lungs eyes crossed as he stared in bewilderment at his snout. My power was singing in my veins, this entire area was drenched in it and there was almost nothing Lung could do against me now.

I pointed to a nearby garage that had been smashed open at some point in the fight.

"Bad dragon! Now go to your cave and think about what you did!" I said, using the same tone of voice I'd heard people use on their dogs.

For one incredible moment, it worked. Head down and tail between his legs, Lung slunk over to the garage, grumbling and stomping his feet like an unruly child. He was halfway there when the spell broke and he came to his senses.

Bursting into flames, he spun around and sent a massive gout of flame towards me, but it was too late.

While his back had been turned, my clothes had switched to a firefighter's uniform, complete with hose that led back to a fire truck that had appeared behind me. The truck was manned by a team of me, all in identical uniforms.

Turning the valve on the hose, I sent a jet of water towards Lung. The water met his flame halfway and the two elements battled for supremacy. Lung roared, putting more effort into his flame and it started to push my water back.

"More pressure!" I screamed, squaring my shoulders and bracing my feet. One of my copies quickly ran to the side of the fire truck. Grabbing a giant red lever labeled 'old faithful' she held on tightly and slammed the lever down.

Alarms sounded and the truck rattled and screamed as the hose I was holding bulged. Then the torrent was unleashed. A geyser surged forwards, overpowering Lung's flame and hitting him with the force of a speeding freight train.

Flying backwards, Lungs clawed feet carved grooves into the ground as he tried to stop himself. Slamming into the building behind him, Lung continued to roar and thrash even as the water, and more importantly my power, overwhelmed him.

I fought to keep the thrashing hose pointed at Lung even though I'd long lost sight of him. At the truck, one of 'me' manned the pump controls and watched as water level drained away. By the time the water cut off, my power had forced Lung back to human and rendered him unconscious.

That's how it was supposed to go right? The big finish and now he was beaten. As long as I wanted it to happen, my power would do it.

Not wanting to risk Lung getting back up, I pulled a long length of chain out of a pocket and wrapped Lung up in it. I used a dozen padlocks randomly dotted throughout the chain to keep him secured and put a pretty pink bow on top.

Now all I needed to do was call the PRT…

Noticing one of Lungs followers out the corner of my eye, I realised one of them would probably have a cell phone I could use. Besides, I needed to make sure they didn't get away. As I carefully checked them over for injuries and any remaining weapons, I could feel my power slowly shrinking.

I had just finished zip-tying the last man and was debating whether I should use the phone I found when I heard a motorbike pull up sharply behind me. Oh now what?!
 
So, a little something that I think I might continue... but I've said that about all my fanfics at one point or another.

Cookies for those who recognize the crossover.



It was the morning song that woke me.

A little tune that sang in an language that I could understand, but I never heard before.

A song that sang of love and joy, of sorrow and anger. Of hate so deep that it cannot be forgotten.

But a song that soon receded to the back of my mind as I reoriented myself and noticed that I was sleeping in a hospital bed.


zfeeeb tssem
Oh Gods, convey your great love to the world
I strongly wish for your love and compassion.


"6 months?!"

On one hand, I was rather surprised to hear that I was in a coma for 6 months. On the other, I kind of had a feeling that a period of time had passed, considering how weak I felt. I looked at the nurse while he looked at that machine that went "beep-beep" in time with my heart (a heart monitor, something told me).

"Half a year, yes." He replied, apparently satisfied with what he saw. "Your father has already been contacted, so just relax and save your energy. Would you like something to drink while we wait for the doctor?"

Licking my lips, I found that they were slightly parched and told him that it would be appreciated. While he was away, I tried to recall what had happened, but only a vague sense of fear and disgust remained in my memory. I could remember the day before the New Years holidays ended, but nothing afterwards - nothing except that vague sense that "something" happened in a certain period of time, but not the details.

Looking around at the rather sterile room, I was almost afraid to find out what.



I was having a pleasant chat with the doctor (Dr. Hill) about the things that had happened in the past 6 months when a loud banging of the door being shoved opened rung through the room.

"TAYLOR!"

Dad's yell surprised me as much as his barging into the room and caused me to jump in surprise. I turned and found that while his voice was still recognizable, he looked maybe 10 years older than I remembered.

He quick ran towards me with what seemed like the intent to hug me, but was quickly restrained by the doctor besides me.

"Mr. Hebert! Please calm down!" He said seemingly having trouble holding my father back. "I will not have you rushing my patient regardless of how much you missed them!"

Seeing dad get scolded by another grown man was kind of amusing, but more importantly it caused me to realize that it really has been at least 6 months since the time I last remembered and today.

"Dad?" I managed to stutter out as my emotions started to run rampant. I reached out for him with an arm and he quickly side-stepped the doctor to hold my hand. Despite how he looked, the feel of his hand was still as comforting as I remembered; I could feel my breath hitch and tears gather around my eyes. "You look older."

I don't know why that was the first thing that I blurted out, but dad just laughed as he held my hand tight.



We spent the next hours together as the doctor explained that the reason why I couldn't remember exactly what happened was probably a normal side-effect of falling into a coma due to what I experienced. Apparently there were "normal" side-effects of falling into a coma?

Apparently I was found stuffed into my locker with a lot of garbage that included things like used tampons and plant skins and other organic garbage. They found me after my father called police regarding me being missing and an investigation to where I was last seen found the rather putrid smelling locker in the school during the weekend. According to the doctors, I was near death and had to be resuscitated multiple times before Panacea healed my body, though I had slipped into a coma by then and she was unable to bring me out of it.

No evidence of the culprits were found though there was some talk about Sophia Hess pushing me into the locker. But according to dad those testimonies were eventually thrown out due to those same people having E88 ties and thus unreliable. I would not be surprised if it really was Sophia that did it - but I just can't remember what happened.

Before we knew it, the doctor told us that guest times were ending and that dad would have to return tomorrow. I could tell that he didn't want to leave, but I reassured him that I'll still be here and he shouldn't cause trouble for the hospital. He grinned at me, and I felt a bit of happiness at being able to cheer dad up from all the worry that I must have caused for him.



"Taylor?"

I jumped in surprise as I turned and found dad shaking my shoulder. I was so engrossed with the crossword puzzle that I must have missed him entering the room. "Dad! When did you get here?" I asked, embarrassed. I quickly hid the small booklet away from dad, hoping that he didn't see it.

He gave me a rather amused look as I realized how silly my actions were since he was close enough to shake my shoulder. "I've been calling you for a while now." He said, not really hiding his amusement at my embarrassment. "I was a bit worried when you didn't respond when I knocked, but it seems like you were just having some fun?"

I could feel my face heat up again as he sat on a chair beside the bed. I've been losing track of the world whenever I get engrossed in something, and it seemed that it was getting worse as I recover. The doctors had said that I become hyper-focused on anything that I work on and that it might just be another thing that I picked up after recovering from my coma.

No matter how much the doctors says that it's nothing to be worried about, I still wish I could stop doing that as it was super embarrassing to be caught unaware - and I worry what might happen back at Winslow if I start hyper-focusing like that around the Trio.

"Leave me alone." I whined at dad as he once again laughed at my expense. I love him to death, but I'm not sure it's enough to make up for all the times he's made fun of me in the past weeks since I woke up.

"Well, I was just checking up on you to make sure you were ready to go." Dad said as he turned his head towards the wheelchair behind him. Months of inactivity had caused some atrophy on my muscles despite hospital workers moving my body for me, and dad borrowed a wheelchair from the hospital until I was well enough to walk on my own.

As I lifted my arms so that my father can carry me out of bed, I can't help but hope that the rest of the year would be better than the one I had already missed.
 
Odd little power idea: Someone who gains a different power depending on what they're wearing. Not necessarily the power you'd expect them to get, but certainly something related to what they're wearing. For example, a labcoat might grant some sort of Tinker power, especially if you include tools or other items relating to a particular specialty, but it also might grant a science-related Thinker power, or even an anger-based Brute-Changer power. If, say, Sarah Livsey got this power when she was twelve (AFAICT, this would be before her brother's suicide, so the trigger would be different), dressing in her Alexandria Hallowe'en costume might get her a copy of Alexandria's full powers, or give her a generic Alexandria package (because people seem to forget her Thinker powers when defining that package), or give her only Library of Alexandria's Thinker powers, with at best minor physical boosts, or she might get something totally other. If Dennis got it and dressed as Panacea to try to get her power and heal his father, he might get some version of her power, or another healing power, or a Changer power that would turn him into a girl and back.

Generally, it depends on how the wearer's subconscious thinks of what they're wearing, and on how their shard interprets that, so results can be pretty weird.
 
zfeeeb tssem
Interlude 1

Jonathan Hill glanced down from his second story vantage point at the Hebert family.

"You know I still disagree with this." He said to his boss and director of the hospital Janet Jackson. "Panacea told us that we should alert them of the possible mutations to Taylor's body due to the infections in her brain."

"And I've told you that our hands are tied." Janet answered warily. "There's a court order prohibiting further discussion of anything related to what happened to Ms. Hebert."

Jonathan snorted. "That's bullshit and you know it. When did preventing information of underage criminals include informing someone that the acts against her may cause her DNA to mutate?"

He mentally recalled Panacea's warning that some of the viruses and bacteria had entered Taylor's bloodstream and was lodged within her brain. Included was some parasite rarely seen outside of insects, and she couldn't remove it due to where it was.

The hospital had given Taylor a full dose of antibiotics, but the latest blood tests still show that it still there. The best possible outcome is that whatever mutations all the toxicity caused wouldn't become a cancerous tumor, but the girl would still be living with much more difficulties if it wasn't for the healing that Panacea did.

"The courts has already decreed that if any complications happen due to the information ban, a healer would be made available to Ms. Hebert." Janet told him in a tone that brook no arguments. "There's nothing else we can do, do drop it."

A frown appeared on Jonathan's face, but he stayed silent. In his mind, he wondered when the government gained the ability to force healers to heal people, or to not tell its own citizens a health threat that they are facing without knowing.

And what it said about him for following those orders.
 

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