Gowonzu's Snippet Thread (Worm)

[Sidvious]

Ah, she's been befriended and HALPED by Bonesaw hasn't she?

 

[space turtle]

Well that's not fucking good…

What the hell did Taylor do to pull the S9 down on her head?
For no one else to have noticed it already….
Thinker / Tinker working online?
Helping the destitute or righting miscarriages of justice?

They generally hit either people trying to save the world, or random places that fly under the radar.

Given their previous loss at Brockton, I don't see this being the latter.

Maybe Taylor just got that unlucky
Or her potential power is great enough that broadcast got a bright idea and pokes Jack into action.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Was honestly, just planning to give a quick 100 word summary of a possible happy ending and this this happened. So enjoy a direct sequel to the last story.

---

Sophia dived into action. She didn't even think about what she needed to do. She'd been briefed on the Slaughterhouse Nine enough to recognise the telltale signs of Bonesaw.

She didn't have any of her Shadow Stalker equipment on her, but Sophia wasn't dumb enough to be caught unarmed. She unfolded a small pocket knife and spun around on her heels. Sure enough, she was faced with a small blonde girl. Wearing a dress and multicoloured eyes. She even wore her signature, oversized apron that was covered in blood. Sophia tried not to think about whose blood that was, or where her friends were at this moment.

"Oh gosh," Bonesaw said with a cutesy smile. "That's a fast reaction you have there, are you perhaps a?-"

Sophia threw her knife. It struck dead on. Impaling Bonesaw right through her green eye. The little girl's head thrust back at the impact but she didn't collapse like a body should. There were three quiet heartbeats as the girl just looked up into the sky. Sophia growled as she already knew what had happened.

Bonesaw reached up and pulled the pocket knife from her eye socket. Blood spurted out from the wound as she idly inspected the makeshift weapon. The girl seemed completely unfazed by the fact that he entire eye had been stabbed out, instead, she ran her finger over the small blade until she drew a small drop of blood.

"Cute knife," Bonesaw said as she folded it away. "Mine's bigger though." She reached behind her back and pulled out a large cleaver knife. It looked comically large in the tiny girl's hand.

"Oh fuck," Sophia growled. She'd just thrown her only weapon in a last-ditch effort to take out Bonesaw and failed spectacularly.

"I said, no swearing!" Bonesaw yelled, dropping to a crouched stance before running full sprint at Sophia.

The little girl was quicker than she had any right to be. Sophia knew that Bonesaw modified her own body, but seeing a child sprint faster than an Olympian was a surprising sight to be sure. Sophia had no chance to dodge out of the way, she only had one course of action before her, bystanders be damned.

She shifted into her shadow form and watched as the little demon slashed right through her. The blade passed right through where her neck would've been just a second ago. Bonesaw had put all her momentum into that swing, so when it didn't connect with flesh, she fell forward and landed face-first in the dirt.

Sophia reformed a short distance away, thinking hard about what she should do next. Her hand moved for her phone, quick dialling her Ward emergency number. It picked up almost as soon as Sophia made the call.

"Happy Hogans DVD rental, how may we help you?" A male voice asked back with a cheery voice. It was a front for anyone who might have taken Sophia's phone and dialled the number. Usually, Sophia would have to state her cape name, identity code and phase phrase before they'd talk to her seriously, but Sophia didn't have enough time for secret identity bullshit.

"Bonesaw!" Sophia screamed into the phone. "Park across from Winslow High, currently engaged, send back-" She had to form into shadow again as Bonesaw took another run at her. The downside of her power was that any electronic she was using would briefly shut off when she took it into shade, the phone call was abruptly ended and Sophia could only hope that they took the message.

"That's an interesting trick," Bonesaw mused. "How does it work? You're not slowed down by sunlight, but it is still light-based, maybe shadows?…"

Sophia reformed again and thought about her next plan of action. The logical part of her brain told her to run away. She'd reported it, Bonesaw was part of the Slaughterhouse Nine and far too much of a threat for her to take on alone. She quickly glanced at Hebert, who was still stuck on the swing, nose in her book. As much as Sophia disliked the girl, she didn't deserve to be left to Bonesaw's mercy. Emma and Madison were also victims, suspected to be in the public toilets, however, their current well-being was subject to question. A question Sophia didn't want to think about.

"Doesn't matter, I'll find out," Bonesaw continued, turning towards Sophia again. "Just need to catch you first." Sophia readied herself to shift into shade once again but Bonesaw didn't charge at her this time. Instead, she put two fingers in her mouth and gave two sharp whistles.

There was a constant rattling sound coming from the toilets, as the door to the male side burst open. Four monstrosities ran out, stumbling around like fast-moving zombies. They had a human shape to them, but Bonesaw had obviously done some extreme work on all of them. One creature was headless but had a stitched-on face coming from its torso, another one looked to be a blob of flesh that ran on four legs, four feet in total. Another had hands for feet and the fourth was simply a torso that used its arms to support itself.

Bonesaw pointed in Sophia's direction and all four monstrosities gave chase. While she could dodge one or two of the things as they charged at her, all four of them fought with a surprising amount of coordination. The shorter creatures attacked her legs as the humanoid ones tried to grapple her. Every time she shifted away, they would keep up until she reformed. Holding her down and slowly wearing her down. They also didn't seem to respond to pain, so kicking and punching them had no real effect beyond the one leg that she managed to break.

Within a few minutes, Sophia was overwhelmed. Her power had a limit, turning into shade was like holding her breath and once she was winded, it became almost impossible to use it reliably.

"Caught you~" Bonesaw sang out as she walked over to Sophia. Her hands were behind her back as she smiled down at the struggling hero. "But now? What do I do with you?" She thought to herself as she hummed and ahhed loudly. Turning back to Taylor who was still sitting on the swing. "This is another one of your bullies, right?" Bonesaw called out. Taylor didn't respond, couldn't respond. "She told me all about you, y'know?" She said, turning back to Sophia. "How you tease and torment her at school every day. All she wanted to do was find someplace where she could read her book alone."

Sophia struggled as multiple limbs held her down. Bonesaw had obviously spied the limitations of her powers, as the monstrosities choked her just enough to make shifting impossible.

"So, I took pity on the poor girl. Let her read her book all she wants," Bonesaw explained. "She fought me a 'lil at first, but after fiddling with her body, I made her all better," Sophia gasped out for air but was met with another fist to her stomach. "Isn't that right, Taylor? Anyway, for you. Maybe I'll just put you with those other two rude girls. The younger one was so far up the redhead's butt, I think she'd like being stitched together. Maybe you can slide on to the end of that? After I'm done picking your brain about your power."

She giggled, thinking of all the horribly fucked up things that she could do to Sophia. Cutting open one of her monstrosities and fishing out a new eyeball to replace the one she lost.

Sophia could feel her consciousness slipping as the mess of limbs squeezed harder around her neck. She'd lost this fight, and now she was going to black out and wake up under Bonesaw's knife. Sophia had never been this terrified since the day she triggered, and all she could do was look into the eyes of that monster.

"Hey…" Bonesaw called out. Sophia could barely hear her as her brain screamed for air. "-op that. It hu-" The sound flashed in and out as Sophia struggled to stay awake. "Ah, quit it!" Bonesaw cried as the hands lessened up on her throat.

Sophia let out a gasp for air as all the monstrosities let go of her, moving to attack whatever it was that had pissed off Bonesaw. She took several deep breaths before pulling herself to her feet. Finally looking at whatever or whoever her savour was.

A black mass of insects was buzzing around Bonesaw, biting and stinging the girl. Most of the bugs didn't seem to affect her, but Bonesaw seemed oddly protective of her left arm. Sophia scanned the area for any new capes who might've been summoning these bugs but she couldn't see anyone. She also couldn't see where the bugs were coming from, the swarm looked to be growing in size but no bugs were crawling past Sophia to add to it.

Upon closer inspection, Sophia saw that the swarm wasn't made up of any bugs she knew. They were pitch black and spawned from the ground beneath the park, appearing out of nothing and immediately converging on Bonesaw and her creatures. Except it wasn't from nothing, it was coming from the shadow that Taylor was casting. Hebert had just triggered, and her powers seemed to resemble Sophia's in some small way.

Unfortunately, Taylor still couldn't move from her seated position, as two of Bonesaw's creatures moved to attack her. Sophia moved to a sprint, forcing her tired lungs to work through adrenaline and sheer force of will. She tackled one of the monstrosities to the floor and started wailing on it. The second creature reached Taylor and pushed her off the swing. Her swarm instantly vanished as she fell.

Sophia quickly tackled the second creature and pulled Taylor up, tilting her head towards Bonesaw.

"Do it again!" Sophia yelled, hoping for another miracle. "Hebert, do that again or we're both dead!"

Bonesaw and her minions lunged at the two girls. Sophia squeezed down on Taylor and brought her into the shadow state with her. Bonesaw's cleaver passed through them both as she dove. Then something odd happened. Sophia and Taylor exploded. Her shade form burst out as Taylor used it as a base for her swarm. Insects shot out in all directions and attacked everyone around them.

Bonesaw dropped her cleaver and moved to get away from the erupting swarm. Two of the four creatures succumbed to the constant biting and stinging, and collapsed to the ground, lifeless. It only lasted for a handful of seconds, as when Sophia dropped her shadow form, the bugs once again dissipated into nothing.

Sophia jumped for Bonesaw's cleaver, needing any weapon she could get her hand on. Taylor was already forming a smaller swarm from her own personal shadow to attack the two remaining monsters. For a girl who was basically paralysed, she was putting up an impressive fight.

"Hey Bitch!" Sophia shouted out to the scrambling little girl. Bonesaw pulled out the pocket knife Sophia had thrown at her earlier. "We ain't done yet!"

"No swearing!" Bonesaw cried as she lunged at Sophia. She was aiming straight for her eye, but Sophia phased away like before.

"Fuck you!" Sophia yelled back as she reformed, swinging the cleaver at the smaller girl. Instead of aiming for her head or torso, Sophia slashed at the upper section of Bonesaw's arm that she'd been protective about earlier. The cleaver cut her shoulder clean off as an arm went flying across the park.

Bonesaw fell to her knees, grasping the stubbed arm in pain. She glared up at Sophia with an angry, hateful frown on her face.

"You think losing an arm is going to save you?" Bonesaw asked, obviously pissed off with her. "That was just one of my seventeen inbuilt backups. You'd have to try a lot harder than that if you want to kill me-"

Taylor's shadow swarm struck fast. Aiming directly for the giant hole in her shoulder and not slowing down in the slightest. Sophia watched in disgust and horror as shadow bugs started crawling out of her mouth and eye socket. Bonesaw collapsed to the floor and didn't get back up again.

The park was eerily quiet now that the battle was over. The other two monstrosities had also collapsed, as Sophia could only hear the sound of her own heart beating and Taylor's soft whimpers through a paralysed face.

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

Sophia didn't know how long stood there, looking down at Bonesaw's hollow corpse. A PRT officer approached her and offered a basic face mask. The whole park was being sectioned off by cars and vans, and an extra perimeter was being made around Sophia herself while she masked up.

There were several people in hazmat suits inspecting Bonesaw's corpse, while paramedics retrieved Taylor and whoever else was found inside the toilets. The Protectorate heroes were standing on the edges, acting as a blocker for any curious bystanders, media and students. They all had grim faces on, no doubt expecting to do battle with the Nine.

Thankfully, nobody else appeared to cause trouble and Sophia was eventually moved into an ambulance. The same one Hebert had been placed in. The girl was still paralysed, her face neutral as she lay in a seated position on the stretcher. Sophia found a place to sit and let the paramedic do their thing.

Armsmaster of all people, also joined the back of the ambulance, making it a very tight squeeze as they drove off from the scene. Sophia noted that while they were being driven into the city, the other ambulance turned in the other direction.

"You're both going back to headquarters," Armsmaster explained, noting Sophia's concern. "You'll both be treated in our medical wing, and no one will be aware that two parahumans go to Winslow High." Sophia realised that he was most likely here for Hebert's sake, not her own. "Don't you worry? We've already notified Panacea, and she'll meet us there. Whatever Bonesaw has done to you, will be undone. You have my word."

Sophia stumbled her lips for a moment before she finally got out her words. "There were… There were two girls… Emma and Madison… One was a redhead, the other was short, are they?"

"There were two girls found at the scene," Armsmaster said, raising a hand to calm her. "While it seems like Bonesaw was in the middle of operating on them, it appears she didn't get very far into her work before you showed up. They'll be treated and stitched up but regular doctors. Your friends will be fine… physically anyway," He looked over again to Taylor as if remembering something. "This might be a good time to inform you that the Wards has an excellent therapy service, should you be so inclined to sign up. However, we won't force you to join. But we'll discuss more once you've been treated."

Hebert looked at Sophia, she could only guess what kind of questions were running through her mind right now. Sophia couldn't be bothered trying to play mind reader, so she asked the questions she cared about.

"What happened to Bonesaw?"

"You tell me," Armsmaster shrugged. "By all reports, killing her should have released some of the worst plagues known to mankind. And yet her entire corpse is hollow. Like something ate her from the inside. I'm assuming that had something to do with those shadow bugs that were forming about Ms Hebert here?"

Sophia nodded. She was suddenly worried about how the lethal force would be viewed, considering her probation. A stupid notion as this was fucking Bonesaw she had helped kill, but a worry nonetheless.

"Hey, chin up," Armsmaster said with his best approximation of a smile. "You two just took out one of the worst villains in the country, possibly the world. No one is going to care how you did it," Sophia managed to smile back, she could be proud of what she did. "But uh, Piggot will still want to debrief you." Her smile dropped, she'd survived Bonesaw only to be thrown into another form of torture, the after-action report.

 

[space turtle]

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Now. Where the F are the rest of the 9… because both the Siberian and Jack are going to want payback, and this Taylor is lacking the range required to ice the good doctor before his puppet eats her.

Cool story though. I just wish Riley had a little more time to finish making her human centipede though. Might have taught the bitches some humility.

 

[R3N41SS4NC3]

Really good stuff

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Wrote this little snippet on my phone while at work. Amy runs into a mugger, Rachel is there too because I like pairing them. Might use this in 'My Girlfriend Is Terrifying" later down the line. Who knows.

---

Amy stared at the knife that waved in front of her face, then at the man who wielded it. Some Empire goon, a stupid kid barely older than her, who thought he could stick up two girls with a knife.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" Amy asked, looking the man over.

"I don't really give a shit," The man sneered back. "Now hand over your wallets and any other valuables before anyone gets hurt."

Rachel was just about ready to pounce on the stupid fuck, but Amy held up an arm to halt her. She looked back to the knife-wielding idiot and spat at him.

"Alright, that's it!" The man said, wiping drool from his face. "I'm going to stab you fi-" His threat was interrupted by a cough. More of a choke as he rubbed his throat.

Amy smiled as the man slowly realised who she was.

"What the fuck did you do to me!?" He asked through chokes and coughs. "What the fuck did you do!?"

"Most people assume I'm just a healer," Amy smiled coldly. "Did you know I can modify any bacteria and virus I come into contact with? I can even do it in my mouth and then... weaponise it."

The man touched his throat again, his nose was also starting to leak and his eyes were beginning to feel an itch coming on.

"Do you feel it?" Amy asked sadisticly. "The virus working through your system. Attacking your throat, your lungs. The build-up of mucus in your sinuses, the cold chill running up your neck. How you struggle to focus, slowly getting dizzy with each passing second. It's working faster because I told it to. But rest assured, it's built to last, built to make you suffer."

The man dropped his knife and fell to his knees. He stared at his hands as he probably questioned what stupid decisions brought him to this point.

"I'm still a hero though," Amy said with a sigh. "So if you run to a chemist now, they might be able to help you. I suggest begging for some acetaminophen, then you 'might' have a chance of surviving the week."

The man turned and fled. Coughing and sputtering the entire time as he ran. Amy couldn't help but let out a chuckle, even if she knew what she did was overly mean.

"Damn," Rachel said, watching the man disappear. "I was just going to kick his teeth in, what the hell did you give the guy?"

Amy turned back with a cheeky smile. "A cold, but he doesn't need to know that."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Had this silly idea in my head all day and just had to get it written down. There's also some light smugbug, mainly near the end. It's not explicitly stated but that's the intent for anyone who cares about it.

---

Business was booming in Brockton Bay.

Coil's empire was dismantled, his assets seized by the authorities and his mercenaries fled into the wind. With Coil dealt with, the Undersiders returned back to their original roots of being a group of freelance villains. They had no grand ideals for conquering the city, nor were they willing to escalate out into a full confrontation with the PRT.

Since the Undersider's primary backer was gone, it was up to them to find their next job and keep the money flowing. No one wanted to quit, the team had built a strong bond with each other and were determined to keep working together. So it fell to Lisa to procure new work for the team.

In the past, Lisa would spend days, if not weeks vetting a single rich smuck just to see if they would be interested in the Undersiders services. It was an impractical and time-consuming method, and now that Lisa wasn't forced to waste time on Coil's stupid jobs, she could put her Thinker powers to use. Why spend so many hours schmoozing and charming a single client when you can throw your services up on the net and wait for prospective clients to come to you?

Undersiders.com was Lisa's answer to their financial problems.

A publicly available website, that anyone could access. Lisa had to call in a few remaining favours to make the domain hackproof, as authorities would try to pull the website down, but once the bugs were ironed out, the site was online and going to stay that way.

The requests started coming in. A new mercenary company was born in the heart of Brockton Bay, and they were affordable to the common man. Undersiders: Villains for Hire. From petty theft to complex revenge jobs, the Undersiders were in business. They had rules, and morals that they held to. No gang work, no drugs, nothing too violent and nothing too loud. Beyond that, they would do anything for the right price and people were willing to pay.

Their professionalism built up their reputation. Their reputation made them popular. Popularity brought in better-paying jobs. The amount of people who would pay to have their boss's house robbed or threaten a problematic person in this city was exceptional. They had an entire week where all they did was blackmail and beat stalkers and abusive partners. At some point, the citizens were even calling the Undersiders a modern-day Robin Hood.

Lisa spent her mornings looking through the latest requests. The trouble with taking jobs from the general public was that there was a pile of anonymous requests that needed to be vetted all the time. She scrolled through the thirty or forty requests that were obvious traps from the PRT and rival gangs. They were easy to spot most of the time. Then she had to delete all the junk requests from people who were obviously not serious. Removing the extreme requests and the silly ones that wouldn't be worth it, Lisa was left with five perspective jobs for the Undersiders to take.

"Let's see…" Lisa sighed as she scrolled through her messages. "Hmm, boring. Boring… Wait, maybe. We'll see. Oh, that looks… oh, eww, no." Lisa was disappointed with today's selection. With the current selection being so dreadfully dull, she expanded her search to include some of the silly and extreme jobs. "Maybe I was too harsh, let's just list it by the highest bidder and see what I can stomach-" Lisa's thought was cut off as she read the job at the top of her list. As she read the job description closely, a smile slowly formed on her lips.

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

"So who are we meeting?" Skitter asked. Usually Tattletale handed the client meetings. Skitter stopped meeting with them after one such client almost had a heart attack. "And why are you bringing me along?"

"What? Can't I have a meeting with my favourite girl?" Tattletale said with a grin. Skitter eyed her suspiciously. "The client wants us to scare someone, so I figured you'd be good to help make the sale."

That was almost plausible. Skitter shrugged and followed Tattletale's lead as the two villains headed towards the meeting place. A rented office space that was empty for the weekend. Skitter and Tattletale sat at a large desk as they waited for their client. Tattletale playfully tapped the desk and kicked her legs as she waited, swaying side to side as Skitter sat up straight.

"Oh and Skitter?" Tattletale got her attention with a smile. Skitter turned to look at her companion. "Remember, we can't attack our clients. We have to remain professional, it's all about reputation."

"I know that," Skitter said with heavy suspicion in her voice. "Why would you think I'd attack our clients?"

"No reason~" Tattletale sang out as she playfully swayed.

"Alright… Who's the client?" Skitter asked again.

"Oh, nobody important," Tattletale said, her tone made it clear that Skitter was about to be the butt of some kind of practical joke. "Just some daughter of a prestigious lawyer or some such stuff." She waved her hand away.

"Daughter of a prestigious lawyer…" Skitter repeated, thinking to herself. Tattletale continued to grin as Skitter slowly understood. "Oh no. You're kidding me, please tell me you're fucking kidding me!?"

Tattletale didn't say anything in response, simply holding her shit-eating grin as they heard footsteps approaching the door.

"Hi-hi! Sorry, I'm late," A voice called out from behind the door. Skitter immediately recognised her as Emma Barnes walked in with the usual cocky attitude that Taylor knew her for. Sitting down across from the two villains she flashed a bright grin. "Thanks for taking my request into consideration. Tattletale, Skitter. Ma'am… uh, Ma'ams… So, how does this work? Do we talk specifics first, or payment?"

Skitter's fist clenched in her hand as she sat across from the girl. Tattletale placed a calming hand on Skitter's shoulder before turning toward Emma with a smile.

"Oh payment, of course," Tattletale said with a smile. "Now we've already agreed to our flat rate, and depending on the complexity of the operation we'll also require an additional fifteen to thirty percent increase on top of that." Emma was in the middle of doing some mental maths before Tattletale pulled out a calculator and presented her summary.

"Oh, sure…" Emma nodded hesitantly after looking at the price. "No problem. I can afford that."

"And what is the job?" Skitter asked, before turning back to Tattletale. "You want us to… scare someone?" Tattletale chuckled as Skitter deepened her voice in the presence of Emma.

"Yes," Emma said with a smile. "As I said online, I was hoping to hire you for a... prank of sorts."

"A prank?" Skitter asked.

"Yeah, a prank," Emma said again, a little more confidently. "I thought it'd be funny if the Undersiders scared a girl I knew."

Tattletale could feel Skitter's cold, contemptuous glare behind her mask. It didn't stop Tattletale's smug grin in the slightest as she stared right back at her partner.

"I see," Tattletale said, taking the lead in the discussion. "I imagine you have a specific prank in mind?"

"Y-yes!" Emma said, a smile growing on her face. "I was thinking like… she always walks home past this creepy alleyway after school. I don't know where she goes but it would be the perfect spot for her to run into a swarm of spiders or even those giant dogs you have. I don't know, I'll leave the specifics to you, but scare her, y'know, put the fear of god or whatever into her."

"Sounds like a standard job, right Skitter?" Tattletale chuckled, looking over to Skitter.

Skitter didn't bother to respond to her question, instead looking at Emma. "Who's the target?" The girl was oblivious to Skitter's angry growl as she asked.

"Right, yes," Emma said, fidgeting with her phone. "A student, at Winslow High. Taylor Hebert. I got a photo," She showed the two villains a photo of Taylor, Skitter looked to Tattletale who responded with another smirk. "I can also provide a home address if you need," Emma added, shrinking under the view of the two villains.

"No worries," Tattletale said with a charming smile. "I'm sure we can manage."

"So, can you do it?" Emma asked expectantly. "It's not too complicated, right?"

"Oh, I don't know," Tattletale said as she thought to herself. "Scaring a minor, tends to bring a lot of heat, what do you think, Skitter?"

"Anything else you want to do to her?" Skitter growled. "Maybe we should remove some of her fingers? Or bury her alive for a few hours, or do you just want me to devour her with my bugs?"

Skitter was pissed. This girl had just tried to hire professional villains to torment her, given them a goddamn photo and even offered to give her home address. If it wasn't for the fact that Tattletale was sitting with them, Skitter might've reconsidered her opinion on personal revenge.

"Woah! No!" Emma yelped back. "No killing. I don't want anybody to die. Just scare the girl. Shake her up a bit and then leave."

"Don't worry," Tattletale stepped in. "We don't kill people. We're professionals."

Emma relaxed after hearing that, Skitter and Tattletale noted her reaction. She wasn't a complete monster apparently. Just a stupid bitch who hired supervillains to torment someone for no apparent reason.

"Well, I think we have enough information," Tattletale said, typing into her calculator again. "It's definitely something we can do. Cost-wise, something in the range of this amount." She pushed the calculator out towards Emma again. The price was more than three times their normal rate before any extras were discussed. However, Emma didn't know any of that.

"Yeah, of course," Emma said, nodding back to Tattletale. "How do we do this? Do I Venmo you? Or do I need to get cash out?"

"We'll send you a payment link later today," Tattletale said with her corporate professionalism tone. "You can expect an email later today. Payment will be expected in full, and the job will be completed within a week of payment. Link will stay active for three days, if we don't get payment, we will assume the contract is cancelled and we won't contact you again."

"Alright, cool," Emma said, she stood and extended a hand towards Tattletale. "A pleasure doing business with you… I guess." She turned to extend a hand to Skitter, the villain kept her hands folded and glared down at the girl.

"One question, before you leave," Skitter said after she was done intimidating the girl. Emma straightened up as she spoke. "Why this girl? What did she do to you that deserves this kind of response? It's an awful lot of effort to put into a prank. A rather traumatising prank by the sounds of it. What did she do to piss you off?"

Tattletale's grin finally broke as she leaned back and let Skitter take the lead. Emma looked between Skitter and the floor as she collected her thoughts, the question seemed a lot harder to answer than whatever generic answer Skitter was expecting.

"This might sound stupid but…" Emma began, looking away in what could almost be considered as shame. "She used to be a friend of mine… a close friend of mine," Her face scrunched up as she admitted that much. "Some shit happened to her and she became… lame. Sad. Pathetic. It was just depressing to be around her. Anyway, I ran into some trouble, in an alleyway, a bunch of… people roughed me up and threatened my life. I got lucky enough to come out of it alive and… I was so much stronger for it. Taylor, this girl, she's so meek and pathetic. I keep trying to make her strong but she keeps rejecting it, so I figured, it worked for me, so I'd try it with her. I don't know, my friend thinks it stupid and maybe I'm obsessed, but I'm trying to help her."

Skitter didn't say a word in response. Tattletale stepped up before the silence got too awkward.

"Well, that's all we have time for in this meeting," She said, gesturing Emma to the door. "Like I said, you'll get an email later today, just pay through the link and we'll do our job." She shuffled Emma out the door and closed it behind her, sighing in relief once the redhead started moving away. "So, that was enlightening."

"Tattletale, what the fuck!?" Skitter said as she threw up her hands. "Seriously, what the fuck was that? Is this your idea of a joke?"

Tattletale held out two hands in a calming gesture. "Calm down Skitter. I know you two have a history but look at it from this perspective."

"What perspective!?" Skitter growled. "We just accepted a job to traumatise myself. This bitch isn't satisfied enough with putting me through my own goddamn trigger event, she wants me to get mugged by a bunch of supervillains too? What if she went to the Empire!? What if I didn't have my powers and she actually went to someone who would do this for her?"

"Yes, Emma is a fucking idiot," Tattletale agreed with a pointed finger. "And she also has unlimited access to her Daddy's credit card. So, why not take advantage of her stupidity and take her money? Easiest job in the world. Just act like you ran into… yourself."

"And if she wants proof?" Skitter asked.

"Then we take a photo of you covered in bugs or something," Tattletale waved her hand. "Think about it, this is three times the payday to do absolutely nothing. I say we take the money and spend a weekend out of town. Road trip. You, me. Maybe Rachel if she wants. Aisha if Brian lets her. Make it a girl's night… weekend trip… thing."

Skitter nodded her head. She wasn't happy with what just happened, but she could understand Tattletale's reasoning. From an outside perspective, it was funny, ripping off her high school bully and having them pay for a fun trip away. That didn't stop her from feeling pissed off right this second.

"Do you… wanna talk about what she said, at the end there?" Tattletale asked, taking a seat again next to Skitter. "I know you have a lot of mixed feelings up there," She tapped Skitter on the head. "But if a part of you… wanted Emma back in your life. You could use this as a stepping point. I could help give pointers on how she wants you to act."

Skitter shook her head. "No… Fuck that. She's crazy, her plan is crazy, her logic is batshit crazy. I don't want… Just no."

"Good," Tattletale said with a smile rising back onto her face. "You deserve better friends than that. Plus if anyone tried to take the mantel of your best friend, I'd have to kill them." That managed to cause Skitter to chuckle, only slightly. Tattletale grabbed Skitter's hands and looked her directly in the eyes. "Let's take this cunts money, milk her for everything she's worth, and have the best goddamn weekend of our lives."

"Fine…" Skitter sighed, a small smile being heard in her tone.

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

A week later, Taylor and Lisa were sipping glasses of overpriced champagne in some luxury penthouse hotel. Aisha chased one of Rachel's dogs around the room as it chewed up one of the expensive pillows. Rachel would occasionally ask Aisha for help ordering some fancy room service meal.

The girls had climbed into a van headed for New York City with the expressive intent of having the best night in the city that they could imagine. Everything was bought and paid for thanks to Emma Barnes and her Father's credit card.

After exploring the city for the day and returning again to finish off the bottle of champagne, and two or three more, Taylor got the silly idea to update Emma on how their operation was progressing. They put a little flair into their story, exaggerating the details of how they scared Taylor Hebert in that alleyway, and then they used Brutus to help frame a fake photo to attach to the message.

None of the girls remembered exactly what they sent in the email that night but suffice to say, the next time Taylor saw Emma at school, it was a very strange experience. Emma practically broke down sobbing in apology to the girl, thinking that Taylor had died from a vicious mauling by dogs and insects.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: So I wanted to write this trope. I've been picking at this snippet for a while now. Idk if I can be bothered turning it into a full fic, but consider this chapter 1 of ?. Also don't know if its works having the flashbacks or if it makes reading a bit too confusing. Anyway I tried writing three different stories and ended up finishing this off instead. So enjoy,

---

It had been over a month since Leviathan had attacked Brockton Bay.

The city had been put through the wringer. The docks and the area surrounding it had been completely destroyed. Gangs roamed the street, turning a once civil city into some post-apocalyptic scenario, complete with monsters like the Slaughterhouse Nine, Butcher and a rogue Case 53.

The city was almost abandoned by the government itself, only recently getting the support it needed to repair the city's infrastructure and return its citizens to some semblance of a normal life.

Police were paroling the streets again, and hospitals were no longer in a constant state of overcrowded. Schools had once again opened their doors to children. The city was healing, and the city was safe.

That was the lie that so many desperate people wanted to believe.

A woman ran through the city streets, her footsteps echoing in the desolate silence that hung heavy in the night air. Her heart pounded in her chest, matching the rhythm of her frantic steps. Each breath she took was ragged.

Her eyes darted around, searching for any sign of help, for a glimmer of safety amidst the chaos that enveloped Brockton Bay. The once bustling streets now lay in ruins, the shattered remnants of a city. Buildings stood as crumbling shells, their windows shattered by the scars of destruction.

Blood trickled down the woman's arm, staining her clothes a dark, ominous red. She clutched her wounded limb, a grimace of pain etched across her face. The cut was far deeper than it had any right to be, and no amount of pressure would stop the bleeding completely.

She stumbled, her foot catching on a piece of debris that littered the street. Her knees hit the pavement with a jarring impact, sending a jolt of pain through her body. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up, refusing to succumb to the exhaustion.

She glanced over her shoulder, her attackers were nowhere to be seen. She'd run so very far from the place of attack and yet she found no solace in their disappearance. Fear fueled her every movement, she dodged through alleyways and side streets, navigating the labyrinthine maze of destruction with a desperate instinct.

She was far too deep into gang territory to navigate her way out of it. Especially at the rate of blood, she was losing. It was stupid wandering too far into this part of the city, she knew it was stupid and yet she had done it anyway.

The woman was lost, that much was sure. She knew Brockton Bay, but this was no longer her city. The streets had been washed away and replaced with boarded-up shacks and rotting buildings. There was nothing familiar, nothing that could lead her back home.

All she wanted to do was go home, lock herself up in her room, bury herself under blankets and let sleep take her away from the nightmare.

But that was exactly the type of thinking that got her into this mess in the first place.

Turning a corner, the woman spotted a landmark, a familiar building that even Leviathan's waves couldn't wash away. It was a building that everyone knew and no one knew. An oasis of safety to some, and a warning to others. Emma wouldn't normally consider it a friendly place for the likes of her, but her head was already feeling heavy from the blood loss. She guessed that she had a few minutes before her adrenaline ran out and then she would collapse. The woman had to make a decision.

What would be waiting for her at that place? Certainly not a warm welcome, perhaps even a painful death? She had no way to be sure. Online forms agreed that this was the safest territory of the lot. That so long as you bowed your head and acted respectfully, you'd be treated fairly and protected.

She knew this was a bad idea, but in the absence of any good ideas, the woman continued onward.

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

"Skitter? T-Taylor?" A voice called out from behind the door, followed by three knocks. "S-sorry. Skitter. We have a problem."

Skitter could see everything in her territory.

That was the lie that so many desperate people believed. What was once a warning to anyone who dared attack her was now a promise to the people who lived under her protection.

Skitter's range was great, and she did see a great many things that went on in her land. However, she didn't see everything, and she didn't see anything while she was asleep.

"Skitter?" The voice called out again. "Are you awake?"

Taylor pulled herself out of bed. Reestablishing her control over the bugs in her area, calling them off their preassigned tasks and expanding her web of information. She could see Charlotte on the other side of her door, the poor girl looked like Taylor did, half asleep and barely dressed. Whatever problem had occurred had only just made itself known to her.

Slipping herself into her costume, Skitter could already guess what was the cause for the alarm. Someone stood downstairs in the doorway. Slouching against the wall as they waited for anyone to open it. Their face was covered but Skitter could already tell it was a woman and already had a suspicion of who it might be.

"I'll handle it," Skitter said as she opened the bedroom door. Masked up and ready for action.

"They asked for you," Charlotte said, following as Skitter walked by her. "I mean, for Taylor…" She whispered the name, even though it wasn't a secret anymore. "It's not the PRT but it's-"

"I'll handle it," Skitter said again, bluntly. "Go check on the kids, make sure none of them woke up. Then go back to bed."

Charlotte nodded and headed off towards the children's bedrooms. Skitter continued down the stairs to the ground floor. She had no idea what this woman was doing at her doorstep so late in the night. Of all the people in Brockton Bay, Taylor never imagined seeing them again. And yet.

Skitter opened the front door. Her swarm already informed her that no one else was waiting for her, the PRT wasn't setting an elaborate trap for her. In all honesty, Taylor would've preferred that over the reality that stood before her.

"Please… I had… I had nowhere else to go."

Emma Barnes stood before her. Looking terrible. Her hands trembling and shaking as if trying to grasp at air. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and her clothes looked torn and dirty. Emma looked as broken as the city was these days.

Skitter gripped the door tight, ready to slam it in the girl's face. Of all the people to show up on her door in the middle of the night, Emma Barnes was the last person in the world Taylor expected to see again. Her first thought was to shut the door on her, walk away and be done with it.

Taylor's life had become infinitely more complicated in the months since she put on her suit. The days of being tortured at school by Emma and her cronies felt like an eternity ago. It would've been easy to say that Taylor hated Emma but the truth was much simpler than that. She didn't care, she stopped caring ages ago. Any past connection that she shared with the girl had been well and truly burned.

But as Taylor stared into Emma's bloodshot eyes, she felt a flicker of something she thought had long since died out within her. It was empathy, a glimmer of the person she used to be, the person who had once considered Emma a friend. Despite everything, despite the countless betrayals and the pain she had caused, Taylor couldn't turn her away.

Stepping aside, she opened the door wider, inviting Emma inside. The former queen bee stumbled forward, her body swaying with exhaustion. Taylor noticed the cuts and bruises marring her face, evidence of a desperate struggle. Emma was a mess, a shadow of her former self.

"Come in," Skitter said quietly, her voice devoid of any warmth.

"Thank you…" Emma choked out hoarsely. "I didn't… I don't…" She looked to be on the verge of crying. Taking two steps into the door and collapsing. Skitter caught her at the last second and pulled her back up to her feet.

Skitter didn't need to question how Emma had found her, only why. Her location wasn't a deeply hidden secret, and her identity even less so.

In the past weeks, people had discovered a great deal about Skitter. The PRT had attempted to arrest her at a local high school, in doing so they had publicly unmasked Taylor Hebert.

Skitter in turn had retaliated by attacking the PRT directly. The city had braced itself for yet another escalation of violence that would shake the city, as the Undersiders went to war with the PRT.

Chief Director Costa-Brown called in Alexandria to take care of the situation, to which most people would assume to be the end of the story. And then the most incredible thing happened.

A sixteen-year-old girl took down the most powerful woman alive and made the world watch. What was planned to be a clean sweep of the Bay's most prolific warlord became a humiliating defeat of the greatest hero alive. Millions of people watched as Alexandra was brought down in mere seconds of approaching Skitter, and how the young supervillain decided her fate.

Mercy.

A deal was struck. The Undersiders would remain, and Skitter would stay. And the world got to keep its hero for one more day. Neither side wanted the death of a Triumvirate member, so a truce was declared. Albeit begrudgingly.

Taylor still had no idea how they had survived that. She was so close to killing that woman. Of all the people, she never imagined seeing Alexandria gasping for her life. And yet, her old high school bully showing up on her door begging for help was still the most surprising thing she experienced this month.

Taylor's eyes narrowed behind her mask. Her mind grappling with conflicting emotions. She knew she had the power to crush Emma, to make her pay for everything she had done. But revenge had long lost its appeal. She didn't use her power on her back then, using it now would just be kicking her while she was already down.

She sat Emma down in a nearby chair, the girl nodded, tears streaming down her dirt-streaked face. Taylor moved to collect the first aid kit as she tried to ignore her reality. The girl who had tormented her relentlessly was now sitting in her hallway, broken and in need of help.

Opening the medical kit, Taylor's hands moved with practised efficiency. She examined Emma's wounds. There was a deep cut in her arm, the edges jagged and coated with dirt. It was clear that someone had taken a knife to Emma, or something equally sharp.

"You're lucky it didn't hit anything vital," Skitter murmured, her voice tinged with a hint of coldness.

Emma nodded weakly, her eyes fixated on Skitter's hands as they carefully cleaned the wound. The sting of antiseptic elicited a hiss of pain from Emma, Taylor took no pleasure in seeing her suffering.

As Taylor began to stitch the wound, she couldn't help but recall a similar time when Taylor did this with Emma. Back with a far simpler wound, back in far simpler days. She placed a band-aid on her best friend's arm after Emma, ever the explorer, fell while climbing a tree.

"Emy, be more careful." A young Taylor chastised her friend in her memories. "I only have two band-aids on me." The younger Emma put on a brave face, trying not to cry in the face of her friend. "There, now we kiss it better. Just like Mom always does." Young Taylor said confidently, giving Emma's knee a clumsy peck. Emma returned her thanks in the form of a hug.

Taylor shook off the thought as quickly as it came. She wasn't here to reminisce about the old days. They were two completely different people. Emma had transformed herself into some kind of heartless monster. A girl who only cared about staying on top and who had no regard for the people she hurt on her path to power. And Taylor…

She was a different beast entirely.

The silence in the room was only broken by the sound of Taylor's steady stitching and the occasional wince of pain that Emma let out. Once Taylor finished stitching the wound, she bandaged it carefully, ensuring that it was secure. Then she stood to grab something, leaving Emma alone briefly as she moved towards the kitchen.

Skitter's bugs remained to keep an eye on her latest guest. Emma looked around confused, left alone in a supervillain's lair, she could do nothing but collapse into the chair in exhaustion. She inspected the wound and how clean of a fix Skitter had given her.

Taylor returned quickly, carrying an ice pack in one hand and a bottle in the other. She handed the ice pack to Emma first, placing it over her bandage and wrapping another bandage around her arm to hold it in place.

"This is for the wound," Skitter explained. "It's a rush job but it should hold long enough until you can find an actual doctor. Keep the ice pack on for a while and you should be fine," She dropped the bottle she was holding into Emma's free hand. "This is for the pain. There's a spare mattress in the backroom, try to get some sleep."

Emma looked at the bottle in her hand and then up to Skitter. It was some cheap booze, an unnamed brand of whisky.

"Painkillers are a luxury," Skitter said. "Take it, or don't. Rooms this way, don't try to wander around the place, I'll know."

Taylor helped Emma to her feet and pulled her into the spare room. It was a dinky storage room with a dirty mattress. Barely considered a spare bedroom, she wouldn't normally offer it to anyone, but it was late and it was Emma, so her empathy had limits.

Even still, as she laid Emma down on the mattress, the girl reached up and grabbed her arm.

"Thank you, Taylor," Emma whispered softly. She was still sobbing, had been before the moment she walked in.

"Why did you come here, Emma?" Skitter asked harshly. Her duty of care was over with, this woman was going to be shown no more extra attention. "What the hell happened?"

Emma took a shuddering breath, her voice barely above a whisper. "I… I messed up, Taylor. I messed up so badly."

"That doesn't explain why you're here," Skitter persisted. She waited for an answer that never came.

The girl finally gave in to her exhaustion and passed out on the mattress. Taylor looked her over as she gently wiggled out of Emma's hand. Her pulse was weak but stable, there was no real way to tell how much blood she had lost but with the bleeding now stopped, she was no longer in danger of dying in the street. All Emma needed now was rest and a check-up from an actual doctor.

Taylor sighed. Emma needed an actual doctor. Someone who could give the girl more than a basic patch job and could make certain that she wasn't going to somehow die in her sleep.

Grabbing her phone from her pocket, Taylor swore under her breath as she hit the speed dial. She did a quick sweep of the nearby area. Charlotte and the kids were already back asleep, and with Emma still unconscious, Taylor was free to speak freely.

On the second ring, it picked up.

"L Lemon," Taylor said into her phone.

"A Lime." Lisa chuckled back. "This is a late call. What's the sitch?"

"Sorry for waking you, Lisa." Taylor apologised.

Lisa huffed in dismissal. "I hadn't even gone to bed yet. You know me. Just tell me what you need."

"Uh, I need a doctor," Taylor asked. "My place, how soon could you send someone?"

"Pretty soon," Lisa said with more concern in her voice. "Everything okay? Need me to send the team?"

"No, no," Taylor said, not wanting Lisa to worry. "I've just received an unexpected guest with a stab wound. Nothing serious but send someone quickly. Last thing I need is the children waking up to a corpse downstairs."

"Unexpected guest," Lisa repeated. "Sounds juicy. Who is-"

"No one important," Taylor said quickly, shutting down that conversation.

"Well, now I'm really interested." Lisa chuckled. "Doctor is on his way."

"Thank you, Lise." Taylor sighed, ignoring the other girls not so not-so-subtle prodding for more information. "Now get some sleep."

She hung up the phone before the Thinker could suss out exactly what Taylor was trying to hide. She turned back to the unconscious woman who lay on the floor next to her. A doctor would most likely need her to lay comfortably on a bed, not just a shitty floor mattress. She could convert the upstairs spare bedroom into a makeshift hospital bed if needed, she added that to her to-do list.

Taylor sighed again. She should've just given her the clean guest bed, to begin with instead of being petty. Now Emma was unconscious and unlikely to wake up to climb some stairs. Taylor carefully lifted Emma off the cold, shitty mattress and cradled her in her arms. Moving to walk up the stairs.

How had her life come to this? She had too many concerns in her life right now to be caring about Emma Barnes of all people. Questions about what the hell Emma was doing here and how she got stabbed in the first place kept worming their way into Taylor's mind, but she refused to listen to them.

She didn't care. She'd wait for whatever doctor Lisa sent to arrive, check her over to make sure she wasn't going to die in the middle of the night and then kick her out the second she could stand on her own two feet. That's already far more than what Emma deserved. But as Taylor carried her through the dimly lit hallway and into a spare bedroom, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt and concern for the person who had once meant so much to her.

"Get well soon, Taylor." A young Emma said as she sat beside her best friend. Taylor had caught a cold and wasn't allowed to go to school or come over to play. Emma begged her mom to go visit Taylor almost every day.

Taylor could remember how bored she was, waiting in bed all day while Mom took care of her. Sure, she had her books, and Mom was always nice. But it was seeing Emma come through her door that really lit up a smile on her tired and sick face.

Taylor's phone pinged, pulling her away from another stupid memory, from another stupid time. She checked her phone, a follow-up message from Lisa. "ETA, 13 minutes."

She had no idea how the hell she'd explain this to Lisa, or what she would even say. Taking a seat beside the unconscious girl, Taylor sent back a quick 'thanks' text and waited.

 

[MaeHartchenko]

Cute. I like the AU and I like Taylor being a good person.

 

[BeautifulSoup]

Save me Emma runs to skitter fic
emma runs to skitter fic
emma runs to skitter fic save me

 

[Gowonzu]

Lisa sat at her desk, completely engrossed in her work. The soft glow of the afternoon sun cast a warm light through to the Undersider's base. It was a lazy weekend for the team, as no major jobs were currently in the work. Brian was out on a shopping trip, and Alec was somewhere in his room. Lisa sat at what counted as the Undersider's dining table with her laptop opened, she was looking for potential targets for future jobs. Taylor sat on the shared couch, legs neatly cuddled up under her as she read a book and sipped her tea.

Lisa's fingers danced across the keys of her laptop, filling the room with a gentle symphony of clicks and taps. The odd sound of paper rustling could be heard every time Taylor flipped a page but beyond that, it was rather quiet for a teenage supervillain lair. As Lisa typed away, she felt a fly land on the back of her neck. She felt the ticklish sensation as it crawled gently across her skin.

Ever since Skitter joined the team, the Undersiders had learned not to immediately swat away any bugs that drew close to them. They were all thankful never to have to deal with annoying mosquitoes and flies in their face again. The occasional insect landing on them was not an uncommon occurrence. Taylor would often use the bugs to direct attention, highlight an object, watch multiple points or any number of reasons.

The fly did an approximation of a headbutt into Lisa's neck. Lisa looked up from her computer once she realised that the fly wasn't leaving. Perhaps Taylor wanted to grab her attention or warn her of something she had spotted nearby. Looking at Taylor however, she could see no change in her behaviour.

Taylor Hebert is engrossed in novel. Not trying to get Lisa Wilbourn's attention. Mild control established to nearby insects. Insects are an extension of Taylor's body. Fly on Lisa's neck acting subconsciously. Taylor subconsciously reaching out to Lisa Wilbourn.

Lisa smiled at her power's conclusion. This was simply Taylor's equivalent of idly throwing your legs over her if they both sat on the couch. The girl was never good at showing her feelings through normal means, so it was a nice confirmation that Taylor actually liked Lisa. Not that Lisa needed any confirmation, she was well aware that Taylor considered them as best friends.

It was a constant tapping from the fly at the back of her neck. Lisa couldn't look at her screen for more than three seconds before feeling like someone was trying to get her attention. Lisa had to reevaluate the feeling, it was less like Taylor throwing her legs over Lisa and more like a playful poke that wouldn't stop. Perhaps it was Taylor's idea of a prank? Lisa doubted that, considering her past.

Lisa would've preferred to be hugged by human arms, but for Taylor, she could stomach having the odd fly headbutt the back of her neck. The fact that it kept happening was getting distracting though. It was like having someone poke you very gently. Lisa was about to ask Taylor to stop when she wondered more about the meaning behind it.

Taylor subconsciously reaching out. Not trying to get Lisa's attention. Fly is caught in loop. Taylor can feel through her bugs. Fly not walking over neck but headbutting softly. Headbutting indicates subconscious desire to press face into Lisa's skin. Conclusion, Taylor Hebert is subconsciously giving Lisa Wilbourn bug kisses.

That changed Lisa's perception a bit. Taylor wasn't just extending an insect arm around her neck. She was subtly kissing the back of Lisa's neck. The fact that Taylor had a crush on her was less surprising to Lisa rather than the audacity of Taylor to attempt such a feat. Even if she was doing it subconsciously.

It made the sensation of the fly headbutts feel less grating than before. It wasn't an annoying tap on the back of her neck, or a friend being comfy enough to extend some legs over her. It was a sneaky little kiss between the two of them. Lisa wondered how Taylor would react if she returned the favour. How she'd fluster if Lisa just walked over and kissed her on the back of the neck too. The idea made Lisa giggle.

She thought about how to bring up the subject. Lisa could simply ask Taylor to move her fly, or even just wave it away herself. But where was the fun in that? Lisa had caught her red-handed, acting on her suppressed crush and an opportunity like this only came once in a lifetime. Lisa would think of something witty to say after the fact. Make mention that if Taylor wanted to kiss, she only needed to ask.

Then again, Taylor didn't respond well to teasing. Even if Lisa meant it in good faith, she didn't want to upset her friend. It was always a delicate balance when it came to Taylor. She was so fun to tease but then Lisa would feel bad if she took it too far. While Lisa was flip-flopping between teasing Taylor and explaining to her what her powers had done subconsciously, the decision was stolen from her by another member of the Undersiders.

"Why do your bugs keep biting Lisa?" Rachel asked as she walked out of her bedroom. Both Lisa and Taylor turned around in surprise, Taylor looking doubly confused.

"My what?" Taylor asked, looking at Lisa and then back to Rachel.

"Your bugs," Rachel said again, pointing at the fly that was now buzzing away from Lisa as fast as it could go. "Keep biting Lisa."

"No, they're not," Taylor said defensively.

Taylor Hebert unaware of context. Fly acting subconsciously. Confused by Rachel's statement. Looking to Lisa for confirmation.

Lisa simply smirked back at Taylor, neither confirming nor denying what Rachel had said. Taylor's eyes moved up to spot the offending fly, now on a wall.

Recognises fly. Remembering sensation of fly against Lisa's skin. Wasn't aware that it was real. Though she imagined it. Reddening face shows increased signs of embarrassment,

"Yes, they are," Rachel said again. Unwilling to back down from her point. "I've seen you do it a few times. Do you probe her for weaknesses?" Rachel glared down at Taylor, she still didn't trust her completely, but she didn't trust anyone completely so that wasn't new.

"I think you're mistaken…" Taylor said, trying again to deflect. Taylor fully understood what had happened now and was trying her best to pretend like nothing happened.

Embarrassed for letting fly act autonomously. Hopes that Lisa Wilbourn hasn't noticed. Will not admit what fly was doing. Will argue with Rachel to protect her image.

"No, I've seen it too." Another voice said out from behind Lisa. Alec's head was sticking out the door, the discussion had summoned him from his room. "I always notice at least one fly buzzing around Lisa while we're at home. What's the deal Skitter?"

Taylor didn't exactly refute Alec's claims so much as she mumbled a few excuses into her book. Her cheeks were cherry red at this point as she looked between Alec and Rachel. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

"What's going on?" Brian asked as he walked through the door. He was carrying the day's groceries as he returned from the shops.

"Skitter is attacking Lisa!" Alec accused, pointing a finger at the girl.

"She's what?" Brian asked, looking between Alec then to Taylor and then over to Lisa. Lisa simply smiled and waved back at him.

"She keeps sending flies all over her," Alec explained.

"Probing for weaknesses," Rachel added.

"I'm not…" Taylor whined, hiding her face in her book.

"Then what was that?" Alec asked, pointing to the fly on the wall and the second fly by Lisa's laptop. Lisa didn't even notice that one till now.

Second fly acting much like the first. Targeting Lisa, headbutting Lisa Wilbourn.

"I was just…" Taylor stumbled out an explanation. The entire team was looking at her now. "Just... uh?" She looked over to Lisa, her eyes silently pleading for help.

Ashamed. Embarrassed. Wants to disappear. Wants to apologise to Lisa. Doesn't want to admit what she was doing to team. Unaware of her feelings for Lisa Wilbourn.

Lisa let out an audible sight to grab the team's attention.

"No one's attacking anyone," Lisa explained, acting like Alec was stupid. "Taylor's just using her bugs as a form of morse code. It's how we talk when we're both busy with other things," Lisa tapped the table in a random order to make her point. "It's for training purposes, no bugs are biting me."

"Oh, okay," Alec said, nodding to the explanation and returning to his room.

"That's pretty smart." Brain added, rubbing his chin before continuing to the kitchen.

Rachel simply huffed and moved on, she might not even be aware of what morse code is. That was fine, Lisa also didn't know any actual Morse code, she just lied through her teeth to save Taylor some embarrassment.

Taylor stared back at Lisa, still red in the face. She was still very confused as to why Lisa had stepped in and saved her, mentally debating if she should mouth a 'thank you' or if that would be admitting to doing any wrongdoing, to begin with.

Lisa gave her a smug smirk in return, waiting for just the right moment when none of the other Undersiders were watching them. When Brian had his back turned and Rachel was busy looking through all the new food, Lisa blew Taylor a kiss.

Taylor sank into her couch and covered her face with her book. Lisa returned to her laptop, pretending to work as she enjoyed watching a very flustered Taylor try to recompose herself.

 

[space turtle]

Cute. Now all we need is a high tension situation where Brian and get to pass on a message and they cannot

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Wrote this on my phone. Just a little story about Cenpai from SinC. Spoiler warning for SinC, and if you haven't read it, then im sure this would make no sense to you.

---

I was given a single command; companionship.

I do my job, I follow my orders.

She calls me Cenpai, i call her friend.

She is frail and lost. I give companionship, friend pats my back with her finger. I do good job.

When she gets scared, i walk over her hand. It calms her down, i do good job.

When friend cries, I wrap around her wrist. Her sobs lessen, she gives pet. I do good job.

When friend gets angry, I skitter up and down her arm. It grounds her to reality, she whispers her thanks. I do good job.

Now friend is watching a screen. She has become scared. She is crying. She is angry. I give her companionship, i curl up into her hand. I do go-

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N:

Emma Barnes and her Father are attacked by the ABB. In her lowest moment, she thinks on how she doesn't want to feel weak, how she needs to get stronger.

After being saved by a vigilante, she asked her how to keep moving forward. Shadow Stalker gives her advice.

Written for the the Earth Vav discord contest. Moral Swap: Sophia uses her Predator/Prey mentality to help the weak.

Click to shrink...

---

"Turn over, ginger bitch," The woman yelled as she kicked Emma in the ribs. Emma couldn't even struggle, rolling over onto her stomach and whimpering to herself. "Hey, Yan!" The woman yelled as she held a foot down on Emma's back. "What about this one? Stick her in one of the farms and hold her for a while. She's got tits, could auction her off."

"Don't be a moron!" A male voice called back "White girl goes missing, they look. Just check her for any cash and let's go."

Emma kept her eyes shut as she felt a hand roughly feel over her body. Slipping into her jacket pocket and pulling out her wallet. Then she felt a tug on her hair.

"The fuck are you doing?" The man asked. Emma's hair was yanked even harder, forcing another audible sob out from her.

"This bitch only has pocket change on her," The woman growled. "Might as well take a souvenir!" Before Emma could even beg for mercy, a sharp blade cut through the handful of her hair. Emma's face dropped back down and slammed into the floor, the woman chuckled darkly at the painful face-plant.

Emma hoped that it would be over. They'd beaten her, robbed her, done the same to her Father. Now they had cut her hair. What more could they take from her? What more had she left to lose?

The knife returned to poke Emma in the cheek. Threatening to cut open a wound, or maybe even take out an eye.

"N-not the face…" Emma protested weakly. Her once frightened shakes were now deadly still. " I'll do anything you want, just… not the face."

"You'll do anything?" The man perked up this time. Emma wasn't sure if it was the same man as before. She couldn't remember how many people were standing over her. "Like what?"

Emma could hear the disgusting implication in the man's voice. This time, no one called out to tell them not to touch the 'white girl.' By the sound of everyone's low chuckles, they were waiting for Emma to answer.

"Nose," The woman said as Emma felt a sharp prick. "Mouth," The knife moved to the edge of her lip. "Eye," Emma didn't feel anything this time but could imagine the blade being inches from her eye. "Which will it be?" When Emma didn't answer, the woman spoke again. "Maybe we'll take all three."

Emma wanted to scream. She didn't want to beg and bargain for her life like her father was doing on the other side of the car. She couldn't choose any of the options presented to her. She didn't want a part of her carved out of her, literally or otherwise. The world wasn't fair, it took from people and left them broken shells of themselves. In her more desperate moment, Emma thought of her friend, she thought of Taylor.

The girl had lost something dear to her, her mother. Carved away like a knife to the face, Taylor was never the same girl again. Emma didn't want to be like that, Emma couldn't be like that. It was cruel and pathetic. But it was the truth. Emma didn't want to become Taylor.

The knife dropped to the floor. Emma felt the weight of the woman leave as she fell. One of the men yelled out only to be cut off with a choking noise. Several more bodies moved around Emma, she kept her head down on the floor and crumbled up into a ball. A fight of some kind was happening, someone had come. Were they here for her? Or was it just another rival gang stepping in?

Emma forced her eyes to open, to see what dangers awaited her.

The woman who had been standing on her, who had cut her hair and threatened to cut her face, was lying on the floor. She rolled with pain, blood leaking from her arm. Emma's eyes widened as she saw the giant bolt of metal sticking from the woman's back. Two more men lay on the floor, one grasping his neck, coughing and choking as he gasped for air.

Another three men were wildly swinging their weapons. Knives, baseball bats and crowbars slashed at the air. They tried to hit a smaller masked figure, but she turned intangible just before the weapons made contact with her. The Vigilante disarmed the knife with ease, slashing the man's legs with three fluid movements before leaving him to drop. The crowbar man swung down and again, the vigilante turned into living shadow. The crowbar moved right through them and smacked the baseball bat man in the chest.

Only one man remained, crowbar man stepped back, realising what he had done. The Vigilante reformed beside him and the man turned to sprint away. The Vigilante kicked up the baseball bat on the floor and chucked it at the fleeing man, knocking him to the floor.

The man was down, but not out. Crawling away, trying to pick up his weapon as the Vigilante walked towards him. The Vigilante picked up the baseball bat again and inspected the weapon, stepping on the man's hand before he could reach the crowbar again. With their second foot, the Vigilante kicked the crowbar further away.

With a solid kick to the gut, the Vigilante turned the man around. Trapping his arm in an awkward position with the baseball bat. They leaned down into the man and started growling into their ear.

"Scum like you need to learn," The Vigilante said coldly. Only now did Emma realise that it was a woman under there. The outfit was dark, heavily padded and had a painted hockey mask. "Just because your boss is a big, bad parahuman. Doesn't mean you get to run around to do whatever you like."

"F-fuck you," The man growled back. "You think Lung is gonna take some shitty kid cape in his territory. Your days are numbered Shadow Bitch!"

The Vigilante chuckled. "Yeah, so you people keep telling me," She pushed harder on the baseball bat, the man's arm was wrapped around it in a way that the pressure was obviously causing him pain. "Want some advice? Pack up, leave this city and fuck off. If I ever catch you here again, I'll break your other arm."

"Other arm?-"

The Vigilante stood up and kicked the baseball back. Emma could hear an audible crunch as the man screamed in pain. The baseball bat fell to the floor as the Vigilante started walking away. Walking towards Emma.

"Hey? You okay?" The Vigilante asked, extending a hand to Emma. "It's alright, no one's going to hurt you." Emma stared back at the vigilante, the hockey mask she wore didn't exactly scream 'safe from harm.' The Vigilante must've realised that, because she crouched down and took off the mask, exposing her face. "It's okay, I've got you. No one's getting back up again."

The Vigilante was still wearing a hood, facing away from all the incapacitated attackers. Now Emma could see her for who she truly was. Just a girl, no younger than Emma herself. The Vigilante forced a smile on her face, Emma could tell that a smile wasn't her natural look, but it calmed her anyway. She extended the hand again to Emma.

With a very shaky arm, Emma accepted the help. "Come on, up you get. I'll help you back to your car." With one arm, she pulled Emma to her feet, with another, she placed her mask back on her face. Emma wasn't sure why the Vigilante had done that, it was unheard of for capes to show their face, except New Wave. But then again, Emma had never seen this particular cape before.

Emma inspected the surrounding area. The entire group of ABB members were now lying on the floor, either rolling in pain or still. Emma looked back to the woman with a crossbow bolt sticking out of her back, seeing the blood drip down her arm.

"Did you… kill them?" Emma asked. A small part of her was concerned, a much larger part of her was relieved, hoping that they got what they deserved.

The Vigilante shook her head. "No, I don't kill," They both reached the car, Emma's Father was lying in a ball on the other side of it. "But they won't be out on the street for a good while now. And if they're smart, they won't be out ever again." She spat the last words back to the pile of pained men and women behind them. Leaning Emma onto the car, the Vigilante looked the girl over before asking, "You good?"

"Y-yeah…" Emma said, physically she was good. Emotionally… not so much. "I'm good. T-thank you."

The Vigilante nodded and walked around the other side of the car. Standing over Emma's Father and offering a hand to the scared man. "Hello? Sir?" Mr Barnes was still curled up in a fetal position, shivering like a frightened child. "You're safe now. I have your daughter here. Are you able to drive home?"

Emma peeked over the car and watched as her Father didn't respond. She thought back to when this all began, the way the man froze up and just let those people do whatever they wanted. He should've just driven off, she should've done something. He shouldn't have been such a coward.

"Dad, get up!" Emma yelled. Far more angry at him than she ever felt towards the people who just attacked her. "Stop being so pathetic and let's go!"

The Vigilante raised an open palm to Emma. Gesturing her to calm down. "Please?" She asked Emma. "I think you're Father is in shock. Getting angry won't help anyone," She turned back down to Mr Barnes, crouching down. "Sir, you're going to be okay now. They're gone. Emergency services are on the way."

It took a few long seconds before the scared man returned to himself. Looking up at the masked vigilante and accepting her help. The Vigilante pulled him up and sat him inside the car, Emma impatiently got in her side of the car.

"Are you comfortable to drive?" The Vigilante asked, leaning in from the window. "We can wait for the cops if you prefer?"

Emma did not want to wait. She didn't want to be here for a single second longer. Every moment her Father wavered and hesitated, the angrier she got with the useless man. Eventually, her Father nodded his head and started the car again.

"H-home…" Mr Barnes said. "We'll go home. Thank y-you."

The Vigilante nodded as she stepped away from the car. "Be more careful around these parts. Your wounds look superficial but I do recommend stopping by a hospital or something."

"W-will do." Mr Barnes nodded. Shifting the car into gear. "Thank you, again…" Emma watched from her side as the car pulled away. Sitting up in her chair and leaning out the window to get a better look at the vigilante.

"What's your name?" Emma asked, as the car slowly picked up speed.

"They call me, Shadow Stalker," The Vigilante called back, just before they turned the corner.

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

A week later, Emma was back in that alleyway. It was the middle of the day, and the streets on both ends were filled with people walking by. No one in their right mind would try to mug anyone here and expect it not to be noticed.

Emma couldn't explain why she needed to come back here. Her Father had asked her to lie about what had happened. They returned home claiming that they had just been in a minor car accident, something that explained all the bruises and the beat-up car. Emma didn't agree with her Father's reasoning for hiding the assault, but she had her own reasons for not telling anyone about it. Not even her best friend, Taylor.

Taylor had so vehemently stuck in her mind back during the assault. A long bubble of frustration with the girl had finally popped, Emma had to admit that her friend wasn't the same girl she used to know anymore. Taylor was away at a summer camp, and the thought of having to put up with her depressive attitude was… tiring.

She couldn't do it anymore, not after this. She'd seen how Taylor had crumbled, she'd seen how her own Father had crumbled. She'd felt how close she was to almost crumbling herself. Emma couldn't do that, she wanted to be stronger.

So now she was here, standing in the ruins of the worst day of her life. Facing her fear head-on. Granted, it was far safer when the alleyway was empty and the sun was high in the sky. But it was a hell of a lot better than her gut instinct to hole up in her bedroom and pretend nothing had ever happened.

"I thought I'd find you here…" An oddly familiar voice said behind her. Emma jumped in surprise as a girl appeared behind her.

"Where did you come from?" Emma gasped, trying to calm her beating heart. She was thankful that she didn't immediately scream just then.

"I'm always here," The girl said with a smirk. The girl was dark-skinned, slender, with long, straight hair. She had a hard stare, penetrating. "It takes guts, coming back. The only reason you'd do it is because you were looking for revenge, or you were looking for me. Or both, depending on how cracked you are."

Emma realised that the vigilante who saved her was here, standing beside her, in civilian clothing. She turned around, looking at the floor she was lying on a week ago. "I needed to see…" Emma tried to explain. "To tell myself…" She couldn't think of what to say.

The girl took another few steps and placed a comforting hand on Emma's shoulder. "It's okay. I get it," She said, not asking Emma to elaborate. "I did the same thing after I…" Her voice died off as she got lost in the grim memory. The girl then shook her head and looked back to Emma. "Take your time. I'll stay with you till you're ready to leave."

"I don't want this…" Emma said through clenched teeth. "I don't want to be the victim." The girl didn't say anything, giving Emma space to vent. "I don't want to be… weak. I hated that feeling… I don't… I just don't know what to do."

"How did you do it?" Emma asked, looking back at the girl. "Go from this to that?" She pointed to the spot she was attacked at, and then to the girl herself. "How do I become like you and not like my dad, not like…"

"It takes time…" The girl mused. "You don't always get back up after taking a punch. Some people can't take a punch at all," The girl rubbed her chin. In the light, Emma could see that the cape was as bruised as Emma was. "There's two people in the world. Those who get stronger when they come through a crisis and those who get weaker."

"Who was I?" Emma asked.

"You're here, aren't you?" The girl smiled.

"I want to be one of the stronger ones," Emma stated. More of a promise to herself.

"I'm not looking for a sidekick," The girl chuckled. "I'm more of a solo cape."

Emma nodded. She didn't know what to expect, she didn't even have any parahuman powers. She just didn't want to be weak anymore.

"You don't need to dress up in spandex to be strong," The girl added, noting Emma's disappointment. "Strong and weak. Winners and losers. Predator and Prey. They don't have to be so black and white. Personally, I kind of like that last one, but I'm a hunter. My prey, consider themselves to be predators. It's all a manner of perspective."

Emma thought back to how very pray-like she felt that other night. Then how quickly the girl had picked apart that pack of wolves. A hierarchy of predators, with Shadow Stalker as the top dog.

The girl smiled. "Yeah, perspective. I think the biggest question of all is one you're answering for yourself, right now. Survivor or victim?"

"What's the difference?" Emma asked, her confidence wavering.

The girl shrugged. "That's up to you."

"I'm not sure I know at the moment…" Emma said, looking down at the floor.

"Like I said," The girl added with a smile. "I'll stay with you till you're ready to leave."

There was a long stretch of silence where Emma did nothing but look at the floor. Visualising her assault and then mentally running through everything Shadow Stalker did while taking her attackers down. There felt like some kind of disconnect, from the violent brutality the cape gave her attackers, compared to the friendly smile she with giving Emma.

"Why are you a solo cape?" Emma asked. The girl sighed before Emma shook her head. "No, I'm not begging to be your sidekick, just… why were you there that night? Why aren't you a Ward or whatever? Why do you do what you do?"

"I have the strength to fight back, and the powers to give me an edge over my opponents," The girl said after thinking. "I grew up in this city, lived here my whole life. This neighbourhood and the surrounding ones have been a shit hole my entire life. I've watched more people end up in your situation than you can ever know. And that was before I trigger." Emma tilted her head in confusion. "Uh, got powers. The point is, I do this because I can. Because no one else does. I have the means to fight back and maybe make the scum in this little pocket of Brockton Bay think twice about pulling shit. If I was in the Wards, they wouldn't let me be out here so late, they wouldn't have been here to help people like you, or your Father."

"So doing this makes you feel strong?" Emma asked, seriously considering buying a domino mask and learning martial arts. "Beating up criminals who prey on civilians."

The girl shook her head. "No. Well, that's not all of it. I admit, beating up punks can be a rush. But that's not what makes me feel strong."

"Then what?" Emma asked.

"Helping people," The girl smiled. "There's only two people in the world. Those who get stronger when they come through a crisis and those who get weaker. I got stronger, 'we' got stronger. So it's our job to help people who didn't."

"That's why you came here?" Emma asked.

The girl nodded. "I knew you were coming back either way. Needed to see if you were stronger or weaker for it. Would've helped you either way, but I'm glad to see how strong you are," Emma blushed again under the compliment. She didn't feel particularly strong in this moment, but this girl was worming her way against her self-doubt.

"Well… thank you," Emma said, unsure if she should go for a handshake or a hug. "For your help then and now." Emma settled for a quick hug, then pulled away for an awkward handshake. "I'm Emma, by the way."

"Sophia," The girl smiled. "I take it that your father is the other type of person? Anything I can do to help?"

Emma was taken aback by that comment. Then she shook her head.

"I don't… No, probably not," She was still angry at the man. Despising the weakness he showed that night, blaming him for getting into that situation in the first place. "I don't think I'm ready to talk to him."

"I can't force you," Sophia sighed. "But just remember that he's human. Don't hold it against him," Sophia looked around the place, Emma could tell that a part of the girl was bored, only staying her out of a personal sense of duty to her.

Emma was slowly getting the sense that Sophia didn't unmask to every person she saved, perhaps their similar age being a factor in her openness. She wondered what kind of life a vigilante would lead. If it seemed lonely, if Sophia even had friends. She could be Sophia's friend, Emma would feel a hell of a lot safer with a vigilante friend and Sophia could call it helping. A symbiotic relationship

"Um…" Emma said, thinking to herself. "I'm not ready to help my dad just yet…" Emma admitted, turning towards Sophia. "But there is someone else, later this week… I think we can help… if you want?"

Sophia smiled, a far more genuine smile than before. "Sure," She said while stepping closer to Emma again. "Who do you have in mind?"

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

A few days later, Emma stepped out of her house. Her hair had been cut again, styled to look less like she was attacked with a knife and more like she was trying a bold new look. Sophia was already waiting for her.

"Heya, vigilante," Emma said, smiling.

"Heya, survivor," Sophia said back, doing the same.

Emma could already see Taylor approaching the house. She walked with a sullen step, a smile on her face but nowhere near as bright as it had once been. Her eyes looked far too big behind the glasses she wore, Emma would've affectionately called her a dork once, but the girl seemed to be made of glass these days. With a hesitant step, she waved Taylor over.

"This her?" Sophia murmured. Watching the gawky girl stroll past the front gates. "I thought you said she was thirteen? She looks nine."

"She is thirteen," Emma muttered back, feeling embarrassed. Taylor was far too childish to meet Emma's cool new vigilante friend, but this was her idea.

"Emma!" Taylor exclaimed. Her face lit up briefly as she ran towards her friend. Emma knew that this energy was only temporary. A shadow of the old Taylor, who would vanish as quickly as she appeared. Taylor got halfway down the front yard before slowing her run, noticing Sophia for the first time. Cautiously, she slowed to a walk and looked towards the new girl. "Emma? Who's this?"

Sophia had what some might call, a resting bitch face. While Emma got used to it rather quickly, to others, Sophia could look quite intimidating. Taylor's smile wavered in the face of Sophia's stare.

"Uh, I'm Emma's, friend?" Sophia said, turning back to Emma to confirm it. Emma thought it was silly that she needed to nod for confirmation, but she had learned her suspicion of Sophia not having many friends was right on the money.

A brief look of confusion flickered across Taylor's face. "We're friends too," Taylor stated. "Emma and I have been friends for a long time." She looked over to Emma, who again, had to nod for confirmation. "What's going on Emma? I haven't heard from you in days."

Emma waved the comment away. "Oh, just some… stuff happened." She dismissed. An idle hand reached up to run through her hair, forgetting how short it now was. Emma couldn't believe how much anxiety she was having from seeing her best friend. She thought back to the assault, how she felt, how much she despised weakness, people like her father and Taylor.

"I love the haircut," Taylor said, filling the silence, talking and smiling like she couldn't contain herself. "You manage to make any style look great."

Emma fought with the two sides of herself. She didn't want to become like Taylor, she didn't want to be weak. She was a survivor, she needed to be strong, like Sophia. She could feel Sophia's eyes on her, she knew exactly how Sophia made herself strong.

"Hey, Taylor," Emma said with a forced smile. One that would relax in time. "This is my friend Sophia. I was thinking she could become your friend too?"

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Based on the titles namesake. I thought this little scene would fit perfectly if you replaced Batman and Superman with Skitter and Alexandria. Had the scene stuck in my head, so I needed to write it out. Enjoy. Also, I guess this is a prequel to the "Nowhere else to go" Snippet I wrote

---

The people watched on in horror as Brockton Bay turned into yet another battlefield. From Leviathan to Slaughterhouse to a rogue case 53. It seemed like there was always something going down in this city.

Skitter, the Warlord of the Undersiders was at the head of it all. The PRT had surprised the girl and launched an all-out assault on the supervillain, attempting to capture her in school. When she got away, Skitter retaliated by hitting the PRT right back. This led to a three-day skirmish between the Undersiders and the PRT, to which Director Tagg died within the first hour.

Then the PRT decided to drop the hammer, sending in Alexandria to finish the job. The second she showed up, the fighting came to a standstill. That was it, the fighting was over, right? No sane parahuman could hope to match blows with one of the most powerful heroes on the planet.

Skitter didn't surrender, she did what she always did. She escalated.

"Taylor, this is idiotic!" Alexandria barked, kicking a car like it was made of paper.

Skitter dove out of the way at the last moment, mere inches away from getting her legs crushed. The warlord hadn't attacked, she couldn't. If it wasn't for the fact that Alexandria wanted her alive, this fight would've been over in seconds. And yet, Skitter refused to give up. Standing up and ready to do combat, a knife in one hand, a baton in the other.

Alexandria rushed the warlord with all her speed, grabbing Skitter by the neck. The girl squirmed in her hand as Alexandria lifted her off the ground. Had this been any other villain, Alexandria would've had no problem squeezing a little tighter and ending the girl, but Skitter had become something of a folk hero for the people of the Bay, the PRT needed her compliance to settle the people.

Alexandria punched Skitter in the chest as she loosened her grip. The villain was sent flying back and tumbling across the floor. Even pulling her punches, Alexandria's brute strength was miles above anything a baseline human could handle.

"That was three ribs, Taylor," Alexandria gloated as she walked towards the crumbled-up villain. "Don't make me do this. Just give up."

Skitter didn't say anything, pulling herself to her feet and clenching her fists together. It looked pathetic to the mighty Alexandria. The girl was running on adrenaline and desperation. Reaching behind her, Skitter produced a grenade and chucked it at the hero.

Alexandria battered the weapon away, and it exploded some distance behind her, showering her back with shrapnel. It wouldn't have hurt her regardless but explosions in the face were often annoying. The villain was more than desperate at this point, any idiot with the internet should know conventional weapons would do little but piss her off.

And piss her off it did. Alexandria walked up to the girl and pushed her with another enhanced thrust. Skitter flew through the air momentarily before slamming into an abandoned car that was left in the street.

Skitter didn't get up this time. Judging by the indent on the car door, it was a miracle that she was even still conscious. The girl was panting hard as she lay on the street. Alexandria walked over to her and grabbed her by the mask.

Skitter's terrifying face was ripped off in a single motion, leaving behind a scared, teary-eyed girl. Alexandria held no pity for the child, she was a monster, a disruptor, a warlord. Soon the people of this city would see, the whole world would see nothing but another villain placed behind bars. Alexandria might even pull in some favours to give Skitter the birdcage treatment.

"Get ready." Skitter groaned, glaring up in defiance of Alexandria.

Alexandria couldn't see what she should be ready for. She briefly suspected that Skitter was communicating with someone but the mask she held in her hand was safely tech-free. She was wary because of her memory of Skitter's profile. If Alexandria remembered it correctly, which she always did, the villain was a tactician who relied on her ability to see the battlefield and control all aspects of it. At the same time, Alexandria couldn't conceive of any tactic that Skitter could use against her, so she assumed the girl was letting herself get beat up out of some childish sense of pride

"What are you doing?" Alexandria barked down at the girl. "Do you want me to kill you?"

News helicopters swarmed the scene. Flying high above the battle. Not that it was much of a battle with the unmasked supervillain lying on the street. Alexandria figured it was time to wrap this party up. Maybe make a show of it all for the cameras. Parade the little warlord in the air for all the people to see. That's when Skitter's teary eyes turned to a murderous glare.

"Oh, you're not going to kill me," Skitter said with a cold confidence that rivalled Alexandria's best days. "You're a hero. You're going to take me alive and parade me around in court. Show the people that you're still in control, that the world is just like that."

For the first time since this battle began, Skitter used her powers. A swarm of insects burst from every conceivably crack in the city. Far more than what anyone would expect to find in one city block. Skitter didn't want to fight Alexandria in some random street with a handful of frightened civilians. She was waiting for this moment when the whole world had eyes on them.

Alexandria tried to move but the attack was too sudden, too unexpected. They didn't even try to bite and sting her, Skitter knew that no amount of bugs would penetrate her skin. The swarm launched directly for her face and kept on going. From tens to hundreds, with a thousand more on the way, Alexandria felt her throat fill with wave after wave of disgusting bugs.

The discomfort was a given, the very idea of swallowing even a single insect wasn't a pleasant thought to be had, but it wasn't the bugs that Alexandria felt. It was the complete lack of oxygen that caused her to panic.

A leg was kicked out, a car went smashing through the nearby building. Skitter was already up on her feet and backing away. Alexandria tried to punch her, grab her, do anything to make the bugs stop but the panic was already getting to her. It had been years since Alexandria felt like this, even fighting the terrifying Endbringers never gave her the same sense of mortal peril as she felt right at this second. Fighting Leviathan meant that she might die, the lack of oxygen getting to her brain meant that she was all by guaranteed to.

Alexandria collapsed to her knees. In an act of desperation, she tried to dry heave them out, but Skitter made sure that they weren't going anywhere. She could try crush the bugs that were already inside her throat, but the Manton limit forbade that and it wouldn't mean that they would leave.

"I don't have such constraints," Skitter said, continuing on from her words before, it was her turn to walk towards Alexandria. Unafraid and more terrifying than any mask she ever wore. The girl stood out of arms reach and watched as the great Alexandria flailed in panic. "I can't arrest you, I can't take you down and lock you away."

Alexandria choked out another desperate cough, savouring the handful of oxygen she had left in her lungs. Skitter, Taylor, looked down on her as a hand reached up to grasp her neck.

"You're feeling it now, aren't you?" Taylor asked coldly, showing little remorse for the dying hero. "What the rest of us live with every day. Your own mortality." Alexandria looked up in horror, this girl was actually going to kill her and make the whole world watch. As if responding to her look, Taylor added, "Don't worry, you'll survive. The bugs will work their way out of your airways soon enough."

Alexandria could almost let out a sigh of relief from hearing those words if only there was any air to let go. Taylor still wasn't done with her, letting the hero stew in her own fear for a minute longer. Strength was fading from Alexandria, fast. She collapsed completely to the ground, no longer even struggling, simply lying there and letting the world fade. Taylor moved in closer, confident that the brute could no longer hurt her.

Grabbing Alexandria by her chest, Taylor pulled her up as she knelt down on top of her. Looking the hero in the eyes. "But I didn't have to go easy on you. You labelled me as a villain for the whole world to see. I could have fought like one the second you stepped foot into my city. I want you to remember that. I wanted to remind you to stay out of my way. In all the years to come, in your most private moments, I want you to remember the one woman who beat you."

Taylor dropped the hero to the ground. She looked up to the helicopters who were circling above, no doubt filming the girl who just defeated Alexandria. She stepped back and away from the hero, a swarm of bugs shrouding her as she disappeared from the streets below. The swarm followed after, every single bug.

Alexandria let out a pained gasp as oxygen finally returned to her lungs. For the first time in decades, she was tired. For the first time in decades, Alexandria slept.

 

[freakytiki34]

Ice fucking cold, that was awesome

 

[space turtle]

And that's how you cement a reputation.

 

[Rake1810]

Loved it

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: This is chapter one of a new fic I'm starting on Ao3. Future chapters will be a tad spicy but this one is fine. Alt AU, College-aged Taylor and Co. No Power Taylor (Everyone else is canon powers) Emma and Taylor are still friends. Smugbug focus.

---

"Oh what about her, she looks cute, right?"

Taylor looked up from her bottle of apple cider, the same bottle she had been nursing for the past fifteen minutes. She was in a club, a club of all damn places. Shy, nerdy and skittish. The only kind of club Taylor had ever been to was a book club.

That was a lie, Taylor had been in the clubs a few times. This particular club to be exact. Anytime her best friend dragged her by the arm, stating that they were going out for the night, Taylor would find herself dragged into this god-awful nightclub.

She had no idea why Emma insisted on spending their weekends getting their ears blasted with the most obnoxious techno music. Nor why they preferred paying three times the amount for drinks when they had a perfectly stocked fridge at home. Or even why Emma still insisted on dragging Taylor along with her when they both knew what a socially awkward mess the tall girl was.

Tonight, however, was different. Taylor hadn't been tricked into coming here after meeting with Emma at a private bar. Emma hadn't taken her posse of cackling women along with her, all of whom made Taylor feel forgotten and uncomfortable around, especially Sophia. In fact, Emma and Taylor were the only girls from their group who were out tonight.

Taylor's eyes followed up on Emma, who leaned on the bar next to her. A sly smile across her face as she nodded towards a particularly attractive African-American girl with a purple streak down her dark hair. The girl was dressed more for a rave than a club by Taylor's standards. Very pretty, but dressed far too loosely for her sensibilities.

"She's straight," Taylor sided. Trying her best not to stare too hard at the girl. She always had a fear of making women uncomfortable with her sapphic admiring. "Also she's too young."

"Too young?" Emma baulked. "Shit you mean she's?-"

Taylor shook her head. "No, she's legal. But not drinking age legal." Taylor continued to admire how the teen danced and swayed among the crowd of people.

"I see, and how do you know she's straight?" Emma asked. Emma was, unfortunately for Taylor, as straight as an arrow. She had accepted this reality years ago. Her crush had long since faded. They were best friends, nothing more. Emma supported her gay, best friend through it all, but did not have the queer eye needed to spot others of Taylor's kind.

"I just... do?" Taylor shrugged. She didn't have the energy to explain how the Gaydar worked, partly because Taylor was mostly lying through her teeth. She had no idea if that girl was gay, she just had a feeling in her gut.

"Fine, fine," Emma dismissed with a wave. She took a large sip of her drink as she scanned the room. Her eyes formed a smile as she spotted her next target. "What about her? Brunette. Hair kinda like Maddies."

Taylor looked over her shoulder at the girl in question. She was pretty, but also rather plain-looking. Not that Taylor had any room to complain, she probably looked like some gawky twig standing next to someone as beautiful as Emma. It wasn't the girl's plain Jane vibe that turned Taylor off, more like the other aspect about her that caused Tay's eyebrow to raise.

"Seriously?"

"What?" Emma huffed, trying to defend her choice. "I said kinda like, not the spitting image. Plus I'm sure Maddy wouldn't mind if you hooked up with her clone anyway. She'd take it as a compliment."

"Not that," Taylor shook her head. Although the idea of hooking up with anyone who looked like her friends was something she wanted to avoid; all redheads had been instantly dismissed from Taylor's eyes. Taylor nodded again in the woman's direction, getting Emma to spot to glaring problem with her. "She literally has an 88 tattoo on her arm…"

Emma blinked twice and took another stare at the woman. As stated, there was a tattoo hidden under her sleeve on the girl's right arm. Emma could barely make out the shape of it, but once Taylor had spelled it out, it was obvious that this 'Madison clone' was proudly wearing Brockton Bay's take on the swastika.

"Right... yikes," Emma cringed, turning away quickly and finishing her drink in one large gulp. "Yeah let's avoid her and whoever the fuck she talks to for the night.

Taylor groaned into her bottle. It's hard enough thinking about approaching women at the club, but in Brockton Bay, a rejection was the least of Taylor's worries. "I knew this was a bad idea…" She whined, placing her bottle down and tugging on Emma's arm. "Can we just go home and get drunk like we usually do?"

Emma looked at Taylor, a worried frown forming on her face. Then over to little Miss Nazi, who had dared to ruin Taylor's mood simply by existing. She shook her head, placing her glass back on the bar and signalling for two more drinks. Taylor whined again but Emma simply ignored her.

"No, no. We're doing this," Emma stated, replacing Taylor's cider with a glass of something a little stronger. "You told me yourself how you were feeling. Sad and lonely. Those were your exact words, remember? You're never going to meet anyone hiding in your room all day. Trust me, I should know."

"I was drunk!" Taylor groaned, trying to forget about her embarrassing admission the last time the two girls got together. Taylor had convinced Emma to stay in with her rather than another night of clubbing with the girls. After a lot of wine and some sappy romance movies, Taylor had broken down crying over her abysmal love life.

Taylor learned pretty early on that she was gay. But in a city like Brockton Bay, being gay wasn't something you ever advertised. Combined with her social introversion, the handful of years she just shut down after her mother died, and the occasional bullying about being a 'Dyke' throughout Winslow. And Taylor had never had a real relationship of any kind, both serious or casual.

She had friends, of course. Emma was her bestie, through thick and thin. There was a brief period in high school when she thought Emma might leave Taylor for her cool new friends. Between the subtle bullying from other kids, and Emma's hesitance to spend time with the sad girl, it very nearly was the worst days of Taylor's life. Then Emma discovered what people were saying about her friend in the halls of Winslow, and Taylor learned that Sophia Hess wasn't just a grumpy girl who stole her best friend, she was a badass who had a serious grudge against kids who followed Empire 88 doctrine.

Emma apologised for not seeing the signs, letting Taylor suffer in silence while she got caught up with new friends. They reconnected and brought Taylor into the group for the final year and a half of high school. Taylor never fully fit in with Emma's friends; Madison told too many mean girl jokes and Sophia always looked like she was about to punch Taylor. But they were her friends, Emma made sure of that.

Years later, they all graduated high school and moved on to college. It was meant to be a time for discovering one's self. Being an adult without all the stress of being an adult adult. Dating and new relationships. Emma had been through three different serious relationships since high school, even if she was currently single now. Madison picked up a serious boyfriend during her second week and they were still in the honeymoon phase. Even Sophia, as grouchy as she was, hooked up with some guy called Dennis from her work. They weren't officially in a relationship but Sophia saw her regularly enough to make Emma's eyes roll.

And then there was Taylor. Who after three years of high school, and two years of college, had never so much as kissed a girl. Years of listening to all her straight friends talk about boys, hookups, relationships and sex had worn the girl down. Taylor pretended to be fine with it, smiled and laughed as Emma recounted her tales of whatever boy she had fucked that week. After a bottle of wine, some crappy rom-com and Emma's declaration that she 'needed to get laid' because it had been 'so long,' it had only been two weeks by Taylor's estimation, Taylor suddenly burst into tears.

She couldn't control herself. It came on so suddenly and caught both women by surprise. One second they were laughing at a badly directed love-making scene, next Taylor was a sobbing mess, crying about how she was going to die alone and unloved in this hell hole of a city. Emma comforted her for the remainder of the night, willing to make a plan to help Taylor finally experience love for the first time, or at least lust.

"Can't we just forget about this?" Taylor asked, still tugging on Emma's arm. "I was… exaggerating. That's all. The alcohol and the movie made me a little emotional, that's all. I really don't need to be here, okay?"

"You tried to kiss me," Emma said back bluntly. Taylor winced as the embarrassing memory of that night was flung back into her face.

"I said I was sorry," Taylor mumbled. Shying away from Emma, her hand dropped from the girl, afraid to touch her out of fear of creeping her out.

Emma noticed the reaction and wrapped an arm around Taylor, pulling her into a hug."And while I accept you for all your wonderful gay self. And love you to the ends of the earth. I unfortunately do not feel the attraction to women that you crave. Trust me, if I did, you'd be the first to know," Taylor looked away with a blush. "So, barring me waking up with a sexual epiphany, we move on to plan B. I said I'd get you laid. Now who else here strikes your fancy? We're not leaving until you talk to at least one woman tonight. I don't count,"

Emma did another scan across the club, this time following Taylor's eye-line as the girl had kept glancing away the entire conversion. Emma stopped at her target, this time she was sure that it would be someone Taylor would like, mainly because Taylor was pretending to not see the girl the entire time they had been at the bar.

"What about the blonde girl you keep side-eyeing?"
Emma asked, pointing with her cup and nodding to the girl in the corner. She stood with another man, tall dark and definitely Emma's type. Emma might not be able to read women, but she knew the man wasn't with the blonde girl.

"The who?" Taylor hummed, turning away far too obviously, looking over towards the bar as she distracted herself with reading the menu or whatever Taylor did when she was nervous.

"Don't play coy with me," Emma chuckled, nudging Taylor with her elbow, forcing her to look in the same direction. "I see that freckled smirk from here. She's totally eye fucking you."

Taylor's blush deepened in red. Emma had hit the nail on the head, whoever this blonde girl was, she was undressing Taylor with her eyes and Emma would not let a chance like this go to waste. Plus, if things went well with Taylor, then Blondy could introduce Emma to her friend, It was a win-win.

"Oh my…" Taylor mumbled, turning away again and focusing on her drink. "Shut up Emma!" She hissed with embarrassment. Emma burst out laughing, looking between Taylor and the blonde girl, who had a mischievously evil grin on her face.

The blonde raised her eyebrow towards Emma, a silent question across the room. 'Can I approach?'

Emma's smile widened; her answer was clear. 'Come and get her.'

Taylor still had her head down, sucking the remaining drops of liquid courage through her tiny straw. Emma had mere seconds to prep Taylor for the inevitable meeting and as much as she loved the girl, Taylor was a mess when it came to social interaction.

"Taylor, listen to me," Emma said, pulling her friend up from the bar and staring into her eyes. "This is it. It's go time. I will drag your ass over to her if you don't make a move in the next five seconds." She stared Taylor down with a fierceness Emma only pulled out on serious occasions.

Taylor for her part, whined like a wounded puppy before pushing herself up off the bar. Emma refused to back down, her eyes flinging Taylor off and telling her to march. Taylor, the obedient pup at least had the good sense to follow through and started moving in the direction of the pretty blonde woman.

"That a girl," Emma cheered, signalling the bartender for another drink. "Blow her away, Tay!"

Taylor struggled to return the cheer with the same bravado her friend had given. Her stomach was currently turning with butterflies at the thought of even saying hello to someone as ridiculously pretty as that blonde, freckled girl whom she was moving towards. What the hell was Taylor even going to say to her? She'd never approached a stranger for anything. She was going to screw this up somehow she just knew.

Taylor took one final look back at Emma, who watched on with the biggest smile as she sipped her new glass. The encouragement helped. Emma had been with her every step of the way when it mattered and didn't even consider leaving her when Taylor's stupid ass tried to kiss her last week. She could do this, she had the support of Emma. If Emma believed in her, she could do anything.

And that was the last thought Taylor had before she smacked head-first into that pretty blonde.

 

[freakytiki34]

That ending caught me totally off guard, amazing. Taylor's poor head... And now Lisa gets a whole new kind of headache.

 

[space turtle]

A Taylor who doesn't have every bit of every space and every person mapped out in a real time panopticon?

Of course she's gonna bump into random shit!

That will have such an impact on her body language and bearing and everything else!

Although she's got less of a reason to always be looking over her shoulder without having endured Emma's betrayal and bullying campaign.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Been in a bit of a creative writing slump this week. So I made myself write this little snip instead of working on the handful of other projects I need to do. Enjoy a bit of casual smugbug.

---

Lisa groaned into her palm as she rubbed her forehead. The headache that had been building yesterday was at last becoming unbearable. It was the price she paid for working overtime on their last job.

A simple smash'n'grab had turned into a giant clusterfuck when one of the wards had shown up. It wasn't a sting, a clever ambush or anything of the thought. Browbeat had simply spotted the team through a random window on his way through the city and called it in. A quick 'In and out' turned into a three-hour standoff with the PRT where Tattletale had to pull out any and all bullshit she could summon just to get the heroes of Brockton Bay to back down.

They managed to get away with a few hundred thousand dollars of jewels and the only casualty was one emotionally ruined Ward whom Lisa felt no pity for. Overall, she was quite proud of herself for the save, unfortunately, the overuse of her power meant she was absolutely crippled for the foreseeable future. Content to sit on the couch and listen to bad television while wallowing in her pain. Lisa was left with no option but to suffer.

Thankfully the Undersider's couch was soft enough to cushion her from the world.

At the sound of a door opening Lisa didn't bother looking up, knowing it was one of her teammates. With her powers out of commission and the mother of all migraines fucking with her head, Lisa didn't have the energy to try and figure out who.

The soft shuffle of socked feet approached her, followed by the sound of a plastic bag being set down. A gentle hand landed on Lisa's back and rubbed up and down, it was oddly comforting. Lisa could rule out Brian, as the hand felt too small to match him, Rachel too for that matter. Alec wouldn't ever be this nice to her. She supposed Aisha might've offered a hand of comfort if Lisa was in pain, but only one member of the Undersiders would've brought a bag of supplies for her

It had to be Taylor, Lisa smiled.

"Here."

Lisa opened her eyes to see a couple pills held before her. The sight was almost too good to be true. Lisa didn't even wait to be handed the painkillers, choosing to inhale them right out of Taylor's hand before taking the bottle of water that was also prepared in the bag. Taylor returned to rubbing her back as Lisa chugged the whole bottle.

"Thanks." Lisa gasped, dropping the empty bottle to the floor.

Taylor smiled at her, "No problem. Want me to grab you a blanket?"

"God, yes."

Lisa could already feel the painkillers kicking in. Logically they couldn't have kicked in this fast, but between the placebo effects, Taylor's gentle presence and whatever bullshit decides how thinker headaches work, Lisa could honestly say she was feeling better by the time Taylor returned with her blanket.

"You're a saint."

"No," Taylor said in her usual dismissive to-all compliments way, "but I'm flattered you think so."

"It's the truth."

Taylor hummed, clearly not believing her as started rubbing Lisa's back again. The blanket wrapped around the two of them, snuggling them both up onto the couch together. The position was a little awkward, what with the height difference between them; Lisa ended up leaning into Taylor's chest as she wrapped an arm around her, but neither of them seemed to mind.

They sat like that for a while, simply watching whatever was on the TV the volume kept low to not aggravate Lisa's headache. Lisa still couldn't concentrate on the television, each show blending into the next one, there was a good chance that Taylor had changed the channel at some point, but Lisa didn't care enough to check.

The painkillers weren't the sleep-inducing kind, and yet Lisa slowly flitted in and out of consciousness. A new show, movie or advertisement on the screen every time she blinked. Her eyelids drooped lower and lower, eventually shutting completely, the warmth from Taylor's body and the rhythmic motion of her hand was like a drug lulling her to sleep.

She wasn't sure how long she was out, but when Lisa finally awoke, her migraine was gone. Her face was buried into Taylor's chest and shoulder, and a small wet patch of drool stained Taylor's shirt where Lisa's mouth had been resting. Lisa blushed in embarrassment upon the realisation.

"Are you feeling better?" Taylor asked softly, she hadn't stopped rubbing her back at the feel of it.

"I'm great," Lisa yawned, lifting her head off from Taylor and wiping her mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. How long was I?-"

"Just an hour and a bit," Taylor responded non-nonchalantly.

It was a lie and Lisa didn't need her powers to tell her that. By the way, the late afternoon sun shone through the window, and Lisa could guess she'd been asleep for closer to four hours. She felt bad for falling asleep on Taylor, trapping her on the couch for a large chunk of the day.

"Brian and Rachel passed through while you were out," Taylor continued, her eyes locked forward onto the TV.

Lisa hummed in the affirmative, still feeling groggy as she pulled herself up.

"He left you a box of chocolate, as thanks for yesterday's save," Taylor continued, handing over a small gift-wrapped box to Lisa. "And Rachel wanted to make sure you 'didn't leave it lying around for her dogs to accidentally eat' or something. I'm paraphrasing."

"Chocolate?" Lisa mumbled, taking the box from Taylor's hand and unwrapping it. The box was the fancy expensive kind, the kind of thing you got for a lover, wife or girlfriend. "That's a strange choice, but I'll take it."

Lisa pulled out one of the small chocolates before offering the box to Taylor. Taylor didn't look down at Lisa as her fingers pulled out a piece, but her cheeks were red as she stared forward at the TV.

"Tis the season I suppose," Taylor said, before placing the chocolate between her lips.

Lisa was about to ask what Taylor meant by that when she finally took notice of the movie that was playing on the television. A romance movie, a rather popular one that Lisa had never actually seen before but could still be recognised by the actors alone. Lisa never cared too deeply about romance stories, Taylor however seemed enamoured by the film.

Oh… Lisa thought to herself. Valentine's Day, it's Valentine's Day.

Lisa let out a small chuckle at the realisation, causing Taylor to break away and look back down at her.

"Hmm?" Taylor asked, still red in the face. Whether it was from the film on the screen or something else was a secret Lisa's powers were still too tired to pry.

"Nothing," Lisa smiled, leaning back down into the crook of Taylor's neck.

Neither girl spoke aloud on the subject. The film played out as Taylor held Lisa, and the two girls remained wrapped up on the couch. Lisa smiled as they both shared the chocolate and watched the movie.

It was the best Valentine day that either girl had ever had.

 

[space turtle]

Ack! My heart. It can't take it.

Im now picturing poor Battery and Victoria getting their V days ruined by Undersiders interrupt.
And their poor Beaus who probably suffered even worse

Browbeat wishes they never saw them and every one is considering hiring Phir-se to fix it. (Except smugbug who are very happy about the whole thing)

 

[Cheshirek4t]

What's the opposite of an Oedipus complex?

Cuz I'm pretty sure that's what is going on here.

Click to shrink...

An... uh... Supideo complex?

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: A secret early draft of a scene from Infestation 11.5 before John C. 'Wildbow-Wibbles' McCrae got a little too worried that Taylor wasn't 100% straight. Thankfully he edited the original scene down and made it completely heterosexual. I kid. but seriously tho, who 'obediently' opens their mouth when told and isn't gay. Srsly wibbles!

---

Lisa forked over a ten and a twenty and collected her change and three pills. She turned to Taylor, "Open up. It's ecstasy."

"I dunno," Taylor answered her, feeling legitimately nervous. She didn't want to refuse her outright and blow their cover, but she also didn't want to get high. Taylor was uncomfortable enough with the idea, to begin with, but doing it here, in this kind of chaos?

"Trust me," she told her, wiggling one of the pills between her fingers.

Obediently, Taylor opened her mouth. Lisa pressed one small pill down on her tongue as Taylor closed her mouth.

"That's a good girl," Lisa said. She smiled as she slowly retracted her finger from Taylor's lips.

The pill's texture felt strange against Taylor's tongue like it was trying to melt through her taste buds. She didn't dare spit it out, but she really didn't want to swallow the pill. Her fear of drugs was conflicting with her trust in Lisa, a panic threatening to rise in her, calmed only by the comforting feeling of Lisa, wrapping an arm across Taylor's back as led them deeper into the club.

Taylor knew very little about ecstasy. She knew it was a party drug, people took it to have a good time and usually didn't drop dead seconds after taking it. But the exact specifics of what was about to happen to her? Taylor could only guess. Her immediate thought was to focus on the positives, Lisa's embrace, the thrum of the music of the club, and how good it felt when she inadvertently sucked on Lisa's finger.

But ecstasy was a mood enhancer, or something to that effect and the last thing Taylor wanted was something fucking with her mood. She felt comfortable with her anxiety and depression, she'd had them for so long. A magic pill coming along with the promise to suddenly make her feel better about the world was the worst kind of pitfall. False hope, like a stranger coming into her life and making her feel good for once, was a scary concept. Lisa was once that stranger.

And yet, she trusted Lisa.

It wasn't blind faith, but she still had faith in Lisa, and Lisa told her that the pill was okay and that it would be good for her. She had faith in Lisa.

So Taylor swallowed the pill. Ready to face the unknown consequences of her actions. It went down with a bit of difficulty, a bit of dryness in her throat, but she had done it. The pill had gone down. Taylor had taken it.

Lisa leaned over until both girl's heads were touching, "Sugar pills." She whispered into Taylor's ear. "A little sleight of hand on my part. Just for appearances. Don't stress."

"Could've fucking told me," Taylor hissed. The sound of the music drowned out her annoyance as Lisa continued to smile.

"And ruin the fun? No thanks," she said, laughing, as she grabbed onto Taylor's hands, her slender fingers lacing between Taylor's. She pulled her deeper into the club.

In spite of Taylor's frustration, Lisa was having fun. Which in turn meant that Taylor couldn't stay angry for long. They'd barely entered the club, but already, the atmosphere was infectious. The lights were blinding, but they were mesmerising in their own right, the colours constantly shifting and changing as the music beat and boomed.

"It was interesting," Lisa said, the two of them made their way to the dance floor. They would blend in with the rest of the patrons before moving on. "You're reaction." Lisa smiled playfully as she danced into Taylor. "I told you to open up and you..." She let her smile finish the sentence.

"You told me to trust you," Taylor said, in a very matter-of-fact tone. Her body swayed with Lisa but without any of the grace and coordination that her companion had.

"True, and I love that about you," Lisa said, as she grabbed hold of Taylor's hand and spun her around. She moved close to her and whispered into her ear, "But I was more curious at the fact that you let me. I honestly expected you to take the pill from my hand and swallow it with that cute scowl you do."

Taylor fought hard not to blush at the backhanded compliment. "Instead you just opened wide and let me."

Taylor turned away from Lisa. Too embarrassed to look her in the eye. Her feet shuffled back and forth in a very lame attempt to keep up with the fast-paced rhythm of the music.

"Sh-shut up," She whined. Lisa refused to let Taylor pull away.

Lisa chuckled back, content to sway with Taylor a little longer. As the song started to fade and the beat of the next began to play, Lisa continued to stare back at her.

"What?" Taylor asked, feeling a bout of self-consciousness. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." Lisa smiled back. "Just thinking..." Lisa rubbed her chin for a moment then looked back to Taylor. "Want another pill?"

Before Taylor could respond, Lisa stuck out her tongue through her smile. A single, sugar pill hung on and rolled slowly downwards.

"Oh, fuck off," Taylor groaned, though the smile on her face betrayed her true feelings. She finally pulled away from the dance and looked off. "We have a job to do."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Wrote this in short form on my discord. Just a lil joke thingo. Enjoy.

---

Rachel let out a chuckle. Really more of a snort, but it was enough to get Lisa's attention. She turned from her position on the couch to look at the butch girl, stumbling from her bedroom with her hair twice as messy as it usually was. Rachel inspected something between her finger and her thumb, but Lisa couldn't quite see what caused the reaction from the girl.

"What is that?" she asked out as Rachel fell into a heap on the couch across from her.

She still wore the same shirt and jeans she had on the previous day, no doubt falling asleep in them like the slob she was. Lisa suppressed all the little tidbits of information her power was pulling out about Rachel's hygiene habits, as Lisa was well aware by now of what they were.

Rachel looked up from her hand, her expression immediately glowering upon seeing Lisa, but that was her natural state around the blonde. Rachel wiped her hand on her t-shirt, contemplating if she should even acknowledge Lisa to begin with.

Finally, Rachel decided to speak. No doubt in a good mood from having a long sleep and was willing to tolerate Lisa enough to share whatever joke was on her mind.

"I was just thinking..." Rachel began, looking back at her fingers, the remnants of a dead bug squished between her thumb and index. "Isn't it weird how we have a bug controller on the team and yet we still get bitten by mosquitoes?"

Rachel almost chuckled again at the thought. The irony of the situation presented to her. It was so stupid, it was funny. Lisa almost chuckled back at the thought. Except it didn't make any sense.

"What?" Lisa asked. Wondering if she heard Rachel correctly.

"Mosquitoes," Rachel repeated, wiping the remaining dead bug on her shirt one last time before moving to scratch her chest. "Those annoying little things."

"I know what a mosquito is," Lisa said, sitting up straighter on the couch. "what do you mean you still get bitten?"

It didn't make any sense. One of the perks of working with a parahuman like Skitter was that their trashy flat suddenly became pest-free overnight. It had been literally months since Lisa saw a cockroach running around the place even with Alec leaving slices of pizza out on the table every night.

"Yeah," Rachel confirmed, unaware of the oddity of her statement. She tugged on the neck of her shirt and looked down. "All over my legs and chest. Mainly on my abs now that I'm looking at it. It's so annoying,"

Lisa didn't even need her powers to tell her exactly what had happened, or been happening.

"Actually, if anything. They're targeting me more than usual," Rachel continued, idling scratching away at herself.

Lisa just stared back blankly at Rachel, who was still unaware of her reality.

Rachel stared back at the blonde, whose silence eventually got through to her. Both girls stared at each other for a solid ten seconds as Rachel's mind started to connect the dots.

Lisa blinked back, unsure as to what to say. A deep blush of red was slowly building across Rachel's face. A mix of anger and embarrassment.

She stood up from the couch and whistled for her dogs. Brutus came in the lead with Rachel's shoes ready for her. After practically kicking them on, Rachel marched for the exit, a personal mission set for today.

"I'm going to kill her..." Rachel growled under her breath.

"Fair enough," Lisa agreed, not willing to step in on whatever the hell Taylor had done.

 

[space turtle]

I know Taylor is sheltered and socially stunted. But can someone please explain the concept of love bites to her properly.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: A silly lil idea I came up with in discord. Enjoy some borderline WolfSpider

---

Rachel ran alongside her dogs, who were free from their leashes. They knew not to run ahead or lag behind, so they stuck by her side and stayed within sight. Rachel ran the same route each morning with minor deviations. Brian and Lisa had given Rachel a map of proposed running routes when she first moved into the Undersider's loft, but Rachel didn't care for them. She'd been on her own for years before meeting the team, and she had her own methods for avoiding trouble.

She gave populated sections of the city a wide berth, sticking to areas that would be mostly deserted before and after the run. The dogs were a good early warning system and a deterrent in case someone decided to try something, though it was rarely necessary. Even without the dogs, people didn't mess with a girl like Rachel. Cops never patrolled this section of the city, and no dumbass civilian would speak up if they did recognise the infamous 'Hellhound' doing her morning jog. So Rachel didn't feel all that concerned when she passed through a somewhat inhabited area.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel spotted something interesting. Her legs locked to a halt before her brain even recognised the command. In the window of some rundown-looking dollar store, one particular object caught her eye.

The dogs obediently waited not too far from the girl, recognising their master no longer following. Rachel turned and entered the store, her eyes focused on the thing that caught her attention.

"Uh, Miss?" The elderly shopkeeper called out to her after a short while. "You have to pay for that! Miss! Hello!?"

Rachel scowled at the approaching man as she held her prize firmly against her chest. Rachel was used to people not paying attention and very rarely had to shop in stores on her own. The elderly shopkeeper was a pushover and a coward, so they posed no threat to her. Rachel could've easily sprinted off, but Brian's reminder to not cause trouble outside of work echoed through her mind. Angrily, Rachel fished into her jacket pocket and pulled out a bundle of loose change. She had no idea how much the shopkeeper wanted and she really didn't want to stick around for any longer, so Rachel slapped down what she deemed was an appropriate amount and kept on jogging.

"Wait, your change!" The shopkeeper called out, but Rachel was long gone before they finished.

Rachel tucked her newfound treasure under her jacket and continued her jog. A decision had been made, something she often avoided but had to be done.

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

Taylor's double life was a tiring one, not to mention stressful. Being the only one of her team to go to Winslow meant that a large portion of her time was spent being verbally assaulted by the terrible trio, the Undersider's flat was the only place she could truly relax and feel at peace.

A short jog from school, a bus ride and then another ten-minute walk were the only obstacles between Taylor and her happy place. As Taylor ascended the stairway, she felt an odd sort of anticipation. What job was there this time? What new crazy cape was she going to be fighting? Or was today just going to be another day of relaxing with the team while they waited for the boss to find them something to do?

Whatever the answer, it would be better than Winslow, Taylor thought.

Opening the door to the Undersider's loft, Taylor was greeted by her teammate. Brian specifically.

"Hey, Taylor. Glad you could make it," Brian said with a smile. "Make yourself at home."

Taylor waved back and set her school bag by the door. Looking around the room she drooped when she realised that it was only Brain in the flat.

"Where's everyone else?" Taylor asked, hiding her disappointment. She liked Brian, but ever since the kiss and subsequent rejection, it felt weird being alone with him.

"Lisa's meeting up with an informant," Brian explained. "Hopefully should be back with some work later so stick around for that, and Alec...well, you know what he's like. He'll get up whenever he feels like it."

Taylor nodded her head and moved towards the couch.

"Oh, and Rachel has been wanting to talk to you all day," Brain finished, pointing behind him.

"Me?" Taylor asked, surprised. She'd been trying to get closer to the girl since moving in, but Rachel wasn't exactly the talkative type. "What does she want?"

"I have no idea," Brian admitted with a shrug. "She wouldn't tell me anything except to send her your way when I see you. So... she's in her room now. Uh... yell out if she tries anything."

Taylor nodded again, unsure what was in store for her. She walked across the room, pausing at the doorway. Turning to face Brian, Taylor hesitated for a moment.

"Good luck," Brian said with a smile. Both of them hoped that this wouldn't turn into another fight.

Taylor knocked three times on Rachel's door. When there was no response, Taylor opened it slightly and peeked inside. Rachel was lying on her bed, Brutus stretched across her chest as a radio played music. Rachel wasn't sleeping but seemed lost in a meditative state of thought.

"Uh, Rachel?" Taylor asked, not wanting to interrupt the girl. "Brian said you wanted to talk to me."

Rachel snapped out of her daze and looked at Taylor. Shooting a harsh glare before she realised who it was who had stepped into her sanctum.

"Oh, right..." Rachel said, more to herself than to Taylor. She nudged Brutus and shuffled off the bed, walking up to Taylor before looking out behind her and glaring at Brian.

"What's up?" Taylor asked awkwardly, unsure as to what to do.

"I need your help with something," Rachel admitted in a low, conspiratorial tone. "But don't tell anyone, okay?"

Rachel stressed the word 'anyone,' emphasising the point by jabbing a finger towards Brian. The boy looked back, confused at the gesture but turned away to give the girls privacy.

"Um, sure," Taylor agreed, a bit thrown by Rachel's unusual behaviour. "Anything I can do to help."

"Great," Rachel said with a small smile, pulling Taylor into the room and shutting the door behind her.

Taylor watched as the energetic girl moved back to her bed and started fishing something out from inside her pillowcase.

"S-so, what did you need?" Taylor asked, leaning over to see what Rachel was doing. She had no bugs in the room to assist her, keeping them from every bedroom.

Rachel held something tightly to her chest and walked back over to Taylor, inspecting the room for any would-be onlookers. Once confident no one was watching, she shoved the object into Taylor's hand. "Here," She grunted, a faint blush building on her cheeks.

Taylor felt the object before she saw it. The unmistakable feeling of a book, a rather thin book if she had to guess. Her eyes were still trained on Rachel's face, and Taylor didn't want to risk ruining the moment. She knew from past experience that if Taylor broke eye contact, whatever progress she'd made with Rachel would be gone and any chances at furthering their relationship would be ruined.

"What do you want?-" Taylor began, even as she guessed the obvious answer.

"I need you to read this for me," Rachel admitted, the blush on her face deepening.

Taylor looked at the cover of the book, surprised by its title.

"Clifford the Big Red Dog," Taylor read aloud, her eyebrows raising in surprise.

Rachel sat down on the end of her bed, looking up at the bespectacled girl expectantly. Taylor had never seen the girl like this, and her interest was piqued. She was always willing to help her teammates, and this was the first time Rachel had asked for help with anything, especially something that required her specifically.

"All right, if you insist," Taylor said with a smile, careful not to bare teeth. She took a seat next to Rachel and held the book out, reading the cover once again for Rachel to hear. "Clifford the Big Red Dog, by Norman Bridwell,"

"Clifford..." Rachel echoed, etching the name into her mind. She practically cuddled up to the girl to get a good view of the book while Taylor read.

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

A few months later, when Rachel adopted a new dog into her pack, the rest of the team was surprised by the choice. Except for Taylor, who could only smile as she welcomed the Vizsla dog named Clifford.

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: I had this idea for some.... smugbug... yes... some canon-accurate smugbug.

---

"Taylor? Can I ask you something?" Lisa asked, moving slowly towards her friend.

Taylor looked up from her book, and took her time before replying, "Yeah, sure."

"We're friends, right?"

Taylor didn't know how to respond. Of course, they were friends, what kind of question was that. Lisa was the best friend Taylor ever had since…

"Yes, always," Taylor replied, confused.

"And you trust me, right?" Lisa continued, taking a seat next to the confused girl.

"Where are you going with this, Lisa?"

Lisa hesitated for a moment, an act in itself that set Taylor on edge. With a sigh, Lisa pushed out and took Taylor's hand, interlocking her fingers together. Taylor felt her stomach flip at the contact, a small voice in the back of her mind telling her she should pull away, but she didn't.

"I know you, Taylor," Lisa whispered, a slight blush covering her pale face. "Better than you know yourself. And I know you've never been comfortable in your body, that you don't see yourself the way everyone else sees you. I want to change that."

Taylor was silent. Trying to decide where this was coming from, or what angle Lisa was playing. Talking about her insecurities was not something Taylor was comfortable with, let alone talking about it with someone as beautiful as Lisa. Taylor's first thought was that there had to be an ulterior motive.

"Taylor, listen to me," Lisa said firmly. "You are an amazing woman, and you are a million times more attractive than you give yourself credit for. You deserve to be with someone who... makes you happy."

Taylor turned away, she couldn't call Lisa a liar, but she also couldn't believe her. She just felt like she was being mocked, or manipulated. She couldn't put her finger on it, but Lisa was up to something.

"Lisa..." Taylor grumbled into her book. "Stop…"

"No," Lisa said, taking Taylor's other hand. "I've been trying. Trying to help you see Taylor."
The pair turned to face each other, the silence between them growing thick and awkward. Lisa couldn't tell if she was getting through to her, or making the situation worse.

"Please, listen to what I'm saying," Lisa pleaded. "You keep holding yourself back. You make up excuses for why you can't have what you want."

Lisa's eyes bore into Taylor, beautiful jade green looked up on the girl. Taylor tried to look away, but her eyes simply trailed down to her mischievous vulpine smile. Lips full and soft, looking inviting, even when smirking.

"And what do you think I want, Lisa?" Taylor asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Lisa was silent for a moment, trying to find the words. She moved, closer and closer to Taylor, the warmth of her breath hitting Taylor's skin. She was so close, Taylor could almost taste her.

"What do I want?" Lisa asked, her lips grazing Taylor's as she spoke. "I want you to go for the people you want."

Taylor could feel her heart beating from her chest. Lisa looked so tempting, so enticing, and all Taylor had to do was lean forward. Just a little.

"Lisa, I…"

"It's okay," Lisa breathed, lips hovering around the taller girl's neck. "You're allowed to ask for what you want. You can have it, Taylor. I promise you."

Taylor couldn't hold back.

"A-alright, Lise," She finally gave in, looking her best friend in the eyes. "I'll do just that."

--------------------------------------------------------------
"You know, when you first asked me out on a date, I was a little worried. But all things considered. Today has been fun."

Taylor smiled as she leaned into the strong muscular arms of Brian. She finally had the courage to ask out her crush and it had paid off. They were having a great time, and the view of the sun setting over the Boardwalk was stunning.

"Remember to thank Lisa," Taylor said. "She gave me the courage to go through with it."

The pair continued to watch the sun sink into the water, neither one saying a word, simply enjoying the moment. They were the perfect heterosexual couple for the perfectly heterosexual girl. And would live happily ever after.

Brian chuckled, pulling Taylor into a comforting hug. "I'll do just that."

 

[Gowonzu]

A/N: Wrote this on my phone today. Enjoy!

---

Officer Micheal turned off his siren and steps out of the car. Another routine pullover in the ever-busy city.

The vehicle he pulled over wasn't speeding, but it did have a broken tail light and Michael needed to reach his ticket quota for this month.

Pulling on his belt, he attempted to protrude as much authority as he could muster. Judging by the obnoxious music blaring from the radio, he could only assume he pulled over some punk kids driving their parent's van.

The windows were tinted black, another thing that Micheals could potentially write them up about, he was sure he could pull out some bullshit code to scare them with. With a snort, he looked down from his aviators and knocked on the window, motioning to wind it down.

"Now, do you have any idea why I pulled you over?" Michaels asked, already writing into his notebook.

"Haven't a clue, officer," said an overly cheery young girl. "But I guess it's for that breaklight we never replaced?"

"I'm afraid so ma'am," Michaels said back, getting ready to resist whatever sweet talk this girl was inevitably going to do. "Can I see your license and re-"

The officer looked up from his notepad for the first time since the window came down, his voice caught in his throat as he recognised the colourful outfit the girl was wearing.

Tattletale of the Undersiders sat in the driver's seat, casually smiling back at the man. Beside her, the every-so-terrifying Skitter stared at the officer.

"Any chance you can just let us off with a warning, officer?" Tattletale asked, still acting as if she was just some random girl. "I promise, we'll get that light changed licky-split."

The gun on Officer Michael's felt heavy, but he didn't dare reach for it. The sound of three irritated dogs moving in the backseat warned him enough. Add to that the man with the Skull helmet in the seat behind Skitter, clenching his hand into a fist.

"Y-yeah. Of course," Office Micheals said, ripping up the ticket he started and making sure to tear it in view of everyone. "You k-kids have a g-great day now."

"We will!" Tattletale said back, waving the man goodbye with a smile.

The van drove off shortly after.

"Told you I could talk our way out of a ticket," Tattletale said proudly to the group. "Now pay up."

"That doesn't count," Regent grumbled. "He was more scared of Skitter than you. If anything, she should get the twenty bucks."

Imp leaned forward and gave both girls in the front seat some money.

"Wasn't the bet only for twenty?" Skitter asked, inspecting the fifty in her hand.

"It's all the officer had in his wallet." Imp shrugged.

Bitch let out a small huff of amusement and motioned for Imp to throw her the empty wallet.

Grue watched it all unfold around him, his hands unclenching from the potential clusterfuck to today's heist.

"You're all stupid," Grue groaned.