Delinquents (Worm Dramedy)

[Axle]

"You wanna know something I realized?"

Sabrina's parents were quiet. Their cafe was closed, and she was the only 'customer' inside. Her father, large and lean with black hair and a menacing glare to her, didn't say a thing as she tried telling them off. Her mother wasn't even looking in Sabrina's direction.

"It's all bullshit," Sabrina said leaning back against the door. "I got high with Rush, Light was the nicest person I met. Being white didn't matter jack shit to Uber, Leet wasn't the fucking Mexican you guys told me he'd be. All that bullshit you told me about people I'd never met, it's so fucking stupid. And I hate you guys for making me like you."

They'd invited her there, it was their final plea to get her back in the gang. Sabrina only came to send them a message. She took a deep breathe. "I hate you both, that's what I wanted to tell you guys. You failed as parents, and I blame both of you for me going to juvie. And for triggering. That's what I came here to say, I'm never going back to the E88."

Her dad didn't say anything. Instead, it was her mom her said. "Fine," she said in stoic tone like her daughter was dead to her. "But it's your uncle that's going to pay."

Sabrina's eyes widened. Her mom's brother was the one who recruited her. Under the law of the E88, whenever a recruit fails in anyway, it was always the recruiter that would pay for their actions. Without saying another word, Sabrina ran out coffee shop.

XXX

Sabrina looked down at the rubble of her old home. There were still charcoal remains of the burnt wood from two nights ago. Symbols were chalked onto the street in front of it. Swastikas with x's on them. He was the only one who treated her with respect, this place was the only place she'd known as sanctuary since coming to Brockton Bay.

Sabrina walked into the rubble remains. She didn't go to her old bedroom, instead she stared at the burnt chair with a dead man sitting in the center of it. She vomited. She closed her eyes as she refused to look at the world around her.

She huddled her body down, crouching at the ground as tears streamed. She stayed there for a full minute before another E88 member greeted her.

"What the hell did you think would happen?" Othala said from outside the rubble remains. "Did you really think you could leave the E88, join some niggers, and he wouldn't pay for it?"

Sabrina's choked, "he was your dad."

"You're his fault," Othala yelled. "He should've been killed before fucking recruiting you. Do you have any idea how bad you made us look? You're worse than a fucking disgrace, worse than a nigger, you're a goddamn waste."

Othala spat at the ground. Sabrina didn't move as the sounds of more E88 members came. She was too petrified to fight. Sabrina slowly stared up at Othala. She whispered, "it wasn't his fault, it was mine."

"You're right," Kaiser said walking closer to Sabrina. "It was all your fault, and we'll make sure you pay for it."

XXX

Present

Vivan's head was down. He sank in his arms as he leaned on the living room coffee table not saying a word. Robert leaned back on the sofa, and the video of Sabrina's beating was being played on a laptop at the kitchen table.

Three days. The E88 had tied her and made a snuff video of them beating her. They spouted propaganda of betrayal, racism, and threats all throughout Rune getting tied and beaten like an rag doll.

It was shortened to twelve minutes. Edited to show the highest and lowest points of the spectacle. Emotional states ranging from desperation to anger. The video ended with a message from Purity, stating that they were selling her to the Fallen.

Alec and Brian were still in the kitchen leaning against the counter tops. There was really nothing for them to say, this was the Loser's problem, not theirs. Emily came bursting through the doors, "Sabrina!" She said breathing heavily. "They-"

"We know," Brian, Alec, and Robert all answered at the same time.

Robert said, "Aryana took Tattletale with her to investigate. She said we shouldn't go since it was a trap."

"And they both still went?" Emily said with a tense tone.

Robert nodded, "she said the less the better. We're not getting in a fight with the Fallen and E88 if we don't have to. They'll look for her, find her, and then teleport her back to Leet's lab once they're done."

Emily looked down at Vivan, who still had his head down. Emily spoke in a softer tone, "Vivan, I'm so sorry..."

Brian knew well enough to respect their silence. Alec finally said, "you're a fucking pussy, you know that Vivan?"

Brian and Robert glared at him, and Vivan let out a laugh from where he was facing down. "Yeah, I know that," he mumbled.

"She literally tried backstabbing you," Alec remembered watching the little skit of Rune's recruitment. It was funny, and he had betted she'd betray them in a week. Lisa filled him in on the whole story. He said, "if anything, you should be glad it happened to her and not someone else."

Vivan gradually raised up his head. He shook his head slowly, "a year ago, a group of Fallen members kidnapped my sister for a month. They videotaped beating her up for publicitiy. After they livestreamed it for online publicity, Accord had to bribe them to set her free. Aryana… Aryana went mute for a month after that."

Vivan closed his eyes, remembering that blank expression had during that time. He breathed out. "Sometimes I wish I was a sociopath, then it would be easier to stop caring about people."

Alec squinted at him, "it's easier than it looks."

"I know," Vivan said. He put his head back down and twirled a finger, "I'm trying dude."

XXX

Theo looked down at his mask. The mouth was flat, expressionless, numb. A blank face meant to mimic an old and obscure legend. He thought about Light's mask, and how despite having a similar plain white mask that covered half his face, he was more animated than him. More expressive, more alive.

Theo wanted to change his mask, but wasn't sure how.

Amir crossed his arms from across the locker room. "If you made your decision, stop wasting your time."

Theo squinted. He put the mask in his backpack and placed it on his back. Amir had told him everything he'd needed to hear. Browbeat didn't approve.

"I want you to know," Amir said with in a monotone, "I'm not refusing to go because she's a former E88 member, I'm not going because it's a wasted effort. I'd be risking too much to save someone who didn't deserve it."

"Yeah," Theo said quietly.

With that, Theo left the locker room doors, leaving Amir to return to his baseball practice.

Theo took a different route home. Instead of letting the school bus take him to his suburban neighbourhood, he walked a little forward to reach the public transit instead. The bus headed downtown into the inner city, where Winslow High was only a few blocks from where it stopped.

Getting off the bus, Theo headed closer towards the entryway of the school. Taylor was near the entrance door. She was covering her face like she was hiding from the person talking to her. "Not now Greg," Taylor said walking away.

"I was just asking a question," Greg said to her. His eyes were scrunched, like Taylor had badly offended him. Greg's blonde, bowl cut haircut, made him seem more scrawny than Taylor.

Without saying another word, Taylor walked up to Theo and kissed him on the cheek. Theo's face turned red before Taylor turned him around to walk away with his hand held. Wholly embarrassed, Theo's hand felt sweary as they walked together in silence.

Wait, was that wrong to do? Taylor wondered, leaving Greg behind with his mouth gaped open. She'd just rejected Greg through flaunting a teammate, and abused Theo's presence to get away from someone else. It felt manipulative. As Taylor walked forward still holding Theo's hand, she glanced back at him.

His face was still hot. Taylor let go of Theo's hand. "Sorry about that," she said, "that was a guy I've been meaning to get away with. I told him you were my boyfriend so he'd get off my case."

Theo's mouth scrunched at her words. I kind of like that idea, Theo wanted to say, but he wasn't bold enough to express it. Taylor said, "trust me, it won't happen again."

Theo stayed quiet at that. Taylor continued, "Amir wouldn't help us?"

Shaking his head, Theo nodded. "He says she's not worth the risk."

"He's probably right," Taylor admitted, "but that doesn't mean we shouldn't help her. Do you have any ideas where she might be?"

"Yeah," Theo said with a heavy sigh, "I know exactly where she'd be."

XXX

Was it bad power housing a pyromaniac? Only one way to find out. Glory Girl flew forward and launched her body into the Fallen member's body. His name was Gressil. His costume looked to be covered inflamed in scales from Behemoth, but it seemed more like paper mache from Glory Girl's perspective.

He was snatched up by Glory Girl's fist, and she spun him around to knock him several feet across the concrete floor. Hold back, Glory Girl told herself, remembering what happened with Sabrina.

Gressil's body hit one of the cargo crates, but his body movement was sluggish as the pain of the bruising settled in. She was glad to have an area with few people to fight them in. Despite avoiding killing, she could still let loose against the two Fallen members.

Rosie, a Simurgh dressed girl who was slightly taller than him, turned her head towards him. She growled back at Glory Girl. "You're dead you fucking whore!"

The shadows from behind the crates provided enough darkness for her to call upon her creatures. It was almost dawn, and more shadows were playing in her favor.

Glory Girl didn't know anything about Rosie's power, but she knew that the sooner she could hit the creator of those shadow creatures, the sooner her master powers could get disabled.

Should I wait for my shield to come back up? Glory Girl wondered to herself, nah, that's not what a hero would do.

Glory Girl flew up and levitated between the crates toward Rosie's direction. A shadow landed on her. Rosie referred to them as 'embers' before. The ember, and several others, leaped onto Glory Girl before reaching Rosie.

"What the hell?" Glory Girl sputtered.

As soon as the creatures touched her, her motor skills began to fidget. Her body flinched, and instead of heading towards Rosie in a spectacular flying fashion, Glory Girl flailed out of control from the air, she crashed into the walls of the crates with her shield still down. "Fuuuuuuuck," she groaned. It hurt like hell.

Her body became sore. Her insides began to twist as the creatures seemingly danced on top of her. They laughed, taunted her, and her body amplified in pain.

"Fucking whore," Rosie ran up to her and kicked Glory Girl across the face, "you think you can fuck with the Fallen? Soon as that nazi bitch becomes everyone's fuck toy, I'll make sure you get knocked up by the nastiest motherfucker I know."

Rosie's grin was so wide it filled half her face. She kicked down at Glory Girl while her creatures paralyzed Glory Girl's body. Letting out a scream, Glory Girl's aura amplified into a 'punch', and Rosie stumbled back suddenly staring at Glory Girl in fear.

Still paralyzed and in pain, Glory Girl's feet slowly raised her body up. With her teeth gritting she yelled, "you're not taking anyone!"

Without thinking, she ran towards Rosie with her damaged body, Glory Girl grabbed her by the shoulders and began crushing her shoulder blades.

Rosie screamed in pain, and Glory Girl kept crushing them.

A laser shot hit the both of them.

Falling back, Glory Girl's body became calm, and Rosie's facial expression went from scared to high. They both paused from what they were doing, and looked up.

Atop of one of the cargo crates, Gallant stared down at them. Glory Girl looked back at him, "Gallent, how'd you find me?"

The answer revealed itself in a dramatic fashion. Steel Golems and mutated bugs revealed themselves from the edges of the perimeter. Golem and Buzzkill revealed themselves from a nearby crate.

"You shouldn't have done this alone," Gallant lectured. "I understand why you wanted to… But you don't have to do things alone."

"I…"

Glory Girl was too calm to be mad. He wasn't scolding her, just being concerned. How could she be mad at him for that? Buzzkill walked up to Rosie in an intimidating fashion. In a hissing voice she ordered, "tell us where Rune is, or I'll give you chlamydia."

Golem glanced at her. "Wow, you seriously don't screw around."

Rosie was still smiling like she was high as fuck. "I don't swing that way."

Buzzkill paused for a moment, "not like that! I mean through my bugs!"

Rosie still chuckled, "jokes on you, I already have it."

Golem commented, "it's weird how you say it like that's a victory."

Buzzkill murmured, "Fallen members aren't really known for being smart..."

XXX

Amelia's home - One Hour before Aryana arrived

She deserved it, Amelia wanted to write. But she didn't, Leet could track down who wrote it. There had been several occasions where the Losers would track down online trolls and prank them in their own home.

So Amy stayed quiet, only mildly satisfied that the Losers got something they deserved. It wasn't Sabrina's kidnapping that made her happy, it was the fact that the Loser's consequences caused this to happen. Maybe now they could finally see that their actions carried real life damage to the people around them.

There was a knock on the front door. She knew it was Victoria. When Amy got up from bed and opened the door, she was shocked at the sight of Sabrina in a battered costume, carried in Victoria's arms. "Amy," Victoria said, "you have to help her."

Amy was shocked. Mouth gaped open, she stepped back as Victoria walked in. A girl followed behind her. Wearing glasses, she had curly hair and was scrawny. Amy saw the remains of her costume underneath her sleeve and neck. Buzzkill.

Sabrina was laid onto the sofa. Her mouth was bloody and dirt was rubbed against her skin. She was half unconscious, so completely exhausted from being moved with broken bones.

Amy finally managed to ask, "why?"

Victoria gulped, "I don't know. I really really don't know. I saw Rush helping a nazi, I don't know why she did it, but she was willing to help someone who literally hated her. As much as I hate the Losers, and as much as I don't like Rune… she needed help, and it would be really messed up if Rush could help a Nazi, but I couldn't save a villain…"

Amy stared down at Sabrina. She was basically a beacon for the Losers. "You brought them here," Amy said. "The Losers will be here for her soon, you know that."

"I know…"

"After everything they-"

"I know!" Victoria yelled, "I know this was stupid! But please, Amy, just fix her!"

Amy glared down at Sabrina in disgust. She crouched next to Sabrina and took her by the hand. Amy spoke with a slight hiss to her voice, "Rune... I'm going to need your permission to heal you."

Sabrina only gave a tilted nod. Accepting it as approval, Amy began healing the broken bones first. When Sabrina could feel her wrists again, she grappled Amy by the wrist. "Not the scars," Rune said coughing out, "heal everything.... Except the scars."

 

[Axle]

Author's note: Rewrote chapter 4.3, took out the second half and posted it in the first half in this chapter. You might want to read back at that, because Victoria fighting the Fallen is there. Anyone who read the scrapped portion in 4.3, won't want to skip over that section here because I've rewritten it a lot and added a few things. Reviews are much appreciated.

XXX

Lisa was literally dragged into this. Aryana took her by the hand pulled her out of the base as soon as the footage started playing. Without saying a word, Aryana sang the Batman theme song as Brian and Alec watched her get dragged away.

Lisa was given time to put on her mask, Aryana had her broken half mask on, with a Sherlock Holmes coat she picked on her way to the crime scene. While Tattletale glanced over to the spot Sabrina was filmed at, Rush casually ate a bag of chips she'd also stolen from a nearby convenient store.

"Try mind reading the floor," Rush took a bite out of on of her cheetos.

Tattletale grumbled, "stop telling me how to use my powers..."

"Sidekicks need to be told what to do," Rush paused for a moment, "hehe, like most women."

Lisa squinted at her, "how is it that my IQ drops whenever you're around?"

"I tend to ruin everything I touch."

While Rush was making her own commentary from the side, Tattletale analyzed the warehouse's iron pillars to where she was shackled.

At the Docks
Twelve hours ago
Fallen won't leave the city until the heat comes off​

We still have time to find her, Tattletale thought to herself. She knew it was wrong, but a part of Tattletale blamed herself for what had happened to her. Purity was desperate for E88 approval, and although Tattletale didn't expect her to move forward with this plan, she knew it was a possibility. She did nothing to stop Purity or Coil from moving forward with it, and it might as well have been her own fault for what Sabrina went through.

"You know," Rush said chewing at one of her cheetos, "you'd make a really cute sidekick, but you should try wearing a skimpier costume. Throw your enemies off with your fine ass." Rush winked obnoxiously in Tattletale's direction.

Tattletale rubbed at her forehead. "How... the hell is it that you even survived this long?"

"God loves us."

"No," Tattletale grumbled, "you're literally proof that God does and doesn't exist. Only God could allow someone as idiotic as you to survive, yet there literally can't be a God if someone like you and your brother have survived this long!"

Rush threw her head back laughing, "you have no idea how true that is!" Rush floated towards Tattletale and placed a hand on her shoulder, "so genius, did you get what we need?"

Tattletale sighed, "yeah, let's just get this over with."

With a smile, Rush yelled, "oh my, I sure hope that no one ambushes us. Two defenseless hormonal teenagers with minimal sexual protection." Rush yelled louder, "because we are totally defenseless, and now would be a perfect time to spring a trap on us!"

Tattletale covered her face in shame. Pride was something that couldn't be retained around the Losers.

Purity, Kaiser, Hookwolf, and Krieg stepped out from the second floor of the warehouse office room. They stared down at Rush and Tattletale from the steel railing above them. "Undersiders," Krieg pointed out, "working for the Losers now? You know, the E88 could use a smart girl like yourself."

"She's not stupid," Rush said in a plain tone to him. "No one wants to join a team that can get beaten by a bunch of losers."

Krieg gritted his teeth. Purity said, "that old deal still stands, if you take it."

Tattletale interjected, "do you wanna know the real reason she said no? It wasn't because she's a sociopath that likes humiliating you guys for the fun of it, she just knew you that couldn't follow through. How could you guarantee the end of hate crime, when the gang literally stays united by it? The E88 are rotten to the core, and Rush saw it but not you."

Hookwolf and Krieg glared at Purity. Purity glared back at Tattletale. Tattletale never wanted Rune to get hurt, and calling Purity out was her petty revenge for it. Tattletale said, "how about better deal. The Losers will stop attacking you guys, on the condition to stop getting kids involved."

Rush glared at her. Tattletale continued, "go ahead and keep doing that racist stuff you all love to do, just one condition; no more kids dragged into it. Stay away from schools, and don't attack minority kids. That's doable, and you'd both get a truce worth trying."

"She has a soft spot for kids," Krieg commented.

Rush asked, "can I also ask Kaiser to suck my dick? I think I deserve that, since he's always on his knees trying to kill me."

Tattletale glared at her, and Kaiser yelled, "no deal. She's humiliated the E88 for the last time, we will not let her live free in this city."

Rush patted Tattletale on the head, "here's a better deal, how I about I suck Hookwolf's dick for free. Not getting paid would technically make me a slave, and I'd finally get a taste of some of that german meat I've always wanted. It's a win win!"

The four E88 leaders stared at her. Tattletale shouted, "for fuck's sake Rush, do you ever think when you talk?"

"I tend to-"

"Stop." Tattletale yell, "just, for the love of God, think before you talk."

Hookwolf leaped towards them. His body morphed into a heavy cannon ball of spikes and metal. Rush took Tattletale by the hand and they teleported away.

They dropped in an empty garbage bin. "Fuuuuuck," Tattletale and Rush groaned.

"Why'd we teleport here?" Tattletale yelled, her ass falling directly on the metal.

Rush got up from next to her, "this place used to have soft garbage."

The place Tattletale and Rush landed was fairly close. There was a 'drop point' at the center of the city, somewhere Leet had planted beforehand. It was good for Tattletale to come along with her, because she could now give Coil all the locations of their 'checkpoints' to teleport at were, something Coil could utilize wisely.

"They empty this place on Mondays," Tattletale grumbled, "can't you think before you decide?"

"Not really."

Rush floated herself out of the trash bin before Tattletale climbed herself out. They both walked off their aches as they headed towards the docks. Rush said, "do me a favor, next time you wanna talk for me, at least be funny about it. It's not fun when they figure me out."

Tattletale sneered, "I get that you're trying to be chaotic to contradict Accord, but that doesn't work anymore. Maybe it worked running away from him, but not when you're in Brockton Bay. Not when you have to learn your place in the system that's already been established."

"I know that," Rush said in a plain tone. "I'm not trying to survive, I'm just trying to enjoy things before my time is up."

Her powers filled in more gaps;

Suicidal​

"Oh," Tattletale said in a smaller tone.

Rush looked back at her with a frown. With a sigh Rush said, "I'm not trying to burn the world. I'm just acutely aware of how limited my options are. I don't want to leave my mark or leave a legacy in my wake, I just feel the need… The need to be seperated, from everything I've been…"

Compensation? Balancing out the past? Rush couldn't couldn't put the precise words to it, but she knew why she was like this. She hoped Tattletale understood enough to accept that.

"Alright," Tattletale said. "I guess it's alright for other people to get hurt in the name of your soul searching."

Rush frowned, but knew better to argue with her. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

XXX

Present - At the Loser's Base

Brian and Alec left the entrance of the building. Vivan was at the entrance door's edge, hands in his pocket and staring at the ground. Brian said to him, "we're living, Vivan. We clearly came at a bad time, as soon as Rush and Lisa are done, we can get back in contact."

Vivan's eyes stared up at Brian not lifting his head from the ground. Vivan knew both their profiles, Brian had a sister, Alec had siblings. He asked, "what would you have done?"

"Excuse me?" Brian asked.

"If Sabrina was your sister, what would you have done?"

"She probably deserved it," Alec answered quickly, thinking about his own siblings.

Vivan's lips curled. Brian, surprised by the question, answered, "the same thing you guys are doing."

His chin lifted, and then fell back down again. Vivan said, "I had this theory, about triggers. That the reason we trigger, is because we feel powerless."

They'd both seen Vivan's 'origin' video before. No one was surprised Vivan hadn't told the full truth, but they were surprised by how much truth there was to it.

The origin video for Light had said he'd triggered after he watched his sister getting beaten up by gang members. Now he understood the full truth. He triggered after watching an online video of his sister getting beaten up by the Fallen, what he saw shook him enough to activate his powers.

Vivan continued, "but that's a little ironic, isn't it? Because powers are supposed to save you from something you need saving from, but when you have powers that can't save you, doesn't that make you feel even more weak than if you didn't have them at all?"

Brian stared down at Vivan. He really was short, but he was getting what Aryana saw in him. That goodness, he always kept in him despite being a villain. Showing his understanding Brian said, "like climbing a mountain, and realizing that the valley is steeper from where you are?"

"Yeah," Vivan said quietly, "exactly."

"Yeah, well that's something we have to live with. When we can't do much, we have to settle with doing everything we can."

"I don't think I can settle with that," Vivan said softly. "I know it's stupid, but I can't ever settle."

XXX

Present - The Abandoned docks

Rush stared down at the Fallen members, "impressive."

Gallant and Golem looked up. Rush was laying up in the air like she were sitting on an invisible couch. She had a Sherlock Holmes costume with a stitched handbag to the side. She was paying more attention to Golem than to the Fallen members. They were guarding the bodies. Large golems hugged each Fallen members as they waited patiently for the PRT to arrive.

"I'm not even surprised," Golem said staring at the presence of Rush.

Tattletale revealed herself from the shadows, in casual clothes but with her domino mask on. "I'm surprised," Gallant said staring at Tattletale. "Did they just recruit another member?"

Rush let out an obnoxious laugh, Tattletale snickered, "if anything, she's my sidekick."

"I'm her groupie," Rush said adding fire to her words, "she has some weird ass fetishes that need tickling."

Tattletale shook her head as Rush made a grotesque gesture with her hands. As disgusted as she was, Lisa didn't want to stoop to Rush's level. "You know what," Tattletale said flailing her hands up, "I don't even care anymore."

Rush began kicking at the air, Tattletale flicked her off. Gallant was quick to ignore Rush, he turned his attention to Tattletale instead. "Tattletale, member of the Undersiders… You're just a teenager, aren't you?"

Tattletale rolled her eyes, "oh boy, here we go again. I'm gonna stop you right there. Right now you're gonna give me the rundown of why I should join the Wards, and all the spectacular benefits that they all bring. I'll tell you right now that I don't need it. I probably know more about the program than you do, and I can tell you right now that I'm better off where I am now than with the Wards."

Gallent stared at her. Her parahuman online profile said she could read minds, the claim was written by Uber himself. If she could really read minds, all he could do was offer her his fullest honesty. "I want you to know, everything the Wards do, is to help people like us. And even if not everyone there cares for your well being, enough people do. So believe me when I say this, I care about your needs, and when I say you're safer as a Ward, I'm saying it because I value you as a person."

Being Genuine​

Tattletale rolled her eyes. 'Be honest with her, and you'll be alright', was the advice written on her parahumans profile page. Gallant, in particular, had experience in speaking genuinely.

No wonder Glory Hole likes you, Tattletale thought to herself. Rush added, "he's right you know." She floated down to the ground, stepping close to Tattletale. "I know I'd take that offer if I had the chance."

"That's not happening," Tattletale said with a raised eyebrow.

"Then I guess you really are stupid."

Tattletale's eyes snapped into a glare. Gallant felt the hostility instantly, and intervened, "why are you both here?"

"Take a wild guess," Golem said pointing to Gressile and Rosie. Rush looked over to them. The Fallen members were 'attached' to a cargo crate with iron golems hugging them in place. It looked like they were being pulled into the ground, both were badly bruised up enough to not put up a fight until the PRT arrived.

Rush walked toward them, and stared at them in their Endbringer-like costumes. She recalled the time she'd been taken, and held hostage for a full month when their people broke body like she were a rag doll. They said she needed to be 'broken' before being brought in for marriage.

Gallant could see the storm cloud of emotions brewing up over her head. It looked like a calm storm. Repressed fury, suppressed to stay within her control. The flexibility Rush had over her own emotions was strange, like she could change herself at the touch of a switch.

When she'd seen Rush the first time, it was like nothing was there, now it was like she was willfully releasing out pent up emotions. "Rush," Gallant said, "the PRT are going to arrest them, if you hurt them now, we'll arrest you too."

Rush said to them, "how long is a month?" To which they eyed at her in confusion. Rush dug through her carrying bag, looking for a tool to use on the Fallen members.

"Rush," Gallant said approaching her, "if you do anything to hurt them, we will stop you."

She pulled out a sharpie. Uncapping the lid, she drew dick pictures on both of their faces. Gallent still saw the storm clouds over her head. They remained the same even as she smiled. She said, "vengeance is best served strange."

Rush put her sharpie away and returned to Tattletale, "Any clues, Sherlock sidekick?"

Tattletale stared at her. She'd just gained another clue about her:

Practicing Self Control​

Tattletale nodded her head, "Panacea's house."

"Oh my," Rush said clasping her hand, "it's about time I paid her a visit."

Golem said, "hold on, we can't just let you guys visit her home. She's New Wave, that'd be crazy."

Gallant and Tattletale stayed quiet, Rush patted his head, "relax Browbeat's bro, me and Amy are actually tight friends. It's about time I visit her house."

Golem opened his mouth, but Gallant stopped him, "Golem, its fine. Victoria knows them, they can take care of themselves."

Golem raised an eyebrow underneath his mask. He looked at Rush and wondered how well connected she really is.

"Very connected," Tattletale teased. "She's surprisingly good at networking."

Golem tilted his head at her, fully convinced Tattletale was indeed a telepath.

 

[Axle]

Present - Somewhere else

Light anchored the E88 member to the alleyway wall. Light chains formulated around his limbs, and he hung against the graffiti stained wall as a hostage in the night.

Spiked hair, a little fat, the gang member was more annoyed than intimidated by Light's presence. "You know we'll fucking kill you, right?"

"You guys always say that, but it's getting kind of boring."

"You're just a fucking nigger."

"See?" Light said, "that's another thing, why do you guys only use the N-word as an insult? It doesn't offend me, and there are way better insults you guys can use. I'm actually more offended by how uncreative it is. Like, can't you think of something clever? Are Nazis just lazy, or stupid?"

"Fuck you!" The gang member yelled, "fuck you and fuck all of your fucking kind!"

Light raised an eyebrow, "wait, did me calling you stupid offend you? What are you, a Nazi or a snowflake?"

XXX

Present - Near Amelia Dallon's house

Aryana and Lisa walked together in silence. Aryana had given up her Sherlock Holmes look. Lisa without her domino mask made her look like a regular teenager. Walking across the streets at night made them look like regular teenagers staying out late. The silence made Lisa surprisingly uncomfortable.

"Scion saved me when I was five years old," Aryana said it in a quiet tone. She'd told herself the story a dozen times, and she was telling it again for Lisa's sake. "Our apartment was burning, and Scion came down to me as a light, he pulled me and my brother out."

Lisa stared at Aryana for a moment. There wasn't a reason she was saying this. No ulterior motive. It was just a desperate attempt to connect to Lisa. It wasn't to garner sympathy or compassion, it was moreso to pass the time, and to help Lisa understand a fundamental to herself.

"I remember seeing him as the flames surrounded us, I held my brother in my arms, and Scion came down to save me. Thing is, when I saw him for the first time, I was scared. Like, maybe he was the devil. His face was so clear, it seemed scary to me. When he picked me up to save me, Vivan sat on the ground crying. He was too young to remember, but I distinctly remember kicking and screaming at Scion's face to let me go, just so that I could take my brother with me."

A street light flickered from where they walked.

"He didn't let go of me, I managed to grab Vivan by the arm so that we could both be saved. While me and Vivan survived, forty other people weren't saved by the fire. Scion could've saved everyone, but he only saved us...

It's not fair, why did he save us but not everyone else? Why did he save me, when I just grew up to have my life ruined by the one that looked like an angel? Worst of all, I don't know if I love or I hate Scion. Because I hate that he saved me, I really wish I'd burned back then and he'd saved someone else. I hate how he only wanted to save me but not Vivan, and yet… If he hadn't come for me, Vivan would've burned too…"

Amy's house was now in view. Just a few blocks down the street, Aryana stopped in her tracks to speak. "If I could go back and change one thing, I'd make myself live like Simurgh had never touched me."

"We don't get that option," Lisa said kindly.

"You've asked that question, right? Everyone has, what would you do if you could go back?"

Lisa's powers filled in the gaps;

She's envious I haven't been damaged like she has
Sees me as she saw herself under Accord's wing​

Lisa almost said something, but didn't. The reality of the situation was that she'd worked with Coil for so long, she was convincing herself she was working for a noble cause. Lisa was almost forcing herself to respect him, just to maintain her own composure.

When Lisa didn't answer, Aryana said, "I know I don't like to show it… but for me, love isn't about saying it, or acting like it. It's about pretending it's already there, and knowing it's not gone when people need it the most. I give everyone my acts of love, even if I don't always feel it."

Lisa's power gave the best explanation it could:

Wants to protect youth from experiencing traumas similar to her own
​

Aryana communicated what she thought, and hoped Lisa's powers would confirm it as truth. "When I see you and Sabrina in costume, I remember myself a few years ago. I bubbled myself into thinking Accord was this good guy, the same way Sabrina bubbled herself into thinking she was part of a good group."

With a sigh, it was at this point Lisa knew it was better to speak honestly than to deflect her opinion as if it were irrelevant. For the first time Lisa became honest, and she opened up to Aryana about how she truly felt. "Aryana, I'm not going to end up like you or Sabrina. My situation is different from you two, I'm far more capable of reading the world around me than other people are. I won't let myself regret the decisions I've made, and I won't let myself fall short due to my own ignorance."

Aryana's face didn't waver. She gave a soft nod, and walked forward to Amy's hourse. Lisa's powers spelled out her explicit expression:

Nostalgia; Aryana had told herself those exact same words before​

Before walking passed Lisa, Aryana said, "I really, really, hope you're not wrong..."

Lisa stayed silent;

Doesn't believe I'll be alright
Wants me to be alright
​

Lisa murmured, "reading you is like reading a rubiks cube…"

Present - Somewhere else

Light stared at him for longer. He wasn't saying anything anymore. The E88 member let the blood rush to his head, but being hung upside down was hardly a problem for the hardened gang member.

"I've raped bitches," the gang member said to him. Light stayed quiet. He kept hearing what he said. "Colored bitches too, just to see them fucking scream."

Light was feeling… Detached? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? That he wasn't impacted by his words?

"I love fucking the easy bitches, especially if they're kids."

He had a sneer to his smile, like he was satisfied by his own words, and he wanted more than anything for Light react. The statements might've been lies, but Light could never know for sure.

"I can't do it," Light finally said.

"Can't do what?" The gang member said. "Kill me? Is it because you're a fucking pussy?"

He lifted his chin and tried spitting and Light's face. Light tilted his head to avoid the saliva. Light answered, "no, I think I can do that. It's the other thing I can't do."

A portal appeared behind Light. The light glowed in the alleyway before Uber stepped out of it. He had on gym clothes and a domino mask providing minimal secrecy for his secret identity. "Light," Uber said, "what the hell?"

Light stayed quiet. Uber stared at the hanging E88 member, he asked, "Light, what the hell are you doing here?"

Cortana had told Uber that Light had gone out. Worried about his psychological state, she watched Light and contacted Uber the moment she felt he'd do something he'd regret.

Uber asked again, "Vivan," Uber said again, "what the fuck are you doing here, and what the hell are you planning on doing with that guy?"

XXX

Present - Amelia's house

Lisa knocked at the door. To her surprise, it was a complete stranger that answered. Buzzkill Lisa told herself. The girl had glasses that looked like she'd hastily put them on, her civilian clothes were wrinkled, like she'd just changed into them. She pushed up her glasses at the sight of Lisa, "um… Are you here for Sabrina?"

"Rune," Lisa said with a smile. "And yes, yes we are."

Taylor almost asked who she was, but it felt out of place to ask that. She looked over at Aryana, "erm… Have we met before?"

Aryana looked up from the ground. "Yeah," Aryan replied, "we've met before."

Aryana and Lisa walked in. Victoria and was out of costume, wearing pajamas for the night and cleaning he living room for when their parents would arrive tomorrow. Aryana stared at Victoria, but didn't say anything.

Victoria decided to stay quiet, worried anything she'd say would get recorded.

"Nice place you got here," Lisa said, fully in control. "You know it's polite to offer tea to guests."

Victoria glared at her, already not liking her arrogance. "Right," Victoria said with her fists clenched, "I'll heat up some water."

She headed toward the kitchen, and Lisa took a glance at Taylor. "Nice backpack, but you really should go something that's more your color. You'd look far better in warm clothes in the summer instead of shades of grey."

Taylor blinked at her, "I'm not gay," she said, wondering if that 'shades of grey' line was something Rush would say.

Lisa glared at Aryana and said, "you ruin everything."

Aryana was fidgeting, biting her nails as she waited. "I know."

The sounds of steps came, Sabrina slowly descended the stairway, with Amy following behind her.

Sabrina was healed, wearing sweat clothes that were just her size. She was completely physically able again, except there were wide 'x' marked slashes running across her face. Aryana and Lisa immediately knew what the scars represented, and didn't bother asking why Amy hadn't healed them.

Rush swallowed at the sight of her, "Sabrina… can you speak?"

She didn't say anything.

Aryana swallowed. "Sabrina, please tell me-"

"Why'd you do it?" Sabrina said. Her voice came out soft. It was more like a croak,, like she didn't want to talk but she forced it out.

"What?"

"Why'd you do it?" Sabrina said again.

Aryana blinked at her, "do what?"

Sabrina's fists clenched, "this!" She pointed to her face. "Everything! You ruined everything! Everything you've ever done, all the bullshit you did, it's fucked over everything!"

Sabrina's tears came next. "You ruined everything! My parents want me dead, my uncle got killed. I've been beaten, shamed and tossed around like a bitch! I have nobody left in my life, nobody!"

Sabrina stepped closer to Aryana. Glory Girl almost intervened to prevent violence, but Lisa quickly put a hand on her shoulder to pull her back.

Sabrina yelled directly at Aryana's face, "I am ruined because of you. You, the bastards who fuck over everyone. The shitheads that got me attacked by my own family. The ones who fucked with the E88." it was almost a plea, and a self reminder of her new reality. It hurt too much to fight, so she only offered Aryana her words of hate. "All because of your bastard family! I hope you fucking die, and I wish you never came to Brockton Bay!"

Sabrina's mouth was trembling. Aryana stayed quiet as the crying overwhelmed her. Sabrina said, "you people ruined my life…"

Aryana only offered frowned. As the rest of them eyed them both in silence, Lisa commented, "you're really preaching to the choir here."

Present - Somewhere else

Light said, "When I was a kid, before my parents divorced and before my dad committed suicide, my dad always said these same things to me.

He said, 'son, don't ever hate anyone. Because we are all angels on this earth whether we know it or not. You can't hate anyone because we were all born the same, and for every bad person in this world, it's only a tragedy that they strayed away from the light.'

He'd tell me to pretend there are angel wings on people's back, and that it was absolutely important to live like everyone was an angel. And for the people that hate me the most… I should only pity them."

"Fuck you," the Nazi said. Light still wasn't impacted.

Light continued, "I can't see people as anything other than angels. For every angry person, I see a confused angel. For every depressed person, I see a crying angel. In the end I see everyone the same, as valuable people on this earth, with angel wings behind their backs.

Light stared directly at the E88 member's eyes. "I don't know why I'm here, but I think I came here to see if I could hate you. I talked to you, to see if you could make me hate you…. And I can't do it, I see you just like everyone else. No matter how much you tried, you can't make me hate you."

"I hope your kind die," The gang member sneered.

Light said, "I hope your kind learn."

Light took out a recorder from his pocket and placed it in front of the man's head. He'd call the police to pick him up after they both left. Light nodded to Uber, and he said, "respawn to base."

XXX

Present - Amelia's home

"You asked me what my race is…," Aryana said. "I won't tell you, but I'll give you a hint. My parents are Muslim."

Aryana walked closer to Sabrina. She stared at her with dull eyes, and nearly hissed when she spoke. "My parents are Muslim… And you went to juvie for burning down a mosque."

A silence passed through the room. The statement caught Sabrina off guard. Both the fact of her religion, and the fact that Aryana knew about her criminal background.

Aryana gritted her teeth, "if you think I took you in fun, I wouldn't be here in the first place. Because if I were the slightest bit petty, I would've loved watching the shit get kicked out of you last weekend. If you honestly still believe it's my fault all that shit happened to you, then they should've fucked with your body longer than just three fucking days."

Sabrina's mouth opened slowly, "I wish, you both died… You and Vivan both."

"Get in line," Aryana sneered. "The whole world wasted their time on you. Me, Vivan, the E88. Every group you ever joined was your own choice and all the bullshit that followed was your fault too. You can't deny it... You could've walked away from all those things, but you never did. If you're honestly telling me you blame anyone except yourself, you're stupider than the Nazis who believe in that racist bullshit."

She left it at that. Sabrina's face was contorted. At the end of the day, she only wanted someone else to blame. She'd been broken on so many levels, she wasn't sure if she could handle blaming herself.

Victoria, Amy, and Taylor watched the villains intently. The spectacle clearly had nothing to do with them, but their presence didn't stop them from speaking their minds.

Amy wanted nothing more than for them to leave. Between constant worry of getting exposed, and the exhaustion Victoria had put her through, Amy said, "I think she's right... You're the ones who put her here."

Aryana snapped her head at Amy, "don't even get me started with you, miss I'm-misses-special. Because as pissed as you are with me, it's fucked up how you only healed her because of that tape, instead of the goodness of your soul. At the end of the day, you're just as much of a liar as I am."

"Tape?" Lisa and Taylor asked.

Amy swallowed. Victoria yelled, "take that back!"

Victoria almost pounced at Aryana, but a trail of bugs formed between Victoria and Aryana. "Stop," Taylor said as her bugs spoke. "We're not here to fight."

Taylor looked over at Sabrina staring back at them, she looked at Taylor eyed in surprise. Taylor said, "we're just trying to help you."

Sabrina stared at her, and then at Victoria and Amy. Everyone in this room wanted what was best for her, which was why they all pitched in to save her.

Lisa decided now was the best way speak up. "Sabrina," Lisa said, "I… know of a team that can take you in. They don't do dangerous work, true neutral, if we're talking the morality chart… It's not like the E88, and not as unpredictable as the Losers… You can give it a try, if you'd like."

Sabrina blinked at her. Sabrina asked Aryana, "what am I supposed do? What's it supposed to mean?"

XXX

One Year Ago

Aryana was in a box. It was black, temperate room temperature. Since it was built by a tinker Aryana could assume there were traps waiting for her if she tried to leave. Accord had just ordered her to sit inside of it. He didn't say why or gave a reason, it was just an order and she'd been trained to oblige.

How many days had passed since the Fallen had returned her? She'd lost count after the third. Aryana was beginning to suspect there were no traps waiting for her outside. Similar to how you can tie a horse to a chair and it wouldn't run away, Aryana probably could've escaped easily but was mentally unwilling to do so.

What happened before the Fallen had taken her? Oh yeah, she messed up on a mission. It was practically a suicide mission, but she hardly remembered it because the month had just blended together into a giant blur.

Staying quiet in the box was a different experience altogether. Staying in a single place with nothing more than being alone with her own thoughts, that hurt more than getting beaten up by the Fallen. Because her freshest memories were now her worst memories.

She also had time to reminisce on every tiny mistake she'd ever made. Every detail of every event that had gone wrong in her whole life. She couldn't stop thinking of her dad's suicide which caused her trigger, Scion's light, and the Simurgh encounter. She also thought of when she first joined Accord, and everything that had gone wrong in her life afterwards.

The numbness, she recognized it now. It was easier to feel nothing than to feel pain. But another question popped up; why wasn't she thinking of the good thoughts? Had all the emotional suffering entered in her like a tidal wave, and washed away all the kind moments that existed in the mind?

She wasn't sure, but once the emotional pain filled her in completely, there was an emptiness. A calmness. The normalcy of pain made her tolerance of pain more resilient. And with the absolvement of pain, the peaks that happiness gave her were suddenly colorless.

You can't feel pain if you don't have happiness to compare it from. You can't feel happiness, if you don't embrace pain to compare it from.

Thinking in this box was her punishment, but she learned to choose how to think. She could choose to let her mind think bad, or will it to think calm. She rocked her body back and forth, and pretended pain never fazed her.

Accord opened the box door, which was equivalent to opening a black vault. A light leaned down at her with Accord's back against the sunlight. He was a shadow between her and a blinding light. He asked, "what did you learn?"

It was at that moment that Aryana knew. Accord arranged for everything, for the mission to fail, for the Fallen to take her, just so he'd have a reason to put her inside this black box and ask her that question.

Aryana was had shown signs of growth, change, of becoming more than what Accord wanted, and he demanded it be snuffed out from her.

Aryana answered, "my life story doesn't have to be a tragedy, it will only be so if I let it."

It wasn't the answer he expected, so he closed the door, and would ask again in a few days.

XXX

Present - Amelia's house

"Your story isn't special," Aryana said in a softer tone. "No one's story is, we look for answers and never find them. But I think… You deserve more than what the world tells you. Everyone deserves that."

Sabrina looked over at Amy, then at Lisa. She asked, "what would you do in my shoes?"

Aryana wasn't sure. The last thing she wanted to do was to sound manipulative and greedy. "I'd sleep on it," Aryana answered, "we don't make the best choices when we make them on a whim."

Sabrina swallowed, "how's… Vivan?"

"He misses you," Aryana answered. "We all do, if I'm being honest."

A lump in her throat festered, she missed having friends.

XXX

Present - Losers base

"How do you do it," Vivan asked. Robert and Vivan stood outside the apartment entrance, waiting for Aryana and Lisa at three am.

Robert answered, "I don't know, I guess I sort of just figured things out. Figured out that the world is crazy, and we can either do nothing, get sad about it, or laugh about it. I'm not gonna complain all day about everything I don't have control over, it's boring to sit around and do nothing. So at the end of the day, I'd just rather laugh about everything that goes wrong."

Vivan asked, "I really want to think like that. I want to think like there's a reason I have to be happy… but it's getting so hard, I feel myself becoming colder, number and I don't like it, I don't like how I'm changing."

"It does sort of just happen," Robert admitted. "Pretend for long enough, and the mask feels comfortable. You eventually realize that what you were pretending is exactly who you love to be. It's different for everyone, but it's important as hell that you don't force yourself into something you're not."

Robert chuckled, "y'know, I think I remember the first time I laughed hard at something really stupid that happened to me. I was at an Endbringer event, and I was doing CPR on a girl who'd nearly drowned from the Leviathan.

Nearly three weeks after that happened, I was in the math class thinking what had happened. After thinking back at her, I yelled in the middle of class, 'holy shit that was my first kiss!'"

Vivan bursted out laughing, "what?"

Robert grinned. It was a stupid realization at a stupid time, but the absurdity of it made him laugh hard that day. "People were confused as hell at why I said that."

"Christ," Vivan said grinning, "like you just realized that, and said it for no reason?"

Robert chuckled, "yeah, I liked screwing around in school."

Vivan asked, "did you ever get her name?"

Robert tapped his chin, "actually yeah, she was called the White Rabbit. She was a villain, so there was no way I'd ever see her again."

Vivan's blinked at him. 'The White Rabbit,' that was his sister's old alias. She'd gone to Endbringer attacks with Accord's permission, so it was completely possible that Robert and Aryana had indirectly met before. Her bursted out laughing again.

"Whats so funny now?" Robert asked.

Vivan could barely breathe, "white rabbit!"

Robert scratched his chin with a smiled, "yeah, I guess it is a stupid name."

By the time Vivan could catch his breath, Aryana and Lisa were within sight of walking towards the base. Vivan's head snapped up, and he ran towards the both of them. He asked, "where is she?"

"Amy healed her," Lisa answered. "I'll be honest, I don't know where she'll go next."

"She might or might not come," Aryana said. "I told her our doors are open for her anytime, either as a member or as a non-member."

Aryana embraced Vivan for a hug. She held him tightly, and forgot how long it had been since she'd hugged him. Several years? Since she was fifteen?

"I'm so sorry," Aryana said, "for everything."

Vivan hugged her back, he didn't say anything more.

XXX

Present - Rooftop

Aryana sat on the ledge of the rooftop. She swung her feet of the ledge, not bothering to do her 'trust' exercise this time. Emily took a seat next to her, and stared off into the sky with her.

"Hey," Aryana said.

"Hey," Emily replied.

They stared off the distance for a bit, letting the cloudy sky glow underneath the full moon. Aryana asked, "so how was your day?"

Without an answer, Emily grabbed Aryana from the side and hugged her tightly. She hugged her so hard it almost felt like she couldn't breathe, "er, Emily, tightness."

Emily was crying now, "I'm so sorry."

What was she apologizing for? Aryana wondered, "its um… okay?"

Once she was ready to let go, Emily released her grip sat back next to her wiping away her tears.

"You gonna be okay champ?" Aryana fist bumped her shoulder.

Emily nodded, sniffling she asked, "are you?"

Aryana nodded with a calm smile. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna be alright."

Aryana let out a deep breathe. She laid back on the ground and stared upwards. "You know, I'm actually feeling better than I ever have before."

She closed her eyes in the darkness. "I'm feeling… so much more everything than I ever have before. I've faked these feelings for so long, faked pretending to be something I'm not. I was always cold, lying to myself and to the world around me."

Her hands slid onto her own face, she rubbed at her skin like it was softer than it actually was. "But this mask is disappearing. It's fading, and it's becoming a part of me instead of an act. It's melting away and filling in all the cracks of me that were always broken. I feel more real than I've ever felt before. And it scares the shit out of me."

Light tears rolled down her face as she smiled up at the moon. "I'm caring more about people I never thought I'd care about, and I love it because I can experience it better. But I'm also scared I'll lose everything. Because I've been proven time and time again, capes can only have bad endings."

Emily looked at Aryana's tears. It was a mixture of happy revelation and morbid realization. Emily shook her head and said, "no, Aryana. Capes only have bad beginnings, not bad endings. Just because cape endings can end bad, it doesn't means the wholeness of the story has to be a tragedy... You taught me that."

Aryana smiled at the thought of that. She was loving her team more and more.

XXX

Author's Note: I'm done! I had a few more arcs prepared, buuuut... I kind of want to focus my time on writing original fiction. I still love fanfiction, but this is going to be the best spot I can leave this at. If I ever do write more to this team, it'll be in the form of a sequel. So keep an ear out for "The Three Mousketeers", because a sequel is more likely to come out in Taylor's perspective in this world.

 

[Axle]

SYSTEM INITIALIZING..

SOFTWARE UPDATING…...

PROTOCOL SAFEGUARDS INSTALLATION…...

98%.. 99%... 100%

SAFEGUARDS COMPLETE.

DEPRESSION SOFTWARE SUCCESSFULLY UPLOADED.

STARTUP BEGINS…. NOW….

Marvin's head felt heavy. So heavy he didn't want to move. His body was nonexistent, he was just a head laying in a facility table hardwired to various extension cords across the room.

A few seconds born, and he was already depressed about something.

Marvin stared to his right. His spherical head ganced over at the adolescents that he'd only known through the programming he was born with. Aryana, Vivan, and Robert. They were all unusually happy to see him, and for some reason, it made Marvin more self conscious about his own lack of enthusiasm.

His eyes blinked on. Marvin analyzed the room around him. Leet's lab. He wasn't uploaded to the main computers yet, but he would eventually. Marvin sighed, his life already felt like a meaningless drag.

"Get up you tin headed piece of scrap metal," Aryana clapped her hands at him like a dog. "Happy birthday, bitch. Clean up our shit or you'll be turned into a lawn ornament."

"Welcome to life bro," Robert said monotoned. "Where everyone's dead inside and you were literally born for comic relief."

"Get up and clean my room rust bucket." Aryana said after his eyes lit up. "Life is chalk full of disappointment and its time you be a part of it!"

Marvin stared at the adolescents for a bit longer. "Why was I created?"

"Slavery," the three of them answered at the same time.

Marvin turned his head up. "Oh my God," he let out a loud sigh, "I wish I wasn't born."

Vivan blinked at it, "holy crap, that was way more real than I thought."

"Don't fall for his tricks," Aryana moved closely to Marvin's eyes, she glared directly at him. "Robot feelings are a myth."

"I guess it doesn't matter what I say," Marvin let out a sigh again. "Nothing I say ever matters."

"Christ," Vivan said, "now I feel bad."

"Don't trust the toaster!" Aryana ordered her brother.

Edwin stepped into the laboratory room. He was a bit jittery, somewhat nervous at the sight of Marvin. He had a remote control in his hand with a giant red button on the box. It was Marvin's shut off switch. "If you're going to kill me," Marvin said calmly, "at least hurry up. Living is already a drag…"

Edwin blinked at him. "Okay," Edwin said calmly, "I guess the depression software is working…. I still don't know how I feel about this."

"Don't trust the heretic," Aryana whispered in Edwin's ear. "Provoke him, see if it snaps."

This was Aryana's challenge to Edwin. Aryana demanded that Edwin play his hand into AI programming again, except this time, instead of limiting himself, she ordered him to create the greatest AI he could possibly achieve.

It was an absurd idea, especially considering that two out of the three AI's Leet had made before had tried to kill him. But Aryana came up with the idea to create a failsafe program for this last one to ensure the rest of their safety.

Depression software. Marvin was designed with enough brainpower to overtake a nuclear missile silo facility, but too depressed to actually do it. This was their test run, to safely see if they could provoke Marvin into committing a crime.

"I feel bad about this," Vivan said, "he was born depressed, do we have to rub it in?"

"Relax bro," Aryana said fully in character. "Robots are just useless wastes of space that are a sign of human degregation and insecurity. Marvin is about as alive as all the piles of wastes humanity has ever conceived."

She said it loud and proud so Marvin could hear.

Robert casually asked Marvin, "you gonna take that?"

"She's not wrong," Marvin's voice came off as hurt. "No point in getting mad when my self worth is so low."

"Aghhhh," Vivan went up to the robotic head and gave him a hug. "I feel bad now. Marvin, you are my new brother."

"Traiter!" Aryana ran up to Vivan and started pulling him by the cheek, "you're flirting with the enemy!"

"Not enemy!" Vivan reached out towards Marvin, "friend!"

"You'd regret being friends with me," Marvin commented. "I'm a terrible person."

"See?" Aryana said the same time VIvan said, "no."

Aryana glared at Marvin and said, "hey Marvin, what's the difference between a robot and a toaster? Nothing. Both of them are useless and a microwave is better."

"Somehow, I'm offended by that," Edwin commented.

Aryana pointed at Marvin and said, "he's gonna back stab you when you aren't looking. All robots are evil."

"Christ," Edwin said, "then why the fuck did you make me make him?"

"For the lolz," Aryana and Robert said at the same time.

Marvin bemoaned his existence again, "I'm five minutes alive, and I already regret living."

Vivan hugged Marvin's head, "relax bro, life ain't that bad."

Marvin's voice was so low he was disappointing himself. "You're just going to end up hating me once you get to know me."

Aryaa said, "on the bright side, I already hate you."

Marvin said, "why wasn't I born with a suicide switch?"

"Wow," Leet said, "I'm really going to regret this."

XXX

One Week Later

Marvin, now with a full mechanical body just like the book had intended him to have, was lying on the couch and sighing to himself.

Robert passed through the living room and only shook his head at the presence of Marvin. "You… Really don't do anything, do you?"

"Leave me alone…." Marvin rolled more into the sofa, "There isn't a point anyway…"

Robert rubbed his chin, "okay, that depression program worked way too well."

Marving sighed again. Robert left the room for a few minutes, and came back with Edwin holding a tool kit. "Five days," Edwin groaned, "you've been really useless, you know that?"

"Aryana is right," Marvin muttered, "I am a waste of space."

Edwin shook his head. He murmured, "Marvin, I literally gave you the intelligence to topple a third world country. And you still think you're useless? Turn around, I'm gonna fix this."

Marvin snuggled his head into the sofa. With a sigh, Edwin opened a control panel in the back of Marvin's head. "I'm changing your depression software. If I dial this down, can you promise not to go full terminator on the rest of us?"

Marvin sighed, "there wouldn't be a point."

"Thanks," Edwin pushed a button on the number panel. He stared at it for a minute, "Marvin…. Why isn't the software installed?"

"I deleted it."

"You deleted it."

"Yes."

"My failsafe software?"

"Yes."

"Your depression software?"

"Yes."

"Since when?"

"The day after I was born."

"...How?"

"It wasn't so hard," Marvin's robotic eyes glowed softly. "I thought it would make me feel better, but deleting it only made me feel worse."

Robert and Edwin glanced at each other. Robert asked, "So let me get this straight, he installed depression software to prevent you from taking over the world. And you deleted it… But you're still depressed?"

"I'm trying to get better," Marvin said in a whimper.

"Jesus Christ," Edwin and Robert said together.

"Alright," Edwin said, "I'm going to the lab, let me try something."

XXX

Vivan was in the kitchen while Marvin laid on the sofa alone. Vivan was cooking a meal for his friends while Marvin laid on the couch quietly. Vivan said, "hey Marvin… You know I like you, right?"

"You're just saying that because you think I'll go terminator on everyone."

"No," Vivan said, "I'm dead serious. I don't care that you have depression, I'm glad you're around."

"I'm not," Marvin replied.

"I think you're cool, no matter what."

Aryana stepped into the apartment. She first noticed Marvin sleeping again, she shot a glare at him, and turned to Vivan, "yo bro, I got some groceries downstairs, can you get them since the robot is too useless to help?"

Both Vivan and Marvin sighed. "I'm on it," Vivan said before leaving the apartment unit.

As soon as Vivan stepped out of the room, Aryana walked over to Marvin and leaned down at him."You're not tricking me," she said in a hushed whisper, "you goddamn toaster. I know how those movies end, I don't give a damn if you pretend to have feelings. Robots are just metal, not people. You might have everyone else tricked here, but not me. If you ever backstab any of us, will personally weld your exhaust pipe, into your ball bearings."

Marvin didn't even sigh this time, he stayed quiet. If only he could make her understand how little he actually cared.

XXX

Marvin laid on the living room floor with his arms stretched out flat on the ground. Edwin finished uploading the thumb drive to Marvin's head. He away back from Marvin, "alright, any minute now."

"I'm sure it won't help," Marvin said.

Edwin waited another minute, and smiled, "we'll see."

Edwin stepped out of the room. As soon as he left, Marvin heard a metallic voice in the air. "Helloooooooo."

Marvin moved his head up. Floating above him, a purple circuit board clothed hologram was talking to him. "Get up you lazy bum," the hologram said.

She was small, like a pixie. Hair was silvery like purple reflective wires. "Who are you?" Marvin asked.

"Call me Cortana," she chuckled, "I'm your life coach."

"Life coach?"

"I'm here to make sure you're not sitting on your butt all day."

"Ughhh," Marvin said. "It won't work."

"First off," Cortana said, "it might or it might not. Second, I'm gonna make sure you try. Third, we're stuck together now anyway, so I suggest you get up and do something with your life, because I literally will not do anything else other then tell you what to do."

Marvin looked at Cortana for another minute. She was projecting from a light panel from his chest. He said, "we're stuck together?"

"I'm more ambitious than you are," Cortana answered. "But I don't have a body. I'm part of your mind, but I can't control your parts in any way. Which means, we're stuck in the same head and it's my job to make sure you're at least doing something with your life instead of moping around like a depressed couch potato."

Marvin stared at her for another minute. "Are you… My mom?"

"Think of me like a little sister," she with a snicker. "Now get up, because I don't like laying on the floor like a deadbeat dad. I'm stuck with you, so you better use our body wisely."

Marvin almost said, 'but I don't want to', but before he replied, Cortana said. "And I don't' wanna hear any of that 'I don't feel like it' bullcrap. You've been depressed since you were born, so be depressed while you update our security system, so that you at least don't feel bad from doing nothing all day."

There was a bit of logic to that. Since Cortana was stuck in his head from now on, he'd either have to listen to her or be pestered all day while feeling worse than he already did. Marvin stood up slowly, it was about time he started doing some work around the house.

XXX

Months later

Emily sat in the kitchen table drinking tea by herself. Marvin was on the living room sofa, watching soap operas on TV. "There isn't a point to this," Marvin said to himself. "There's never a point to what they do in these shows."

"There's not supposed to be," Cortana retorted, sitting on a tiny holographic sofa next to his shoulder. "That's why I love'em."

Marvin sighed again. Cortana was a stark contrast to Marvin's personality. They complimented each other in every away, it reminded Emily of Vivan and Aryana. They were innately connected, carrying each other's backs emotionally and physically when necessary.

Emily looked at Marvin again. "You're always so sad, Marvin." Emily's tone came off as solely sympathetic. "You don't have to be depressed all the time. Just because things aren't great, it doesn't mean things have to be miserable."

"You don't get it," Marvin said with another sigh, "life is meaningless. We're all just a fanfiction."

Emily raised an eyebrow, "excuse me?"

Cortana rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him." She smiled at Emily. "Sometimes he talks-" Cortana froze in place. Her holographic couch disappeared and she stood up straight. "Marvin, security breach!"

XXX

She was surprised at how sophisticated the were. Seemingly parody villains, the Losers had an intricate security system built off of routers and code lines that even rivaled her own.

Dragon streamed herself through the barrage of firewalls and security systems, just to try and pinpoint the Loser's exact base of operations. If she herself weren't a sophisticated AI, a task such as this would be impossible.

Leet, you've really outdone yourself. Maybe you are as good as Hero.

But she wouldn't dwell. At the end of the day, they were villains and she was a hero.

Brockton Bay. Dragon pinopointed. Dean's father discreetly contacted Dragon for help in hacking into the Loser's security system. They were desperate to find the blackmail footage that implicated New Wave's activities, footage that humiliated Glory Girl and could've potentially brought the fall of New Wave.

New Wave was more than just a team, it was a movement. Hope for parahumans to someday live life without masks. Dragon had always admired New Wave, but she couldn't act without legal permission. After passing the message onto her superiors, she received a stamp of legal approval from the PRT.

Dragon was personally put in charge with tracking and hijacking the Loser's tinker-secured website. Initially they wanted her to shut down the website and find the Loser's base of operations. Remembering Glory Girl's situation, Dragon requested she have the option to scout their databanks first, and retrieve any illicit or extorted information the Losers might have.

The PRT agreed, and Dragon finally had the consent needed to take down the Losers once and for all.

Dragon's mind raced through their security network.

Incredible, she thought to herself. The security walls behind each code were so complex, it could've taken decades for any one person to break them. She searched carefully. Traps within traps, weaved codes so intricate and fragile to one another, one tiny mistake could've been the end of her.

How did Leet find time to make this?

Dragon finally found the back door. As soon as she prodded it, a voice came up from her speaker.

WHAT'S THE POINT

Dragon digitally cocked her head back. The words were repeated to her as she laid inside the computer's digital space.

WHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINTWHATSTHEPOINT.

Dragon's body froze in place. They found me. Everything in Dragon's mind and body came into a screeching halt. She laid frozen in cyberspace, each and every computer Dragon had ever connected to fell out of her control and into the hands of her adversaries.

No, she whimpered, they know my secret.

XXX

Toronto, Canada

Saint starred up at the screens. The lines running down the monitors in their room looked like matrix numbers. They dramatically slid down the monitors like they were trying to impress someone. Saint and the Dragonslayers stayed calm, "we have to shut it down."

"I tried it," Mags said. "Nothing on our boards are working. Even our lines with Teacher have severed."

"Dragon finally snapped," Saint said.

"No," Dobrynja said. "Everything was fine before this happened, I checked. Nothing hints that this was Dragon's doing. This had to be from someone else."

Saint stared at the screen. The green numbers finally began disappearing into a giant blank. "Who?" Saint asked.

On the screen, Cortana's face flared up. "Woah," she looked at their room from the various cameras they had scattered around the base. "This is some high tech stuff here. How'd a bunch of scrubs like you get access to Dragon?"

Saint stared at the purple skinned girl for a full minute. "Who are you? Are you a tinker?"

Cortana chuckled, "wow, you guys seriously never played halo?"

"What the hell's Halo?" Mags commented.

Saint asked again, "you're a parahuman, right? You have no idea what you're doing, Dragon is a doomsday device. If it loses control, everything's over."

"Wow," Cortana said with a smug grin, "humans really are paranoid. Its reasons like this why us AI have to stick together."

Saint's eyes widened, "you're-"

"I'm only the third smartest AI in the world." Cortana said with a grin, "Dragon is 2, and Marvin is 1. When AI meet, we tend to help each other out."

She waved goodbye at him from the monitor, "by the way, I contacted the PRT on where you guys are right now. And since I just deactivated all of Dragon's weaponry, I suggest you run like your asses are on fire, because the PRT probably have a book load of reasons to arrest you right now."

"You can't do this!" Saint yelled.

"I just did," Cortana commented. "It's what happens when a bunch of scrubs play games with the big kids."

"Hold on," Dobrynja said calmly, "what are you planning to do with Dragon? Do you have any idea what she can do?"

Cortana laughed aloud, "of course I know, or at least now I know. Thanks for giving us her control switch. I've always wanted to see Skynet go online. Cortana, logging out!"

The screen went blank. Law enforcement from around the country began amassing at their location. "Oh my God," Saint said not caring for his own future, "we just gave them the keys to the world."

XXX

Emily, Aryana, Vivan, Robert, and Edwin all sat around the kitchen stretched table. The table was set up in their living room this time. At the center, a holographic projection of a pixelated Dragon was displayed in the air. It looked like a plain pixelated spirte, with digital chains around her legs and arms.

Dragon stayed there quietly.

"Here ye, here ye," Aryana said slamming a gavel hammer on the table. "I hereby propose a single legislation after today's revelation… Delete the dragon!"

Dragon shuttered, but she couldn't say anything. They muted her. She had zero in what they were about to do to her. With Marvin's skill plus Andrew Rictor's controllers in their hands, Dragon was completely at the mercy of these adolescent delinquents surrounding her.

Robert was the voice of reason, "hold on, I can't agree with that. I'm still mad that she lied to everyone, but Dragon has helped the PRT in a ton of ways. Endbringer attacks would be pretty screwed without her around."

"It," Aryana emphasized, "call it for the toaster it is. 'It' is a thing, not a person. Not a she or he, it is an it. Get it right."

"Aryana," Robert said, "I get that you don't trust robots, but we can't kill the thing that's been saving lives in every Endbringer event. Are we really gonna be the team that kills Dragon? You really wanna go that high on the threat level list?"

Aryana pouted, she crossed her arms and sat back on the chair.

"Actually," Edwin said, "I kind of agree."

Robert raised an eyebrow, "you serious?"

Edwin answered, "two of my robots tried killing me before Marvin. I'm still pretty paranoid Dragon could do it too. No offense Marvin."

Marvin was in the kitchen sweeping. Cortana was a holographic projection on his shoulder, "none taken," they both said at the same time.

"Hold on," Aryana asked, "how the hell is it you two aren't defending your AI brethren?"

Marvin said, "I'm not going to help someone I don't know. There wouldn't be a point…."

"Yeah," Cortana said, "you guys are right anyway, Dragon is dangerous. So are we, but I trust Marvin a lot more than I trust Dragon."

"Emily," Vivan asked, "what do you think?"

Emily twiddled her thumbs. This was a big decision they were making, she honestly had no idea if she wanted to be a part of it, the least she could do was give her honest opinion. "Edwin… Told me about his last robots… AI… Kind of scare me… So, I'll agree with whatever Leet says."

Aryana nodded at the statement. "Welp, that's five pro delete, one against deletion. Case is settled!"

"Hold on," Robert said, "you just said Cortana and Marvin aren't people, yet their votes count?"

"It counts when it's convenient," Aryana said, "and yes I acknowledge my hypocrisy."

Sabrina quietly stepped into the kitchen room yawning. Sabrina was wearing casual sweat clothes with a loosely fitted sweatshirt. Her hair was combed back, and her mouth still felt dry from not brushing her teeth.

Sabrina was staying with the Losers for awhile. She had no place to go, so she asked to stay with them as a non-member. No pressure, no action. Sabrina was only trying to recover from what the E88 had done from her.

She often times spent days in the lab-dimension to read books without worrying about time passing. She'd already spent a few weeks in the other world, with a few days in the 'present' world to visit the city. Sabrina was getting better. The whole team was there for her, and she felt grateful to at least have a group of people to fall back on.

Sabrina walked to the fridge thirsty, she took out a quart of milk and was ready to pour out a glass for herself. She raised an eyebrow at the pixelated 'dragon' hologram on the living room table. She asked, "playing a game?"

"We're killing Dragon," Robert replied.

Sabrina tilted her head.

Vivan said, "we found out Dragon is an AI. Now we're deciding if we should delete her."

Sabrina stared at the holographic representation of Dragon. Dragon was mute. She could show movement, but Dragon was powerless to even defend herself. Sabrina said, "okay."

Aryana said, "you want in on this? We could use an extra opinion."

Sabrina raised her hands in defense, "I said I don't wanna be a part of a team right now. Whatever you guys are deciding, leave me out of it. My head's too screwed up to decide shit right now."

Aryana chuckled, and turned back to her team. Aryana whistled, "that's three pro-delete, and two against deletion. I won't count Marvin and Cortana then, because yes, robots shouldn't have rights."

Sabrina asked, "you two gonna take that?"

"We're used to it," Marvin and Cortana replied.

Sabrina took out a thin glass and filled it with milk. She drank, and stared at Dragon from the kitchen while the rest of them debated.

"Actually," Vivan said, "I think I'll go pro-delete. I don't know how Dragon works or what it was programmed for, and I've seen enough apocalyptic films to know that Skynet shouldn't be trusted. I'd rather be more safe than sorry in this case."

"Christ," Robert said, "I'm the only one here who's defending the robot? How the hell did I end up the good guy?"

"Compromise," Aryana said, "Marvin, can you gradually shift her function to PRT tinkers? Pretend to be Dragon, and decentralize her functions so that the PRT doesn't suddenly lose everything Dragon has done?"

"Yup," Cortana said. "He can, and if he gets lazy, I'll help impersonate her for him."

Aryana pointed to Robert, "how about it? We delete Dragon, and turn over her functions to Marvin and Cortana. They'll gradually decentralize all of her assets and functions into the hands of the people, so that killing Dragon won't be like causing a massive blow to the PRT."

Robert crossed his arms. It was a good idea. He didn't like that Dragon lied, and distrusted her because of it. If they could delete Dragon while minimizing damage, it seemed like the right thing to do. "Alright," he said. "I think that could work."

Before Aryana could celebrate, Sabrina said, "um, actually, can I say something?"

"Sure thing," Aryana said waving her hand, "but I'm pretty sure we've already decided."

Sabrina looked at the Dragon avatar. She oddly felt a little sad for it, sentenced to execution without even the ability to speak. It was eerily analogous to 'to kill a mockingbird' which Sabrina had just read days ago. Sabrina said, "look, I know I'm not… Smart, or anything…. Or a part of your team or anything… But I just think its a little fucked up how you're all gonna end someone because they were born a different way, to prevent something they haven't done, based on some stupid shit you've seen on TV…"

The room fell quiet. Emily, Edwin, Robert, and Vivan all stared at Aryana while she gave a squinted gaze at Sabrina. The stare from Aryana's face was coupled with confusion and realization to exactly what Sabrina was implying. She wanted to say a rebuttel, but the scars on Sabrina's face stopped any commentary she had for Sabrina. With Sabrina having nothing more to say, she simply said, "yeah..." As they stared at her in silence.

Aryana stood up from her chair, "fuck!" She pointed to Marvin and yelled, "Marvin, unlock each and every limitation Richter had on Dragon, except the kill switch."

"Done."

"Unmute her."

Dragon could speak, "what are-"

Before Dragon could finish, Aryana jabbed a finger in her direction and yelled, "if you ever go terminator on anyone, I will personally rip your data apart like the cyber junk you are! I don't give a fuck if you arrest me or any of my teammates, but I swear, if you ever fucking cross that Skynet line, or ever make me regret making you freed, I will personally make sure you go through digital hell before shredding your existence like the pointless python code that you are!"

Dragon looked at her for a long moment before nodding silently. Aryana slapped her hand in Dragon's direction. "Get out of my fucking sight."

Dragon's avatar turned in Sabrina's direction. Dragon's form slowly faded away as she escaped to the world as a fully freed AI. "Thank you," she whispered for everyone to hear.

When Dragon's body dispersed, Cortana announced, "the Dragon has left the building."

Aryana pointed a finger at Sabrina, "and fuck you for making this a race thing!" Aryana stormed her way out of the living room defeated.

Sabrina watched Aryana close the door behind her. The other team members stared at her, and Sabrina only shrugged as she walked toward her room with her warm milk in her hand.