Chapter 3 - 3

Interlude - 2.x (Grue)

The moon shimmered ominously over the cold spring night as Grue paced back and forth on the deserted rooftop. Other than the glow of a few streetlights below and the moon overhead, the area surrounding him was completely dark.

It would have been a quiet night were it not for Regent, who was lying down on the rooftop and humming the Mission Impossible theme song loudly.

"Would you cut that out?" Grue murmured at Regent.

"C'mon, a clandestine meeting on a deserted rooftop? You have to get into the spirit of these things." Regent drawled out.

Grue rubbed his arms in discomfort. He could still remember the horrendous pain of Lung's flames burning through his skin. His last thought before losing consciousness was that he was sure he was going to die. To his surprise, he had woken up almost completely unharmed in the hospital in his civilian guise. Apparently the new local healer Nightingale had stopped by and healed him. Aisha claimed it was because she was tight with her, but he suspected that Insight more likely arranged for him to be healed. He definitely owed her one, though he doubted that she'd be happy if she ever learned that she had healed a villain.

"This isn't a game." He snapped at Regent.

Just thinking about that night still gave Grue chills. He had come so close to dying. It was easy up until that point to pretend it was all just a game of cops and robbers, that he could do this without putting himself in too much danger. The ordeal had shaken him far more than he had been willing to admit to Aisha or the rest of his team. He briefly considered quitting the team and giving up on the super villain lifestyle, but Aisha still needed his help. This was the only way he could help her.

"Hey, take it easy boss. I know this is serious." Regent replied. "I'm just trying to lighten the mood. Ya know, ease my nerves."

Grue sighed heavily and pulled out his cell phone to check the time. "She's late."

A sudden rustling near the fire escape alerted the pair that they had company. Grue tensed as he turned to face the new arrival. Regent slowly picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off.

The cape they were waiting for stepped out from the shadows. She was wearing a thick, black bodysuit and a red trench coat with a hood that covered her curly brunette hair. A large pair of opaque goggles covered the upper half of her face.

Grue stepped forward to greet her. "Thanks for meeting with us Spitfire."

"You're late!" Regent called out from behind Grue, earning a glare from him.

Spitfire simply shrugged. "Had to make sure you guys came alone. Didn't want to get ambushed here."

Grue cleared his throat and tossed the lunchbox he had on him towards her. "First of all, take this. A small token of our appreciation."

Spitfire caught the lunchbox easily and cracked it open, whistling when she saw the contents. "How much is in here?"

"Two thousand dollars. If you decide to join us, it's how much we each get per month just for being on the team. Additionally, we all get an equal cut of every job we take." Grue explained.

"Hmm… I don't know. Seems dangerous, joining a team of villains." Spitfire said slowly.

"Trust me, it's much more dangerous trying to go it alone in this town." Grue replied. "With the Undersiders, you'll have teammates who'll watch your back. We take care of each other. I know we're villains, but we're not bad people. We're all in this because either the system has failed us or we didn't have any other options. But we have morals. We don't do any of the really wrong shit that the rest of the gangs do. No violence against civilians, no pushing drugs, no extortion."

Regent snorted. "In this town, we might as well be saints compared to the rest of the gangbangers. I mean the big gangs here are the Nazis, the methheads, and Lung's merry crew of psychos. All we've done are some robberies from fat cats who probably wouldn't even miss what we've taken."

Spitfire tilted her head and stared at the pair of Undersiders for a few seconds in quiet contemplation. "Isn't there another member on your team? Hellhound?"

"Yes, she goes by Bitch." Grue said. "She… couldn't make it tonight. But she's definitely on board with you joining. We've been looking to add some more offensive firepower to the team."

Spitfire hesitated a bit. "So what happened last week? There were rumors that Lung wasted you all in his rampage last week."

Regent snorted in response. "The rumors of our demise were greatly exaggerated. We are all alive and well."

Grue shifted a bit uncomfortably. "We stole some money from the ABB. Lung took issue as you can imagine. We're good about laying low and avoiding trouble, but the ABB found one of Bitch's dog shelters, and we were forced into a fight. We're all alive though, and there shouldn't be any more problems with them going forward."

"What about Bitch? Is she OK?" Spitfire asked.

"She was injured during the fight," Grue admitted. "Nothing life threatening, and she should be back on her feet in a short while. She lost a few of her dogs though, which pissed her off way more than her own injuries."

"Look, I'm not joining you guys if that means it's going to make me a target to Lung." Spitfire said with a shake of her head. "I'm not suicidal. I'm also not down to rob the ABB or the Empire. No offense, but that was really stupid."

Grue paused for a beat. "We should be off his radar now. We hit him, he hit us back. They've got bigger things to worry about now with the Empire encroaching on their territory, and the Protectorate breathing down their backs after Lung's stunt on the Boardwalk. We're definitely not going to poke any of the big gangs anymore. That was a onetime thing."

Spitfire still didn't look convinced. Grue sighed. "Look, obviously we're not going to force you to join us or anything like that. I meant what I said earlier though. It's not safe to be an independent, especially right now. Your best bet other than us is probably the Wards, or Faultline's crew if she's hiring. The main benefit with going with the Undersiders is that you'll be a full partner. We vote on every big decision, and we split all our takes equally. With the other groups, you'd be just a soldier following orders."

"Plus, wouldn't you rather be around a group of people your own age versus following orders from metal-Hitler or the hypodermic hobos?" Regent added.

"What do you mean 'especially right now'?" Spitfire asked Grue.

"The ABB and the E88 are all riled up right now. The independent capes in town have been hitting their holdings hard the last two months. Arachne has hit several of the ABB's properties recently. Circus busted one of the Empire's drug distribution warehouses last month and made off with a lot of cash, and Mistblade just took down Stormtiger this weekend. With the Protectorate out in force in response to Lung's recent rampage, the gangs will be looking hard to recruit more capes."

"I doubt I'm the ABB's type," Spitfire muttered. "How do you know all that stuff?"

"We have contacts and connections." Grue said confidently. "Part of the perks of working on an established team."

Regent snorted at Grue's explanation, earning another glare from the older teen. "He means we pay Insight for his daily cape updates. His intel's good though and not cheap. I don't think you'll find another gig as sweet as what we're offering, unless you want to join those lame ass Wards."

Spitfire stood quietly in contemplation for a few minutes before finally responding. "I don't mind robbing a few places that have plenty to spare or taking down somebody who deserves it, but I won't be part of anything really shitty. If you can live with that, then I'm in."

Grue smiled widely at Spitfire's declaration and walked forward to shake her hand. He reached up, unbuckled his helmet and took it off in one smooth practiced motion. "Glad to have you with us then. I'm Brian."

Spitfire stared in shock at the sudden unmasking. After a second, she followed suit and lowered her hood, shaking out her curly hair as she did so. She peeled her goggles off next, and shook Brian's hand. "I'm Emily."

* * *​

Spoiler: ANLast edited: May 17, 2016563ShadowghostMay 15, 2016View discussionThreadmarks Interlude - 2.y (Quinn Calle)View contentShadowghostMay 18, 2016#629Interlude - 2.y (Quinn Calle)

March 4th 2011

"What are you ordering?" Taylor, or Nightingale since she's in costume, asked me. She was staring at the menu intently with a small frown on her face. It was cute how she took everything so seriously and tried so hard to act professional.

We were at Tony Luger's, the best steakhouse in Brockton Bay, where I was treating her to lunch to celebrate her entry into the workforce. Her power was amazing. Cancer, cured instantly in a dazzling flash of light. Lucrative too. We just earned $150,000 in a single session. Even after my 33% cut and the taxes I had to withhold for her, she was going to be making ridiculous amounts of money for a fifteen year old teenager. I already had a lot of potential clients lined up for her.

"Definitely a steak. You can't go wrong with either the rib eye or the porterhouse here." I answered her.

She crinkled her nose a little as she considered her options. Cute kid. She was a bit weird though. She could be charming and charismatic one second, and completely awkward and unsure of herself the next second. Maybe some kind of bipolar disorder? Most capes had their eccentricities. She rarely shared details about her personal life with me, but I got the sense that she didn't have a very happy home life. Taylor was a good kid, and I couldn't help but worry about her sometimes.

I ordered the 22-ounce rib eye steak, medium-rare. If I ever get heart disease later in my life, at least I know a good healer now, even if she did charge an arm and a leg for it. I guess that was partly my fault. Go me. Taylor ordered a salad, forcing me to stifle a groan. What a waste. The poor girl was already rail thin. She could use a good steak or twenty. I ordered a few appetizers as well, and a few strips of the bacon appetizer especially for her. She'll thank me later.

"So…" Taylor began hesitantly. "How much does a ferry cost?"

Heh, her first day on the job and she was already planning enormous purchases. Kids really say the darndest things. "Like the ones that used to run here in Brockton Bay? They kept a fleet of three ferries, each one probably around five to ten million dollars to construct. Then you have to factor in maintenance and operating costs, hiring the necessary crew to run the ship and support staff on the ground, renovating the ferry building, the bureaucratic hurdles the government would put you through, commissioning new environmental impact studies, et cetera et cetera. You're looking at a 50 to 100 million dollar project."

Taylor blanched a bit after hearing my estimates. I felt a little bad, crushing the dreams of a naïve kid like that, but she pays me for honest advice. I could see why she cared about the ferry. Her dad, Daniel Hebert, was a spokesperson for the Dockworkers Association and he had frequently lobbied the city government with proposals to get the ferry up and running again. To many who lived in the Docks district of Brockton Bay, the ferry was a symbol of a better time. It harkened back to an era where Brockton Bay wasn't overrun by parahuman gangs and blue collar workers could easily make a living and provide for their families. His efforts were futile though. There was no way that the city council would approve such a large project in the current economic climate without significant outside funding.

"Hey," I said softly. "Things like that take a village. It's an impossible task for one person. If you're serious about making the city better through economic actions, you have to start sowing the seeds now. Making connections, developing your reputation, things like that. It takes time, and it won't be easy. I'll be there to help you though."

She smiled at me gratefully. It was almost enough to warm my cold, dead, lawyer's heart. "I made $150,000 today." Taylor said quietly.

"Not after my cut, you didn't." I replied easily. "And don't forget Uncle Sam's cut too."

"Ugh, you know what I mean." She said, with an exasperated roll of her eyes that was visible even with her mask on. "I feel bad sometimes… accepting so much money when there's people dying on the queue lists at the hospitals."

Uh oh. That was a dangerous line of thinking. "Hey, you're not doing anything wrong. Trust me, there's nothing glamorous about asceticism."

"I know that. It's... I just remind myself that it's a numbers problem." Taylor sighed. "Even if I spent every waking moment volunteering my healing ability, it wouldn't even put a microscopic dent on the number of preventable deaths that happen each year. I've been looking up stuff on the internet. Like, there's this charity that installs tinkertech water purifiers in Africa. Every $15,000 in donations they get lets them build a new one. You know that one out of every five deaths for children under the age of five in the world is due to the lack of clean water? They say that each one of those purifiers could save a thousand lives a year. I could buy ten of those with what we made today, and save more lives that way than just volunteering at the hospital."

I did know what she was talking about. "Yeah, those numbers are horrendously optimistic. The cost only covers the construction of the purifiers, and not the administrative, maintenance, or security costs. Additionally, each one never lasts that long as inevitably some local warlord would claim the purifier and monopolize its use." Taylor slumped a bit at hearing that. Ugh, she didn't need to hear that. Why did I share that? Sometimes I just couldn't help myself.

"I guess it's not so easy huh, to save a life?" Taylor asked, looking a little dejected now.

"Hey, it is for you. Is that what you want to do?" I asked. "Save kids in Africa?"

"No. I mean, of course I do yes. But I… I could do that here too. This city used to be so much brighter, and I could make a difference here. I can help make this city great again. I don't feel bad about taking money from some rich guy if it means I could use it to help so many others instead. I refuse to. I want to make this city a better place."

There was an impressive level of determination and conviction in Taylor's voice. "First of all, you're way too young to be reminiscing about the glory days of Brockton Bay." I stated, but with a cheerful grin to let her know that I was only ribbing her. "But, you've certainly convinced me. I'm on your side. We can look at charities to fund later, or even start a foundation in your name once you've earned a bit more money. Like I said earlier, trying to get anything larger scale done will take a lot more groundwork."

We were interrupted by a server bringing our appetizers over. One large tray contained a dozen raw oysters, and another plate held several thick slices of succulent pork belly. Taylor's eyes lit up at the sight of the bacon, though she looked at the oysters with a fair bit of trepidation.

"Go on, try an oyster. They are delectable." I prodded her.

"They're raw!" She protested, though she did reach out and take one. She grimaced slightly at the mollusk, but ultimately scooped it into her mouth and chewed on it with a thoughtful look on her face.

"You know, most kids your age have problems of a considerably different scale." I commented.

Taylor chuckled a bit at that, and gave me a halfhearted shrug. "Most kids aren't capes."

"True, but you're still just a teenager. You're going to make a huge difference to so many people, and you're going to save so many lives just with your healing. You're not responsible for the welfare of the entire city." I sighed deeply. "Just don't… get so caught up in it that you forget to live your own life."

Taylor was quiet as she attacked the bacon on her plate with quite a bit more enthusiasm than the raw oysters.

"Anyways," I continued. "We're supposed to be celebrating. We don't need to talk about anything so heavy. What's new with you? Starting a new school soon?"

"Yeah, Arcadia in a few weeks." Taylor responded with a slightly dejected tone.

"You don't seem happy about that." I commented.

"No, I am… just nervous I guess." Taylor said. "We'll have to change the times we can meet after I start school."

"That won't be an issue. We'll make it work." I replied. "Don't worry so much about it. Arcadia is a great school. You should try to enjoy your time there."

Taylor gave me a small smile and a nod. She chomped down on a large piece of bacon, causing a large drop of pork grease to drip onto her pristine white dress. She frowned as she examined the small stain on her dress, and then muttered something quietly under her breath and waved her hand over the spot. The small stain disappeared instantly.

"Huh, that seems handy." I commented.

"I know right!" Taylor responded cheerfully. "I call it Prestidigitation."

"Wow, you're kind of a nerd, huh?"

That earned me a heavy pout from Taylor.

"Alright, alright! I admit defeat!" I exclaimed, holding my hands up in surrender. "Turn it off."

She smiled smugly and resumed eating her bacon.

"So, what else is new with you?" I asked.

"Umm… I don't know." Taylor began awkwardly. "I've been practicing acrobatics."

Acrobatics? Can't this kid have any normal hobbies? Maybe I should give her a videogame system or something.

"Turns out I have slightly enhanced agility or dexterity or something like that." Taylor continued. "Nothing superhuman, but I can do flips and cartwheels way easier than I can before. I thought about finding a gymnastics class or something, but those are usually for little kids."

"Hmm, well you could join the cheerleading team at Arcadia once you start there. They probably do a lot of tumbling." I suggested.

She stared at me with her mouth open, utterly flabbergasted. "What? That's insane. I'm not a cheerleader!"

"Well not yet, but if you joined the team then you would be." I responded, pretending I was oblivious to her point. Ahh, teenagers. They always take these things so seriously, as if their identity depended so much on these superficial labels.

Taylor leveled an impressive glare at me, but I wasn't fazed. Heh, I've made it through two divorces and a messy affair with a foxy district court judge. She'd have to try a lot harder than that to perturb me.

"I meant," she began slowly, "that it's not for me. It's not who I am."

"Listen kid, when you get older, you're going to realize that people aren't defined by such meaningless tags as who they voted for in the last election or what afterschool club they belonged to in high school. You should approach these things with an open mind. Who knows, you might make some new friends, and find something new that you actually enjoy. I don't think I've ever regretted giving something new an honest try."

Taylor tilted her head a little and looked at me quietly. As expected, I could tell she was considering my words carefully. She was a good kid – and she was smart and thoughtful.

Our server came by then with our main course. In front of me, she placed a magnificent steak, char-grilled to perfection. In front of Taylor, she plopped a salad that looked more fit for a rabbit than a wealthy parahuman. She eyed my gigantic steak with what I can only assume was envy. I decided to be magnanimous, and I cut a generous portion from my steak and dropped it onto her sad looking salad. She gave me a grateful nod, and started digging into her food.

"Why capes?" She asked suddenly, after a few minutes of quiet eating.

I chewed the piece of succulent steak in my mouth slowly. "What do you mean?"

"Why specialize in parahuman law? There has to be safer things to specialize in."

Ah, what a question. Sometimes I ask myself that too, when I stared at the scar that ran alongside my face in the mirror. "Did you know that I clerked for the Supreme Court?" I asked.

Taylor frowned a bit at the non sequitur. "I think it's on your biography on your website."

"Yup, back in the 90s, right after I graduated from Columbia Law School. Capes had barely been around for a decade back then, and things were… a lot different. There were a lot more rogues, and people thought parahumans were going to spur the next big economic boom. Then NEPEA-5 happened. Have you heard of that?"

Taylor shook her head.

"It was a bill introduced by Congress in the mid-90s that sought to limit parahumans in business and media enterprises." I explained. "Before then, the legality of parahumans earning money in their cape persona was pretty dodgy. They relied more on a patchwork of loopholes and State laws to earn money and pay taxes safely. NEPEA-5 was sold as a more comprehensive framework for integrating parahumans in society, but in reality it was more of a protectionist bill that forced almost all of the legal parahuman-run businesses in the US out of business. Uppermost, the largest rogue parahuman organization at the time lobbied the PRT for assistance in defeating the bill, but the PRT turned them down."

"Why didn't they help?" Taylor asked, as she continued munching on her salad. I was slightly annoyed that my monologuing was preventing me from consuming my steak, but I pressed on.

I shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe they thought that it would force a lot of the rogues to join the Protectorate. Or maybe they were trying to protect their political capital. The bill was pretty popular at the time with the general public. There were fears that the common folk wouldn't be able to compete with the fancy new cape ventures, and that parahumans were going to force a lot of traditional businesses to close shop. It's possible the PRT didn't want to pick a political fight that they couldn't win, and the bill ended up passing Congress with an overwhelming majority. Regardless of why they didn't help, their stance pissed a lot of capes off, and the result was disastrous. Sure, some of the rogues ended up joining the Protectorate, but even more became villains or immigrated to a country with friendlier cape laws, such as Canada. Uppermost folded, and rebuilt itself into the Elite, arguably the largest and most powerful criminal syndicate in the world. There was a lot of money tied up in investments in parahuman related ventures at the time, and the passage of the bill even coincided with a short recession. It was just a disaster, all around."

"Umm, that's an interesting history lesson, but it didn't really have anything to do with what I asked you." Taylor said.

I chuckled a little and rubbed my neck sheepishly. I almost forgot about that, and I had half-hoped that Taylor would also. "Right, I'm getting there. The ACLU sued the government on behalf of rogues, arguing that the bill was unconstitutional. They had the perfect test plaintiff, too. Lux. Have you heard of her?"

Taylor shook her head. Jeez, what do they teach kids these days in school.

"You will if you ever take any cape history classes in college. Anyways, Lux was a rogue tinker that specialized in low-power but highly efficient energy supplies. Nobody was sure how it worked, but she could build these portable power generators that lasted for ages. They didn't put out a lot of power, but there were a lot of useful applications, such as camping, emergency relief, RV and boats, et cetera. For every ten she sold, she would donate one of them to charities operating in developing nations."

I paused from speaking to take another bite out of my steak. Taylor shot me an annoyed glance and gestured for me to continue. She already finished her rabbit food, and my steak was getting cold, so I decided to ignore her and take another bite.

I sighed and continued speaking. "Right, so Lux was incredibly charismatic and intelligent. She also had a lot of goodwill with the public for her charitable endeavors, so she was the ideal plaintiff. By the time her case went all the way to the Supreme Court, she had managed to sway a lot of people over. I was clerking for Justice Ginsburg at the time when the court heard the case. It really made an impact with me. Well, she really made an impact with me."

"Oh?" Taylor started, with a sly smile on her face. "You liked her, didn't you?"

I snorted at that. "Yeah, me and every able-bodied male in DC at the time. She spoke really eloquently on the issues. Gave a lot of speeches and media appearances at the time in opposition of the bill. I first met her at a charity dinner shortly before her case was heard by the Supreme Court. Like I said, she made a big impact on me at a time in my life when I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my law degree."

"What happened next?" Taylor asked.

"She lost. Well, technically, it was a tied decision. Justice Rehnquist recused himself. He had a lot of money in a fund that specifically invested in parahuman ventures. Still, the result was that the law was upheld."

Taylor rolled her eyes. "I meant what happened with Lux. Did you ask her out?"

I paused again to finish the last pieces of my steak. Damn, that was a good steak. Of course, I also felt my own mortality encroaching after downing a completely unhealthy portion of red meat, but some things in life were worth it.

"Well?" Taylor asked again, looking impatient now.

"Ah… she died. About half a year after the Court's decision."

"Oh! I'm s-sorry. " Taylor stuttered out, looking shocked and embarrassed at my last statement.

I shrugged. "It was a while ago. You know the rest of the story from my bio. I worked at a large firm in New York for a few years after, and then left to join a small boutique that specialized in parahuman law. That small boutique grew rapidly over the last decade, and now I'm the managing partner of the Brockton Bay branch of Anderson, Whitney, and Calle LLP."

"For what it's worth," Taylor said softly to me, "I'm glad you're my lawyer." Aw, how adorable.

"You're just saying that because I'm paying for your lunch, aren't you?"

"Yup, that's exactly right." She replied, with a wide grin.

What a cheeky brat.

* * *​

Spoiler: AN640ShadowghostMay 18, 2016View discussionThreadmarks Interlude - 2.z (Parahumans Online)View contentShadowghostMay 21, 2016#682Interlude – 2.z (Parahumans Online)

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♦ Topic:Lung attacking Boardwalk right now!

In: Boards ►News ► USA ► Northeast ► Brockton Bay

GARcher (Original Poster) (The Guy Not in the Know)

Posted OnMar 11th 2011:

Omg, Lung just showed up at Parian's event at the Boardwalk, and they're totally going to fight! I'm hiding nearby right now, but I'll try to get a video of what happens.Glory Girl and the new chick Nightingale are here too. Hopefully the Protectorate can get here soon.

will upload video when I can.

edit: here's the link to the video I took! Lung's gone now and the place is swarming with PRT. Man they really wrecked this place. Purity and Dauntless are here right now also. I'm gunna go try to get some autorgraphs!

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►MeanWyrm

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Wtf, are you insane? Get out of there. Dont stick around to record a video.

►ActuallyTotallyEvil

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Lung's attacking the Boardwalk in broad daylight? There's no way the Protectorate are going to let this slide.

And seriously, +1 with what MeanWyrm said. You need to get out of there.

►ThatInsaneGuy

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Right, like the Protectorate has done such a good job in the past with dealing with Lung. This is Brockton Bay. The gangs will do what they'll do, the PRT will put out a strongly worded press release, and things will go back to normal in a week.

►Primarily Libel

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

@ThatInsaneGuy

C'mon man, that's a bit cynical. Our Protectorate does the best they can. They're outnumbered heavily by the villains, and if they ever go hard against any one of the gangs, the others step up and makes things really shitty everywhere else. They're pretty much caught between a rock and a hard place.

►Book Maker(Verified Cape) (Wards OKC)

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Holy crap the villains you guys have in BB are crazy. Things are so quiet over here in OKC by comparison .

►Rob209

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Brockton Bay: so shitty that capes from other towns feel the need to show up on our boards and comment about how shitty our town is.

►Creus_Sun

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

I'm nearby in the area too, though I evacuated to a safe distance. It sounds like they're fighting now! Lung is such a dick. I hope Parian and Nightingale are OK. They don't have Glory Girl's invulnerability 

►Lightgryffin

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Guys, there was a thread earlier today about a sighting of Armsmaster and a bunch of other BB Protectorate heroes in Charlestown. If they're still out there, they might not be able to get here anytime soon!

►Nalsalsa

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

What the hell are they doing out there? Taking a vacation? Ffs.

►Valinor

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

They're the Protectorate ENE, not the Protectorate Brockton Bay. Capes and villains exist outside of only the major cities you know. Every Protectorate hq is responsible for the general surrounding area around them.

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►Modigar

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Any updates?

►Dragishly Surly

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

The PRT just put out a press release here: link, and they're going to hold a press conference soon to discuss their next moves tonight at 8:00 PM.

►Not-Quite-A-ROB

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

What a load of crap! "Lung was driven off in a joint effort between Dauntless and a number of other unnamed independent capes."

I was there at the time. Dauntless didn't show up until the very end, and he didn't even do anything except let Lung walk away. It was mostly Glory Girl and Lung slugging it out the entire time, with Parian and Nightingale helping. Hell, even Purity showed up before Dauntless did.

►Mechanical_Messiah

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Heh, well if there's three things in life you can count on, it's death, taxes, and the PRT making up bullshit to make themselves look better.

►Knopeden

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Yeah, a press conference detailing their next moves. I'm quivering in anticipation. They didn't even bother showing up while the Boardwalk was getting wrecked. Is anyone expecting them to magically announce that they're finally going to defeat the gangs?

►Mkez45634

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

So what was the deal with the Protectorate? Why did they never show up?

►Glave

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

I think they were responding to an out-of-town cape situation. Must have been pretty serious if it pulled so many heroes away from BB.

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♦ Topic:New Cape in BB, Nightingale, independent hero/PRT affiliated

In: Boards ►News ► USA ► Northeast ► Brockton Bay

Axle Phonics (Original Poster)

Posted OnMar 2nd 2011:

The PRT ENE has just issued a press release, link here, about a new hero named Nightingale in Brockton Bay. There's a picture in the link, and so far the only thing we know about her powers are that she can heal. She is expected to start volunteering at the local BB hospitals this week or next week.

She's currently an independent, though it kinda sounds like she may join the Wards in the near future (yes, she's a minor. keep it appropriate), and the PRT have already labeled her as a PRT affiliate, which probably means that she's on call for healing. Panacea has a similar arrangement with the local PRT.

No pictures yet, but her costume was described as a white dress with red accents. She also has a thin, red cape attached to one shoulder.

edit: there have been some pics floating around now, see here: link link link

​(Showing page19of20)

►The Stormchaser

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Nightingale was at the hospital two days ago and she healed my dad! It's a shame she's not more active on PHO. I sent her a PM to thank her, but she never responded I wanted to send her a card or present something.

►StrangerDanger(Verified Stalker)

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

She probably gets tons of PMs from fans and people who want healing on here. Don't feel bad that she didn't respond! She never responds to my messages either T-T

►Glory Girl(Verified Cape) (New Wave)

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Aww, she's just shy. You should see how much work it takes me to get her out of her.... shell 

►ElbowPuncher222

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

So, Nightingale was at the Boardwalk earlier this afternoon with Glory Girl when Lung went on his latest rampage. Here's some video of her in action! link link

I always thought her power was only healing, but she's shown here flying and shooting purple laser beams!

►Mandabar

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Wow, she really won the power lottery. I'm guessing she's some kind of grab-bag trump like Myrddin or Eidolon? Why did she hide her powers?

►Semiautoscience

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

She doesn't have to be a grab-bag trump. Maybe she copies powers from people around her? Let's look at the situtation. She's tight with New Wave (even her costume is kind of similar to what they wear!). She could've gotten the healing from Panacea, and the flight + purple lasers from Laserdream. Her lasers actually look really similar to Laserdream's!

►EFW3

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Or she could be an illegitimate New Wave child. Would explain why she's mostly been spotted with New Wave instead of joining the Wards.

I don't know if I'd say she's won the power lottery. Sure healing is an awesome ability, but based on the video, she looks a lot slower than Laserdream/Glory Girl in the air, and her lasers weren't really hurting Lung that much.

►SnickerSnack(Verified Tinfoil Hat)

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Ooh, plot twist, what if she's secretly Fleur's daughter? Didn't she have a kid who would be a teenager about now? Maybe that's why Lightstar left town, to protect their daughter! Would explain why she has the same powers as other New Wave members, the costume, even why she's not unmasked like the rest of her family.

*Tin_Mother: It's against the rules to speculate on the identity of a masked cape.

*User received an infraction for this post

►Akatsunami

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

Ooooh there's an interesting idea! I think it fits.She's come back to Brockton Bay to get revenge for her mom! I guess that means this is the end of the GloryxNights ship if that's true.

►SubmissiveNumber7792

Replied On Mar 11th 2011:

I'm never giving up on this ship! Vivre les cousins dangereux!

​End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 17, 18, 19

​

■​

♦ Private Message from Nightingale

Nightingale: Thank you for the lute! I love it.

Insight: Glad you like it I have a feeling you'll be very good at it.

Nightingale: I've never played before. Any recommended books for self-teaching?

Insight: I'll look around and get back to you. You'll have to play for me sometime 

Nightingale: That would require us to meet.

Insight: One day. Look forward to it 

Nightingale: Ha, you've been saying that for a while now. I don't believe you anymore.

Insight: ​

■​

♦ Private Message from Nightingale

Nightingale: Sooo… who was that guy you asked me to heal?

Insight: Wouldn't you like to know? Careful now, remember the rules.

Nightingale: Hah, I know. You don't have to tell me. I was just curious.

Insight: Let me guess, you're wondering if he's my boyfriend?

Nightingale: Is he?

Insight: Why, are you jealous? Just say the word sweetheart, and I'll leave him for you.

Insight: Hello? Don't ignore me.​

■​

♦ Private Message from Nightingale

Insight: You've been holding out on me, you naughty girl.

Nightingale: What?

Insight: Your powers. You're still gaining new and better powers, aren't you. Why didn't you tell me 

Nightingale: Sorry… I've been trying to keep it a secret

Insight: That's probably smart. Fighting Lung? Not so smart.

Nightingale Not like I had a choice 

Insight: Word of warning: you're even more attractive as a recruitment target now. I'd invest in a good home security system, and maybe some better security toys to keep on you. Quinn can set you up with a connection to the Toybox.

Nightingale: Toybox?

Insight: Collective of rogue tinkers who sell stuff to the general public. Super expensive price tags, but you can afford it, can't you?

Nightingale: Yeah, I'll ask Quinn about it. Hey, my burner phone was wrecked in the fight with Lung. What do you think about using just my PRT-issued phone for all my cape business?

Insight: That depends, do you 1) trust the PRT, and 2) never plan on doing anything illegal?

Nightingale: Yes, to both of those I guess. Sounds like you think it's a bad idea though.

Insight: Nobody plans on doing anything illegal. It just happens, sometimes beyond our control. You're such a goody-two-shoes that you'll probably be fine.

Insight: Btw, thanks for giving Purity a chance. She's really trying to do good. And I'm not just being paid to say that.

Nightingale: Yeah, no problem. People deserve second chances, and I sleep much easier knowing she's on our side.

Insight: I know it wouldn't be popular PR wise, but you should consider getting closer to her. She'd make a powerful ally, and she'd definitely appreciate what you bring to the table.

Insight: Just saying, it's a smart idea to be on the good side of the most powerful blaster in town.

Nightingale: I'll think about it.

Insight: OK, that's all I can ask for. And also, I'm glad you're safe ​

Crescendo – 3.1

March 11th 2011

I was exhausted when I finally made it home after spending what seemed like hours answering questions for the PRT. To make matters worse, my flight gave out before I reached my house, and I had to walk the rest of the way while invisible. I was going to have to test my flight a lot more thoroughly before I could use it safely.

"Taylor? Is that you?" Dad called out. He stepped out from the kitchen and glanced around the living room. Crap, he came home early from work. That probably meant that he already knew about the fight with Lung. "If you're here and you're invisible, you better drop it right now!"

As much as I would love to avoid this conversation right now, I couldn't do that to my dad. I sighed and stepped out into the visible spectrum. "Hi Dad, I'm home."

He quickly stepped forward and wrapped me into a tight hug. "God Taylor, I was worried sick! Couldn't you have at least given me a call? I got us cell phones exactly for this reason."

I winced a bit in shame. I had hoped that Dad wouldn't have found out about that before I had a chance to talk to him. "Dad, I'm OK. I'm sorry for not contacting you, but my cell phone got smashed during the scuffle."

He looked me over carefully from head to toe. I was still in costume, and I was glad I decided to clean myself up a little bit using Prestidigitation before heading home. Luckily, my brand new costume wasn't damaged in the fight, and I had even managed to find my cape in a pile of rubble after Lung had left. Dad sighed heavily. "Honestly, Taylor, what were you thinking, trying to take on Lung like that?"

"It's not like we had a choice," I mumbled out. "I was just there to visit Parian. Nobody could've expected Lung to show up and be a dick."

"Language, Taylor!" Dad sighed again and slumped down onto his armchair. "If this is what I have to look forward to, I don't know how I'm going to handle you being a hero. I almost had a heart attack when I heard you were fighting Lung on the news."

"Dad, we live Brockton Bay. We have one of the highest incidences of parahuman crime in the country. I could get attacked by any random gang just walking to school or the library." Well, that seemed like the wrong to say, judging by the look on his face now. "Look, let me get changed out of this costume first and I'll get started with dinner.

I went upstairs to my room and grabbed some casual wear to change into. My broken bones and bruises had healed up nicely, but I was so exhausted that simply taking off my costume was quite the ordeal. Parian's work was amazing, but did the costume have to come in so many pieces? The skin-tight spider-silk body stocking especially was a pain in the ass to get in and out of.

I felt oddly vulnerable as I slipped on a pair of running shorts and a loose t-shirt, despite only having my armored outfit for one afternoon. Hmm, that was a silly thought. It's not like I was going to get attacked in my own home.

I went back downstairs and started boiling a pot of water. I was too tired to bother making anything more complicated than pasta at the moment. A light pasta dish with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella sounded good and easy right now. Dad sat around awkwardly in the kitchen while I bustled about.

"Uhh, I can take care of dinner." He offered halfheartedly.

Yikes. I loved my Dad, but I wasn't sure how long that would last if I was forced to eat his cooking. The last time he tried to make frozen pizza, he left the cardboard base in the oven and almost burned down our kitchen. "Errgh, that's OK Dad. I can handle it."

"Hey! I'm not that useless in the kitchen." Dad protested.

"No, I just like to cook." More than I liked eating his inedible monstrosities at least. "Really, Dad, it's fine."

More silence followed. I could tell he wanted to bring up what happened earlier again, but it was harder now that the moment had passed. I sighed. Why was it so hard to just talk to each other? It didn't used to be, back when Mom was still with us. I took a good look at him. His face looked more wrinkled and tired than usual, and it looked like he had lost some weight recently. I've been keeping him healthy with my power, so was it stress? Was it my fault?

I cleared my throat. "So… you have any plans this weekend?"

Dad looked up suddenly, as if he was startled by my voice. "Ah, I probably have to work this weekend. There's going to be a lot of reconstruction happening at the Boardwalk, and I want to be able to get some of my guys hired for it."

"Ah, well that and the fact that nobody got hurt is a nice silver lining, right?" I asked. I added a dab of olive oil and salt to the now boiling water, right before I tossed a few cups of pasta in.

Dad frowned a bit and shrugged. "Maybe. Sure, there's some short term work available, but insurance rates are going to go up, and it just makes our city look even more lawless and unsafe. Hopefully this won't impact tourism here long-term. People don't like to be reminded of how prevalent the gangs are."

"Dad, I should probably let you know that I need to back to the Boardwalk sometime this weekend." I informed him.

His eyes shot up to meet mine. "What? Why?"

"I told Parian I'd help her sort through the rubble of her shop after the PRT investigators were done with the place." I replied. "Also, some of my stuff is still in there. Don't worry, I think the Protectorate or Wards will be stepping up their patrols there this weekend. It'll be perfectly safe."

Dad sighed in acquiescence. "Just make sure you get a new cell phone and keep me updated on where you are, OK? I'll give you some money."

"Sure Dad, and you don't need to give me money. I have enough right now."

A weird look passed over Dad's face at my reply, but it quickly passed, and I went back to making dinner.

* * *​

March 13th, 2011

Flying was every bit as exhilarating as I dreamed it would be. With my hood down and the wind blowing through my hair, it was the most fun I'd had in years.

I spent most of the previous day testing my flight. Unfortunately, it was pretty limited compared to the other top flyers in the city. I was nowhere near as fast Glory Girl or Laserdream. I couldn't be sure what my top speed was, but it didn't appear faster than the cars driving beneath me. Of course, it was still faster overall than taking the bus or being driven around since I didn't have to bother with stoplights or traffic.

The other big limitation was that I couldn't fly indefinitely. Each time I used my flight ability only granted me flight for about ten minutes, and it required me to concentrate to maintain it. I couldn't both fly and be invisible at the same time. Despite the shortcomings of my flight, I wasn't letting it get me down too much. I was still flying, and it was every bit as awesome as I had hoped it would be. I wouldn't be flying to New York for a quick vacation anytime soon, but it was incredibly convenient for just getting around town. The Boardwalk, which would've been a lengthy walk or jog from my house, was now a mere five minute flight away.

As I neared my destination, the Boardwalk, I paused in midair to tuck my hair back under my hood. I slowly descended as I neared Parian's shop, as to not scare any of the denizens that were at the Boardwalk. There were noticeably fewer people there than usual, and large sections were cordoned off with yellow caution tape. I vaguely noticed the increasingly familiar sight of cameras and phones pointed towards me as I landed in front of Parian's Dollhouse.

I took in the sight of her store as I gingerly stepped over the caution tape that surrounded her store. The front had been wrecked pretty thoroughly, and the double doors leading in had been torn off. Parian had a large linen sheet hung up over the entrance though, which afforded whoever was inside their privacy. I knocked on a piece of un-destroyed wall. "Hello? It's Nightingale." I called out.

I heard movement from within the store, and then Parian's masked face popped out from behind the curtain. "Hi there!" She called out cheerfully. "Come on in. Just step through the curtain." Her face disappeared back inside the store as quickly as it appeared. That was… weird.

I made my way inside the store. Parian was fluttering about with an almost manic energy, sweeping futilely with a broom. It didn't look like she was making much progress. A large pink bunny sat in the middle of the room, ostensibly serving as Parian's bodyguard. It didn't look very menacing.

"Are you… OK?" I asked. "You seem very… upbeat."

"Oh, I'm flipping out on the inside!" Parian responded cheerfully, with a girlish giggle. "I think I've snapped and gone insane. But am I really insane if I think I'm insane? Is there such a thing as lucid insanity? Should I cut off all my hair and move to Florida?"

Yikes, she was definitely freaking out. I didn't know how to respond to that, so I simply stepped forward and wrapped her up in a hug. She looked like she needed one. "Hey," I said gently to her. "It'll be OK."

Parian stiffened at first, but then leaned into me and hugged me back. I heard her sigh deeply as we separated. Her shoulders slumped a little. "Calle says it could take weeks for my insurance claim to be processed. I barely have enough to cover the deposits I'll have to return for all the items that Lung wrecked. I just..."

"Hey, that's not a problem. Look, I'll lend you as much as you need. No strings attached." I replied confidently. I should have more than enough to cover what Parian needed.

"What? That's not why I br-" Parian started to say.

"I know. Really, I have plenty of money, and I'm happy to help you out." I replied.

"You'd do that for me? We barely know each other." Parian responded incredulously.

I shrugged a bit at that. "Well, we're both Calle's clients. And besides, I'd like to think that we can be friends. Friends help each other out."

Parian stared at me for a second before rushing forward and squeezing me into a tight hug. "Thank you." She whispered to me. "I'll pay you back as soon as my insurance claim gets in."

"Yeah, sure. There's no rush." I replied. It's not like I was hoarding my money for anything specific right now, and it made me happy to help her. I saw something move in the corner of my eyes, and before I could stop myself, I let out an undignified squeak and jumped backwards.

Parian's head snapped to where I was looking, as a veritable horde of black insects poured into Parian's shop from the rubble near the back of her store. Alright, maybe it wasn't that many, but it still caught me offguard. Parian chuckled at the sight. "It's alright Nightingale, it's probably just Arachne."

The insects congregated together to form a denser mass, which then reconfigured itself to spell out a message: I'M SORRY.

"It's… not your fault." Parian replied quietly. "Well, if you are really sorry, you can always sell me a bolt of Golden Orb Weaver silk at a discount."

The bugs rearranged themselves in response. YES, FREE. After a second, the bugs moved again. CHECK DROP LATER.

"Aww, that's so nice of you!" Parian responded.

I shuddered a little. I can't believe Parian was having a conversation with a mass of bugs. Parian tilted her head and looked at me. Even with her full face mask on, I could just tell that she was smirking at me.

"Don't tell me you're scared of some little itty bitty bugs." She teased me.

"Wha- I'm not scare of them! They're just creepy and disgusting." I replied. Honestly, what kind of a girl actually likes bugs. Note to self, try to find a bug exterminating power.

"Hey, you're going to make Arachne feel bad." Parian chided, though her tone was mirthful.

I felt my face flush in embarrassment. "S-sorry!" I stammered out at the mass of bugs that were in front of us.

The bugs rearranged themselves again. ITS OK. After a pause, the bugs spelled out another message. USED TO IT.

Well, that just made me feel even worse. "I really didn't mean to offend you. I'm just… not used to so many insects."

The mass of insects bobbed a little, as if to acknowledge my words. I glanced around the shop a bit. Where was she? Parian chuckled again at my action.

"She's probably not anywhere nearby. Her range is pretty large. She can be a bit… 'recluse'-ive!" Parian said, using her fingers to make the air quotes. She looked really pleased with herself.

I simply shot her a blank look; such behavior must not be encouraged. Arachne's bugs spelled out another word: AWFUL. I chuckled at her message, while Parian gave a small humph and flicked her hair. Wait, Arachne could surveil us from blocks away? That was even creepier! Big Sister is watching. Or… Bug Sister is watching. Heheh.

The bugs rapidly reformed themselves again to spell out two words before quickly diving out of site and scuttling away through the cracks and the rubble. INCOMING. WARDS.

"Knock knock!" A voice called out from beyond Parian's makeshift curtain door. "It's your friendly neighborhood Clockblocker. Is anyone home?"

With a wave of her hand, Parian parted the curtain, revealing two of our local Wards, Clockblocker and Vista. Clockblocker was a little bit shorter in person than I had pictured. His costume, a white bodysuit, was covered with the images of clocks. Amazingly, the hands on the clocks on his suit actually spun lazily. How the heck did that work? I wondered briefly if it was some kind of tinkertech, and if they really wasted a tinker's time making a costume with spinning clocks instead of something actually useful.

Vista on the other hand, was even more adorable in person. She had a bright green dress that was covered in swooping white lines and armored plates. Strawberry blonde hair poked out from underneath the visored helmet she wore. I resisted the urge to pinch her cheeks. Something told me she wouldn't appreciate that. Must have been my incredibly high IQ at work.

Parian welcomed the two youthful heroes in. "You're free to come on in, but I'm afraid I'm not open for business right now."

Clockblocker chuckled a bit. "Yes, well we can see that."

"I hope you don't mind us dropping in." Vista said. "We're assigned to patrol here on the Boardwalk today, and we saw Nightingale fly in just now, and thought we'd come introduce ourselves."

Vista spoke in a prim and proper manner, as if she was trying to portray herself as a consummate professional.

"Ahem," Clockblocker began, while staring at me. "It's a good thing I brought my library card, because I'm definitely check-"

He was interrupted by an impressive elbow to the gut by Vista. "Shut it, Clock!" She hissed at him.

"Gah, that actually hurt! Totally unnecessary." Clockblocker moaned.

"Let's agree to disagree on that." Vista retorted. The little heroine cleared her throat and turned back to me. "Anyways, I'm glad that you agreed to be a PRT-affiliated cape. Is there any chance that you'll consider joining the Wards in the future?"

"Ah, well maybe." I responded. "There's some things I want to accomplish first on my own before I consider joining the Wards and PRT."

"Well, you have a PRT phone right?" Vista asked. "Let's exchange PRT numbers. If you ever have any questions about the Wards or what we do, I would be happy to answer them. There's a lot of great things about being a Ward, though it would mean that you'd have to put up with Clockblocker here."

"Hey!" Clockblocker uttered indignantly. "If anything, that should be a major selling point."

"Sure," Vista said, patting Clockblocker on the back. "Keep telling yourself that, Clock."

"So…" I began, trying to make some conversation. "You like to read?"

"Huh? Wha?" Clockblocker responded eloquently, confusion evident in his tone.

"Umm, you said something about going to the library later?" I asked.

Clockblocker stared at me in silence. I noticed Vista making an odd choking sound as she turned her face away from us, while Parian had brought her palm up to her face mask. Did I say something wrong?

"Yes!" Clockblocker suddenly responded loudly. "I like to read. And I will be going to the library later."

Vista let out a little giggle and started dragging Clockblocker away. "We really need to get back on patrol, but it was great meeting you! Bye now!"

We waved goodbye as the pair of heroes disappeared through the entrance to the Dollhouse.

"Well that was interesting." I said to Parian as soon as the two of us were alone. Clockblocker and Vista seemed nice. Maybe joining the Wards wouldn't be such a bad idea, but I kind of liked where I was right now.

"Oh!" Parian said suddenly. She walked over and pulled my backpack from a box that was sitting in the corner of her shop. "I found your backpack, and your old prototype costume. It's undamaged, so you can still use it for when you're at the hospital or a PR event."

"Ah, thanks!" I took the backpack from her gratefully. There wasn't really anything important in it, but it would be nice to have a spare costume if I ever needed it.

"Arachne, can you give us some privacy?" Parian called out to the store. What the, was she still here, spying on us? Parian waited a few seconds before turning to face me again. "I haven't had the chance to thank you yet for the other day."

"Oh, that's OK. I really didn't do that much." I responded. I really hadn't. If Glory Girl hadn't been there, things would've gone a lot worse for us.

"No, you did plenty. You didn't have to stay. Nobody would've blamed you if you left."

"I would nev-" I tried to protest.

"I know." Parian said, stopping me. "Still, I'm grateful that you stood by me, and I do want us to be friends. So…"

With one quick motion, Parian reached up and yanked off her mask, and to my astonishment, what was apparently her wig. Parian looked nothing like I imagined. Instead of a pale blonde haired girl with blue eyes, she had dark olive skin and looked like she was of Middle Eastern descent. She was definitely beautiful, with lustrous jet black hair, and large chocolate eyes with long eyelashes.

She gave me a small smile. "Hi, I'm Sabah. You don't have to unmask or anything, it was just something I felt like doing."

I lowered my hood and took off my domino mask. "My name is Taylor. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm not what you expected, huh?" She asked.

I chuckled a little. "Nope, I was expecting an Aryan princess. Someone the E88 would kill for."

Sabah snorted at that. "Yeah, they'd definitely be less interested in the real me."

"Well it's certainly an effective disguise."

"Hmm, that wasn't my original intent actually. I originally planned to unmask one day, and start a whole debate on race assumptions." Sabah said, with a shrug.

"Ah, that's pretty clever."

"Yeah, I thought so. Don't think I'm going to go through with it, though. At least not while I'm in Brockton Bay. This city is too dangerous to unmask myself so cavalierly."

I winced at Sabah's words. Our largest gang was comprised of literally Nazis. "Well, hopefully one day it won't be so dangerous for you."

"Hmm, you're an optimist, huh? Well I plan on staying in Brockton Bay for a while, so I hope you're right. Now, we should probably put our masks back on before somebody wanders in here accidentally."

I smiled at her as I put my mask on. I had a friend now, one who actually knew my name and who I didn't have to pay to associate with me. All things considered, life was pretty good.

* * *​

Spoiler: Taylor's Current AbilitiesLast edited: May 25, 2016593ShadowghostMay 25, 2016View discussionThreadmarks Crescendo - 3.2View contentShadowghostMay 31, 2016#791Crescendo – 3.2

March 14th, 2011

I stared at myself nervously in the mirror as I tried to prepare myself for what was to come. I fought Lung for God's sake. I shouldn't be terrified of going to a school and being around other teenagers.

Two months of not having to deal with my petty bullies was blissful, even if it was pretty lonely most of the time. I mean, it wasn't like I didn't have any friends though. Sure, I never met Insight in person, but internet friends count too right? I considered Vicky a friend, even if she didn't know my real name. Despite my attempts to get to know Panacea better, we hadn't really hit it off. At least I had Parian as a friend now. We even unmasked to each other. She was a bit older than me, so I hoped she wouldn't be put off by the age difference.

The past few weeks had been a comfortable routine. Volunteer at the hospital, do my workouts, attend my martial arts classes, and heal clients for Calle. I couldn't spend too much of the money I was earning without garnering suspicion, but I did go to the mall one day while I was bored and tried to act like a normal teenager. In a moment of weakness, I even bought some clothes and makeup.

It was a great solace to me that nobody at Arcadia would know the old me. At Arcadia, I wouldn't be the loser who got stuffed into a locker full of bloody tampons and had a nervous breakdown. It was a fresh start. I idly wondered what Winslow had been like the last two months. Did the school keep a closer eye on the trio now that they cost them so much money? Or was it business as usual for them. I wondered if they had picked someone new to torment now that I was gone. Maybe Doreen, a rather mousy girl with large buck teeth. Had my presence been some kind of lightning rod that prevented other less popular kids from getting picked on?

Getting up at 6 AM to get my morning run in had sucked. I worked hard the past two months to get into shape though, and I didn't want to give that up just because I was starting school now. Plus I wanted to burn off some excess nervous energy. Hopefully it'll get easier, because I was committed to my exercise routine now.

I had spent several hours the night before looking on Youtube looking up make-up tutorials on my new laptop that Quinn helped me acquire. The laptop and encrypted sim card was expensive, but it was well worth it to be able to the browse the internet privately at home. I still wasn't very confident with using the new makeup I had bought, so I settled for some simple lip gloss, blush, and some eyeliner and mascara.

I had decided to wear my new red polka dotted dress, which was nicer than just about all of my old clothes. A pair of tights underneath and one of my mom's cardigans completed my outfit. All in all, I didn't think I looked too bad. I mustered up as much confidence as I could, and went downstairs to start my day.

Dad was already in the kitchen, reading a newspaper, the Brockton Bay Herald, at our dining table. He had made breakfast already, which was never a good sign. He looked up and did a double take when I entered the kitchen. He's my dad. Surely he was going to compliment me on how pretty I look.

"Hey Taylor, you want some bacon?" He asked.

Or not. Well, that was a blow to my self-esteem. At least there was bacon, which was probably the only edible thing Dad could cook. I forced myself to eat some of the overcooked eggs and bacon that Dad had made, while we made small talk.

"How are the eggs?" Dad asked, with a goofy grin on his face. He looked pretty proud of his handiwork.

"Better than your last attempt." I replied diplomatically. I wasn't even lying. It's not hard to improve upon a disaster.

Dad snorted at my reply. "Yeah yeah. Are you ready for your first day?"

I shrugged. "As ready as I'll ever be. Anything interesting in the papers?"

Dad handed me the front page of the paper in response. "Mostly stories about the attack on the Boardwalk. You managed to make it into the paper."

The front page story had a large picture of a destroyed store front front and center, but there was some smaller photos within the story. Someone had managed to snap a photo of me hovering in midair above the boardwalk, and it looked pretty awesome. I was definitely going to save this picture. Maybe I can start some kind of superhero scrap book.

I idly perused through the paper as I ate my breakfast. Lung's rampage had caused several hundred thousand dollars worth of property damage, not to mention the amount of lost revenue that would surely follow.

The other major story, which was pushed to page two, was that the Protectorate had managed to apprehend and arrest a villain that was hiding out near Burlingame State Park. Details were still scarce, but apparently a parahuman had been harassing the tourists who were there over some kind of eco-preservation agenda. It should've been a PR win for the Protectorate, but since it happened at the same time as Lung's rampage, they were instead being criticized for their inadequate response.

"Ready to go?" Dad asked, as we finished our breakfast.

Arcadia was a bit farther from our house from Winslow, and their school buses didn't even stop in our neighborhood. Still, it was a small price to pay to go to the best public school in Brockton Bay. "I'm fine just taking the public bus, Dad. You don't need to drive me."

"Nonsense. It's your first day. You can take the bus tomorrow, but you're stuck with me today."

We arrived at Arcadia early enough that the school was mostly deserted.

"Well, this feels nostalgic." Dad said, as we got out of the car. "My baby daughter all grown up and going to school."

I rolled my eyes. "Very funny."

"It's my right as a father to make these types of comments." He responded. "I won't get many of these kinds of days left, you know. Now Taylor, you remember what to do if you see a kidnapping?"

"What are you talking about, Dad?"

"You better wake him up so he doesn't miss class!" Dad said, chuckling at his own joke.

I didn't try to hide my groan. "Oh my god, please no 'dad jokes' when we get inside." Inwardly, I had to begrudgingly give him some points for that one. It was also good to see him a bit less mopey.

Dad shrugged a little. "Taylor, I know the past few months have been tough on you, but this is a great opportunity for you. Arcadia is a wonderful school, and I want you to take it seriously. I know you have a lot of… other stuff going on in your life right now, but you've got your Mom's brains. If you work hard here, you can go anywhere you want for college."

"I know, I'm looking forward to actually learning something in school for a change. But you know I want to go to Brockton Bay U."

"And I'd love to have you so close by, but with the settlement, we can send you anywhere you want to go. You don't have to stay here." Dad replied.

I frowned, but chose not to respond. I know most kids didn't want to stick around their hometown after high school, but Brockton Bay University was where Mom had taught. I used to visit her and kept her company when she was grading papers in her office, and we often had picnics together on the campus quad. It was a connection I wasn't willing to give up yet.

Arcadia certainly looked imposing from the outside. It was an H-shaped building made of red bricks that stood four stories tall. Unlike Winslow, the grounds and appearance of the school was immaculate.

There weren't any metal detectors at the front entrance, but I did spy high-tech security scanners as we walked in. Most students probably just thought they were regular security cameras, but I recognized them as they looked similar to the security scanners used in Calle's office. I didn't know if they could detect me through my invisibility, so I made a mental note not to test it out that way.

We made our way to the registrar's office where I picked up my schedule and signed a bunch of forms with my Dad to complete my enrollment. My relatively poor grades at Winslow meant that I wasn't able to take any of the Honors classes, but if I did well on finals this year, I could take advanced placement classes my junior year. Without the trio ruining my schoolwork, I was actually pretty confident in my abilities. Unlike Winslow, Arcadia had a full selection of AP classes here, including AP Computer Science, which was what I was most interested in. Arcadia also had a variety of art electives. I was tempted to choose choir, but I didn't want to give any clues. Instead, I settled for pottery.

Dad squeezed me into a tight hug, and then he was off to work, leaving me to brave the halls of Arcadia alone.

My first few classes passed by in a blur as I was introduced to dozens of new faces. After a while, I simply gave up trying to memorize every new name. The students so far had been polite, if not downright friendly. New students transferring in during the middle of the school year was rare at Arcadia, so I was a bit of an oddity. I wasn't naive enough to believe that there wasn't any form of bullying here, but the teachers here radiated authority and competence in a way that was sorely missing at Winslow. I guess not having to worry about getting shanked by your students helped contribute to that. I was still most comfortable keeping to myself though, and ended up sitting near the back in each of my classes.

Soon enough, the day was half over and I was on my way to the cafeteria for lunch. I was quite proud of myself for doing an adequate impersonation of a normal teenager so far. I rounded a corner and almost bumped into a familiar face.

I stared in shock at Victoria Dallon. Obviously I knew that she attended Arcadia, but I hadn't planned on befriending her in my civilian guise. "Excuse me," I muttered, and tried to step past her.

"Wait!" She called out, and blocked my escape route easily.

She grinned at me, as her eyes roved up and down my body. Was she checking me out? Wait, oh my god. I was wearing the dress that Vicky had picked out for me less than two weeks ago. There's no way that she wouldn't recognize me. This seems like something that I should have been able to foresee. I stood there paralyzed as we stared at each other.

"Hey there," She said after a few seconds, with a smug smile on her face. "You're the new girl, right?"

"Uhh, yeah. I'm Taylor." I responded.

"Cute outfit, Taylor." Vicky said, with a wink. Real discrete there. "I think we're going to get along great. Come on, I'll take you to the cafeteria and introduce you to some of my friends."

With that, she wrapped an arm around my shoulder and started dragging me with her. It was pretty clear that her invitation was not optional. I sighed and resigned myself to my fate.

"Hey everyone! I found the new girl." Vicky said brightly as she hauled me alongside her to a table where a group of girls sat.

Amy glanced at me blankly. "The poor girl looks terrified of you, Vicky. You didn't drag her here against her will, did you?"

"Don't be silly," Vicky said. "Taylor and I are going to be great friends, I can tell already. Introductions! This is my sister Amy of course, and here we have Veronica, Jenny, and Helen."

I gave a small wave to the girls sitting at the table. Besides Amy, they all looked like what I would expect from Vicky's friends. Fashionable clothes and pretty faces. These were undoubtedly the popular girls of their grade. Amy looked a little out of place at the table. She sat off to the side a little, and she had a novel out that she was reading while she ate her lunch.

"Where did you transfer in from?" Veronica asked. Wait, no, that was Helen.

"I was home-schooled for a while, and before that I was at Winslow." I replied.

"Ha!" Vicky snorted. "We kick their asses in football every year."

I shrugged. "Never really cared about the sports teams. School spirit wasn't a big thing there." There were always bigger things to be concerned about, such as avoiding the junior gangbangers and bullies. The fact that Sophia was a star athlete had undoubtedly soured me on the concept as well.

"Well you look like you're in pretty good shape. Do you play any sports?" One of Vicky's friends, I think Jenny, asked.

"Uhh, not really. I like to run, and I have some experience with… gymnastics." I said.

"Ooh, maybe you can join the track team next year then." Jenny suggested. "Or you can try out for the cheer team! They could probably use more tumblers."

Vicky smirked at me. Parahumans weren't allowed to compete in competitive sports with normals. Way too much of an unfair advantage. Besides, I definitely didn't want to do anything that might put me in contact with Sophia.

"Ah, yeah maybe." I said. "That's a pretty long ways off though."

"I was on the basketball team, before I got my powers." Vicky added. She sighed dramatically. "I still miss it all the time. It sucks that they banned me from playing."

"I don't think it'd be too fair for the other girls out there otherwise, Vicky." One of her friends spoke up.

"Besides, you weren't really that good before you got your powers." Another chimed in.

"Wha-?" Vicky huffed indignantly. "I was awesome!"

"Hmm, have you ever thought about playing Power Ball?" I suggested. Of the various parahuman sports that have emerged over the past few decades, Power Ball was the most popular in North America. It still wasn't as popular or lucrative as the NBA or NFL, but it had a pretty dedicated following, especially among cape fanatics. The sport was kind of infamous for its groupie culture, actually.

"I'd be good at it, right?" Vicky asked with a large grin on her face. "I could play both the flyer and the brute positions."

"We're heroes, not rogues." Amy spoke up for the first time.

The rest of the table quieted down at Amy's statement.

Vicky rolled her eyes. "It's just a game, Ames. I think it'd be fun."

Amy shrugged a bit. "Mom would never let you play."

"Ugh, I know. She won't even let us go watch the Boston Minutemen play." Vicky whined dejectedly.

Jenny cleared her throat. "Anyways, Taylor, are you a cape groupie?"

"What? No, not really. But parahumans are an important facet of our culture. It's important that we're cognizant of how they affect our everyday lives and the issues they pose."

The rest of the table stared at me blankly. Shit, was that too nerdy?

Vicky chose to simply move on. "Let me see your schedule, Taylor." Vicky asked, with her hand held out to me.

I reached into my backpack and handed her my schedule.

"You're a sophomore?" Vicky asked, while she perused through my schedule.

I nodded in assent.

"That's cool, the rest of us are all juniors." Vicky added. "Ooh, we have pottery class together! We can head over together after lunch."

"You're in Beginner Pottery?" I asked.

"Heheh, yeah. I took drama first year, but it wasn't really for me. Sophomore year I tried painting, but it was sooo boring." Vicky explained.

"You mean you sucked at it." One of her friends, either Jenny or Helen, muttered.

"Hard to imagine that drama class wasn't a perfect fit for you." Someone else chimed in, earning a round of laughter from everyone at the table.

"Shut it!" Vicky exclaimed, with a pout on her face. "Anyways, pottery is pretty fun. I think I'll even move on to the next class senior year instead of trying something new."

"Heh, whatever." Veronica (or was it Stacy?) chimed in. "You just like pottery because it's a total blow off class. Mr. Hanlen gives everyone in it at least an A-."

Vicky chuckled in response. "Yup, that's definitely a big plus. The class is totally chill. Mr. Hanlen's only rule in class is no Ghosting."

"What's Ghosting?" I asked, which elicited a groan from the rest of the table.

Vicky leaned in close to me and whispered huskily into my ear. "Hmm, don't worry, I'll show you later when we're all alone."

"N-no thanks!" I managed to stammer out, as I felt my face turn beet red. The rest of the table dissolved into a fit of giggles. Well, except for Amy, who was glaring at me now. Yikes.

* * *​

After a long first day at school including a surprisingly fun pottery class, I was on my way home via Brockton Bay's public bus system. Arcadia was a fair bit farther from home than Winslow was, and taking the bus was much slower than having my Dad drive me. Maybe I should start bringing my costume to school so I could find somewhere to change and simply fly home. I'd want to get a backpack with a hidden compartment in it or something just to be safe. Something to consider. At least the buses were relatively safe here. I was definitely going to take up Dad's offer to buy me a car for my sixteenth birthday.

I got off at the bus stop a few blocks away from my house, and started walking back. Today had gone about as well as I could have expected. Everybody at Arcadia had been pretty friendly. It was such a relief not being the loser loner that was picked on. Accidentally outing myself to Vicky was… a minor blunder. I didn't feel too bad about it though. At least it made our friendship feel more real now that she knew who I was.

As I approached my house, I noticed a petite girl in what looked like a Catholic schoolgirl uniform standing in front of our front door.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

The girl spun around, and I gasped in shock. What the hell was Madison Clements doing at my house?

"T-Taylor?" She stuttered out, as she stared at me with wide eyes. "Wow, you look amazing!"

"What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed at her. I guess I didn't quite hate Madison as much as Emma or Sophia, but she was near the top of my list of people I would go Carrie on.

Madison flinched a little at the vehemence of my voice, but she tried to soldier on. "I know I'm probably one of the last people you want to see, but I'm here to apologize."

I scoffed at her reply. "You really expect me to believe that?" Wait, I didn't need to rely on my intuition for this. With a tug of my power, I activated my thought detection power. It wouldn't last long, but it would be enough.

"I know you don't have any reason to believe me and even less to forgive me, but please hear me out. I did a lot of soul searching these past few months, and I'm not the same person I was at Winslow anymore." Genuinely remorseful.

That surprised me. I glanced down at the uniform she was wearing, causing Madison to chuckle sheepishly.

"Yeah, my parents pulled me out of Winslow when the investigation started happening. I go to Immaculata now. They wanted to get me away from bad influences and the toxic environment. Taylor… I wasn't part of the locker prank." Wasn't directly involved, but knew about it ahead of time. Thought the prank was too disgusting.

"You knew about it." I said flatly.

"Y-yes I did, and I'm so sorry I didn't try to stop it, or let you out after Sophia shoved you in there."

I didn't know how to feel at the moment. I had held onto my anger and hate for so long, that I didn't know how to react to Madison standing here in front of me, trying to apologize. It would've been so much easier to just keep hating her and thinking of her as the heinous bitch who made the last year and a half of my life such a hell.

"Why now?" I asked.

"Well, I wanted to apologize earlier, but with the lawsuit going on, I was told not to contact you. I actually stopped by a few times over the last two weeks, but you were never home. Even if you never forgive me, I just want you to know how sorry I am over how I treated you. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to punch me in the face-"

I perked up at the last bit, which Madison definitely noticed.

"But I'd prefer if you didn't!" She finished quickly, with her voice taking a slightly higher pitch.

I stared at her hard for a few seconds, and inwardly took a little bit of pleasure watching her squirm. I sighed. "I'm not going to punch you in the face. Just… why… why me? What was it about me that made you go out of your way to be such a bitch." I asked.

Madison fidgeted a bit in a nervous fashion. "There wasn't a good reason or anything. I don't think there's anything I can tell you that will make you feel better."

"Tell me." I said, sending her an angry glare for good measure.

Madison sighed as she twirled a lock of her hair. "I'm not trying to make excuses are anything, but it was just so easy. You didn't even try to fit in."

"So what?" I responded, with a hint of anger in my voice. "If I wore pretty dresses or makeup, you would've left me alone?"

"I don't know. I think Sophia and Emma would've gone after you anyways. They really hated you. I never hated you. I just sorta… tagged along because they were popular and I wanted to be popular too. It's not like the teachers didn't know what we were doing. Mr. Gladly's kind of an airhead, but he knew what was going on. When nobody said or did anything to stop us, it was like validation. That this was just how the world works. But I'm not trying to make excuses or blame others. I was a bad person, and I don't want to be that person anymore. When my parents found out about what was going on, they were so angry and disappointed in me. I think it was the first time I really realized that what we were doing was really wrong."

I sighed again. I was still angry, but… my power was telling me that everything Madison was saying was truthful. When Emma first started bullying me, I dreamed of her throwing herself at me and begging for forgiveness. In those daydreams, I would always magnanimously forgive her and take her back. Somewhere along the way, those daydreams had changed to cathartic revenge fantasies. It was so much easier to hate than it was to forgive.

"What do you want from me?" I asked. "To say I forgive you, so you can go on living your life without feeling guilty?"

"I… I think I'd still feel guilty whether or not you forgive me." Madison said. "I'm not here just for that. I thought that maybe we could… I don't know. Hang out, get to actually know each other?"

"Are you serious?" I asked incredulously.

"I bullied you, and I don't even really know you as a person. I don't think I could have done and said all those horrible things to somebody I actually know. I don't know what I was expecting, but I guess I was hoping for a fresh start." Madison replied. "And I guess I wanted you to see that I'm not the Madison that you knew from Winslow anymore."

"Emma knew me well, and she didn't have a problem being a huge bitch to me." I responded.

Madison gave a halfhearted shrug. "Emma and Sophia are kinda psychopathic. I never really noticed when I was in their circle, but I think I'm lucky that my parents got me out of there and away from them. I haven't talked to either of them since transferring to Immaculata."

Madison fidgeted a bit as I stood there silently. I really didn't know what I wanted to do. Forgiving her seemed like the right thing to do. I was willing to give even Purity a second chance, and shook hands with her just a few days ago. I told Insight that I thought everyone deserved a second chance. It's not like Madison did anything that was nearly as bad as what Purity had done. Madison at least was never a Nazi. But Purity had never hurt me personally. When I laid it out like that, my issues seemed so petty in comparison.

After a poignant pause, I finally spoke up. "I don't know if I'm ready to forgive you, Madison. But I think I want to. I don't want to hold onto all this bitterness and anger."

Madison flashed me a smile and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something onto it. "That's really cool of you. Here's my cellphone number. If you ever want to talk again, please text or call me. For what it's worth, you do look really good. You go to Arcadia now, right? I'm glad to see you're doing better now. You didn't deserve any of the shit we put you through."

Madison smiled at me again, and started walking away towards the nearest bus stop. I stared at her retreating form for a few seconds before I went inside my house. It had been an emotionally draining day, and I was ready for it to be over.