Just a Phase [Worm]

MovingTarget · Jun 19, 2023

Blade4 said:
Only problem is if Taylor did decide to leave I think she would have a actual plan because just trying to walk out is not going to end well. At the very least she would have some way to get out of town.

How much for a bus or train ticket? Alternatively she could phase into the cargo compartment of a bus to travel for free

Praetrunco · Jun 19, 2023

RogueInquisitor said:
Links please?

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-wriggling-horror-worm-alt-power-taylor.1085286/reader/
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/abyss-given-form-worm-d-d.426016/reader/

Dakkah · Jun 19, 2023

The Unicorn said:
Half the incidents you mention did not happen in Worm and you're ignoring that the ones which did happen could not have happened if anyone involved behaved in a realistic fashion For example - I really can't see Blackwell risking jail time to protect Emma.

Huh, my bad, could have sworn that the agreement thing was canon. While I agree Blackwell and co are implausibly and terribly short sighted in act and deed. You do realize that "Authority figures are terrible" (at their job and/or in general) is pretty much one of Worms core tenets, and Danny is one of those said figures.

As for him not being a bad parent, I vehemently disagree.

Even if ignoring the things like how he shutdown when Annette died. Or that he didn't notice how/why Tay changed* in Winslow. There were many things he could or rather should have done after she landed in the hospital/psych ward.

(Involving the police, demanding answers from T and the school, repercussions to the bullies/faculty. involving the media if for any reasons the police or school don't do anything. Not making her go back to Winslow while looking for other options etc.)

*From Brightly colored, happy motormouth, performed well in school, T/E visiting eachother etc. To none of those.

The Unicorn · Jun 19, 2023

Dakkah said:
Huh, my bad, could have sworn that the agreement thing was canon.

The agreement is canon, so is the fact the school broke it.

While I agree Blackwell and co are implausibly and terribly short sighted in act and deed.

I'm not talking about short sighted, I'm talking about them comitting felonies that serve no purpose other than to make things worse for Taylor.

The issue is that the only way things work the way wildbow said it does is by authorial fiat, because it requires every one looking for ways to screw over Taylor

(Involving the police, demanding answers from T and the school, repercussions to the bullies/faculty. involving the media if for any reasons the police or school don't do anything. Not making her go back to Winslow while looking for other options etc.)

He did. None of those worked for reasons that as I've said before don't make any sense. Danny shutting down and not acting to help Taylor would make a lot more sense than what happened in canon, it's not however canon.

Canon is that he spend considerable effort trying to help her and magically failed. He failed to get her transfered to a different school, he got an agreement with the school that they didn't uphold, and when he threatened to go to the media over that was forced to back down in a way that wouldn't work in RL.
He tried to talk to Taylor but she refused to identify her attackers.
We don't know if he called the police or not, we do know the police were involved and magically dropped the investigation
etc...

Dakkah · Jun 19, 2023

The Unicorn said:
Snip

Sometime after Tay got hospitalized he threw a tantrum in the school, they threatened to call the police on him and he backed down. Similarly with his short lived threat with the media: Both times he folded like a chump.

And I didn't say ask Taylor, I said demand answers, from her, the school, etc.* He's supposed to be her father, a man with a severe temper, and IIRC a spine of steel. None of those add up to crumbling and backing down at the slightest hint of opposition.

Anyways, this derail isn't going anywhere, nor is it actually relevant to the story, so calling it quits.

The Unicorn · Jun 19, 2023

Dakkah said:
Sometime after Tay got hospitalized he threw a tantrum in the school, they threatened to call the police on him and he backed down. Similarly with his short lived threat with the media: Both times he folded like a chump.

The problem is neither of those is possible unless you accept as a universal law that "Being Taylor is suffering".
You are either blaming Danny for the universe bending over backwards to make things worse for Taylor, or failing to acknowledge that in a universe like worm where possessing authority automatically turns you into an asshole he is a very good parent.

SlickRCBD · Jun 20, 2023

The Unicorn said:
Half the incidents you mention did not happen in Worm and you're ignoring that the ones which did happen could not have happened if anyone involved behaved in a realistic fashion For example - I really can't see Blackwell risking jail time to protect Emma.

No, but I don't recall that being on the table in canon Worm.
On the other hand the way the meeting with Taylor, Danny, Emma, Alan, Sophia, Sophia's case worker, and the principal played out WAS extremely realistic. The only odd thing was that neither of Sophia's parents were there.
I remember some similar meetings in 8th grade and high school. I even kept a details record of every incident like Taylor, although I used loose-leaf that I typed into AppleWorks on my Apple IIGS after school after the first time somebody saw me making a record in study hall and destroyed the notebook. I even got advice on how to document things from a Professor at the University of Iowa who trained school psychologists as my parents happened to have known her since they were in high school and college.
Besides, that was easier to make multiple copies of in an era were copy machines were expensive and the average Joe couldn't be expected to have an all-in-one printer at home.

Anyways, the journals showing the pattern of harassment were dismissed as fabrications because of a lack of evidence or witnesses willing to say anything against the bullies. The school, who unlike Taylor I had been complaining to and had kept my mother informed of (not as much to my father, and he died of a sudden heart attack 3/4 of the way through my junior year) things dismissed my claims and blamed me for "making myself a target" and "not de-escalating things", and told me I was "too thin-skinned" and need to "just ignore it and they'll stop. If things look like they will escalate just walk away".
They DID offer to transfer me to another school, but it was the "alternative" school for kids with behavior problems, since "you have peer relations problems and keep provoking your classmates until they retaliate, then you try to blame them." Oh, their school psychologist had all kinds of BULLSHIT labels for me about "being oppositional" (whenever I opposed unjust punishments and restrictions, arguing that the instigators should be punished, not the victim), "paranoia" (because of me doing stuff in response to the bullying and my signs of hyper-vigilance, along with being on a hair trigger to block sudden threatening moves due to the number of times I'd been punched, kicked, tripped, or pushed without warning) and that "you believe your own lies about people being out to get you."

Sorry for the rant, the thing is the way the school handled the meeting where Taylor presented the bullying journal was realistic. What I found unrealistic was the handling of The Locker incident. The police should have been involved, and the school should have made a stand and done something at that point. Offering a transfer should have been on the table. Everything else about Winslow however I found extremely realistic.

Ashley9469 · Jun 20, 2023

The QB in middle school kept starting shit with me, and had a pet thug. Shit stopped right quick after I sent the bastard to the ICU, and his thug got arrested.

Smashed his ass in with a heavy folding table like a bat. When the school decides to so selectively spinless, you take your chances with resolving the matter permanently if you have to.

The Unicorn · Jun 20, 2023

SlickRCBD said:
No, but I don't recall that being on the table in canon Worm.
On the other hand the way the meeting with Taylor, Danny, Emma, Alan, Sophia, Sophia's case worker, and the principal played out WAS extremely realistic. The only odd thing was that neither of Sophia's parents were there.

Well that and that no one used Alan committing several felonies wasn't used as an excuse by the school, Madison's parents and the PRT to scapegoat him for the entire mess, and that Taylor wasn't kicked out of Winslow either then or after the locker incident, and that Danny didn't have to deal with a dozen ambulance chasers offering to represent him on a contingency basis (and if they didn't catch him before he signed the stupit agreement half of them being confidant they could get him out of the agreement, and that the school had no concern over breaking an agreement that was so extremely favorable to them, and...

I remember some similar meetings in 8th grade and high school. I even kept a details record of every incident like Taylor,

Yah, the school's response to Taylor's account is the only part of that mess that comes close to believable, although them actually punishing the bullies seems a bit odd. It's everything else in that scene that doesn't make any sense.

What I found unrealistic was the handling of The Locker incident. The police should have been involved, and the school should have made a stand and done something at that point. Offering a transfer should have been on the table.

More like a transfer would have been required, a transfer lets the school show they're doing something that doesn't cost them anything, and makes anything that happens someone else's problem.

SlickRCBD · Jun 20, 2023

Ashley9469 said:
The QB in middle school kept starting shit with me, and had a pet thug. Shit stopped right quick after I sent the bastard to the ICU, and his thug got arrested.

Smashed his ass in with a heavy folding table like a bat. When the school decides to so selectively spinless, you take your chances with resolving the matter permanently if you have to.

You are lucky, I had a similar incident of sending the bully who attacked me to the ER in 8th grade when he tried to strangle me, and we were both arrested and charged with battery. The school and the juvenile court system had opposite responses. The school initially expelled me (overturned and became a suspension that let me graduate although it lasted until the end of the year due to the appeal. I'm convinced they dragged their feet to keep me out to prevent any incidents, then let me graduate to get rid of me) while letting the bully off. The court acquitted me for self-defense and gave the bully probation.

The Stormbringer · Jun 21, 2023

Has it been revealed in comments anywhere what Taylor's power actually is?

Rymu · Jun 21, 2023

I don't think we've gotten a full description but the text has given a good idea of what Taylor's power is. Which is a breaker with a thinker/trump secondary that gives her an idea about threats and blocks other thinkers if i'm remembering right.

The Stormbringer · Jun 21, 2023

Rymu said:
I don't think we've gotten a full description but the text has given a good idea of what Taylor's power is. Which is a breaker with a thinker/trump secondary that gives her an idea about threats and blocks other thinkers if i'm remembering right.

She mentioned something about having "a scanner" at some point early on. It makes me wonder if she meant her AOE awareness, or something else that she just hasn't used yet.

Nightshade_Pyre · Jun 21, 2023

Quotes about precognitive clairvoyance interacting with powers.

FirstSelector said:
While I walked, a strange feeling registered in my precognitive sense. It was a sort of ephemeral pressure, almost but not quite entirely unlike the sense I got from physical matter. At a thought, I let whatever it was pass through me, and the pressure vanished. What was left behind was my usual sensation that I was actively phasing through something.

Someone was using a parahuman power on me.

Not only had my disastrous first meet and greet with the Wards ENE saved me from years of torment, it had also revealed that I could phase through the effects of powers in addition to matter. I doubted very much that Emma or Gallant had 'helping Taylor' anywhere on their list of priorities, but their always-on powers had done the work for them.

[...]

Another ping on my precog senses led to another effect ignored. I wondered what the source of these effects felt when I used my power to preemptively dodge theirs. Did they get anything useful, or did I just come up blank?

[...]

The next hour alternated between my precog senses tickling and me searching for my style of clothes.

[...]

I stopped twitching at my power sense after the second time. My best guess was that the feeling was due to some sort of external parahuman power, probably something benign that just happened to people nearby, and my power was just letting me ignore whatever it was. And if my power let me ignore it, then it probably wasn't an issue for me at the moment.

[...]

The tingling sensation came back as soon as I walked out of the front door, and I caught a few people staring at me from a coffee shop across the street. They all averted their eyes when I turned to look at them.

FirstSelector said:
The strange feeling was back. Someone was using their power on me.

"Phase?"

As always, as soon as the strange feeling manifested in my precognition, I let it pass through me with barely a thought. Then the effect ended. And then it came back.

[...]

The questioner was apparently a blonde girl with a light smattering of freckles and green eyes. "Makes sense," she said lightly, though based on her self-satisfied smile, I had given her the key to Fort Knox. {Editor's note: Hi Lisa!}

[...]

The foreign power cut off the instant the doors closed[...]

[...]

Hunch even used his power on me, to much the same effect as the parahuman in the tour group.

I did note that it felt slightly different from the earlier power in a way that I couldn't easily describe.

Quotes about regular clairvoyance.

FirstSelector said:
To my moderate horror, my bed was close enough to Flechette's room that my limited clairvoyance started to leak over. I didn't really need to know all of the things she kept on her desk or about the pictures on her walls, but my power told me about everything in a roughly eight foot radius around me. I did my best to keep it clamped down during the day, but when relaxing it was easier to just see everything than ignore it.

[...]

Oh, it was my luggage. Instead of stepping over or around it, I had simply phased through it.

[...]

I shook my head in irritation, and I had phased through my door and into my room before I realized that I should have used the scanner.

FirstSelector said:
Taylor was, based on eyewitness accounts, a rather formidable Breaker with the ability to phase through matter. They suspected that her power included an extrasensory component as well, given that Gauss's hand had passed through the girl without her seeing it.

But the fascinating and worrying part of Taylor's power, and the reason that Kamil was increasingly interested in understanding it, was that she was a Trump. After both Hunch and Roulette confessed that their power did not work on Taylor, Kamil had sent in a priority request to Watchdog. Their response had everyone on edge: Taylor was invisible or otherwise immune to every targeted Thinker power they could test.

Note that she automatically phases through things without consciously registering.

FirstSelector said:
I let my pericognitive senses unfurl, which filled my brain with the location of everything nearby.

And I did mean everything — I don't know how my brain handled it, but not only did I know the location of every flake of brick, grain of wood, stitch of cloth, and mote of dust, I could decide which of those to work my power on and which not when I came into contact with them.

[...]

Like everything else, my pericognitive sense showed me the dense spray of capsaicin as it exploded from the can and coated the eyes of the two goons. They jumped back immediately, clutching their eyes with ineffectual fingers.

[...]

I realized that the pepper spray had been entirely unnecessary. Between my peri- and pre-cognitives senses, I could have easily just walked up and tased them directly.

[...]

Unbidden, my pericognitive senses flared out while my more pedestrian senses felt like I had been dunked in the Charles River.

The first time she really uses her power in combat.

FirstSelector said:
I looked down to find that, yes, I was standing in the middle of a snow bank without having obviously disturbed the snow.

[...]

Shards of glass were phased through beneath my feet, mostly forgotten as I looked in on the scene.

[...]

My precog sense lit up almost as soon as the words were out of my mouth; an instant later Snap's arm shot forward, passing through my stomach like it wasn't even there.

[...]

I barely had time to wonder about his partner's power before my precog sense lit up again. This time it was some sort of handheld device, and I was so confused about why it was coming from behind me that I barely managed to activate my power in time.

[...]

Cloning-girl kept up her assault with several more copies, but my precognitive powers gave me just enough of an edge to phase through her flurry of attacks. She also tried another, different handheld device from within her coat's pockets, but it was just as effective as the previous device.

If I could get my hands on the loot, I could stop them from making off with it. They only had one bag each, and all I had to do was get my finger on any part of the fabric.

[...]

[...]it was only because I was paying attention that I managed to dodge his actual attack.

[...]

My precog senses gave me just enough time to activate my power, and I was temporarily blinded by the light of the explosion. However, my pericognitive power still worked, which I used to aim as I dove across the floor towards the bag.

Snap must have not been expecting me to dive. He jerked the bag up, but I managed to get a single finger on the fabric in time to activate my power on it. I phased the bag and loot out of his hand, though I fumbled for a second when the bag fell free.

[...]

I considered phasing one of the free straps of the bag into the ground. I could extract it later; since I worked my power on each little piece of objects I was touching individually, it was trivial to separate things once they were merged.

However, I really didn't want to reveal that aspect of my power right now, and in any case, Snap had already given up on making off with the loot.

[...]

I had arbitrarily fine control over what I was phasing.

Why couldn't I phase part of an object? Snap already detached his own limbs, after all.

A brief flicker of my power disconnected the front half of Snap's arm from the half still joined to his elbow. Between my surprise that my idea worked, the excitement that I might actually stop a villain, and the horror about the implications, I didn't bring my power up in time to dodge the resulting explosion.

The relevant bits of Lisa's Interlude.

FirstSelector said:
[A]n extremely dangerous Trump.

Oh, it was certainly true that Phase's power was worrisome, and Lisa was quite sure that WEDGDG and the other Protectorate Thinkers had lost their minds when their power didn't work on their Ward-in-name-only.

[...]

She was not one to leave a mystery unresolved, and seeing a girl out clothes shopping who provoked only blanks from Lisa's power was far too curious to pass up. Obviously the girl had been a parahuman; with her age and general location, the best bet had been an unannounced Ward.

When said Ward remained unannounced, Lisa had started digging. Phase's power was actually quite limited in its scope, as Lisa was perfectly able to search through the girl's past via mundane means and put together a reasonably complete picture about the situation.

[...]

Going on a tour of the Wards area had been rather illuminating. While Lisa's power just drew a blank when she used it directly on Phase, it had been more than happy to reveal all sorts of details based on the way her nominal teammates interacted with her.

Extra info from comments.

FirstSelector said:
So, she could very easily just leave them halfway in an object. But, with a bit of practice and keeping a hand on either the person or object, she could leave them merged in such a way to leave their biological processes mostly unimpeded

FirstSelector said:
The number of things Taylor could help the PRT with using her powers is quite large.

FirstSelector said:
[H]er power is rather limited in some ways but ridiculous in others.

So essentially she has:
Clairvoyance with an 8 foot radius, the detail of which changes with how much she's focusing.
Short-term precognition for where things are moving, possibly only for thing that will move in a way that intersects with her or vice versa, and the precognition detects targeted powers as being something about to intersect her.
She seems to always detect when things are about to intersect her but not always when she is about to intersect something else; in the latter case she simply automatically phases through it instead of colliding.
She does need to manually activate her power, and while she gets a precognitive warning she struggles a bit with checking what she's being warned of rather than always phasing on reflex, but she still does sometimes.
She can phase an object into another and separate them later with seemingly no consequence, and she can also simply phase part of an object away from the rest.

There might be a bit I've missed, but that's more or less everything we know about her power so far.

Prince Charon · Jun 21, 2023

SlickRCBD said:
You are lucky, I had a similar incident of sending the bully who attacked me to the ER in 8th grade when he tried to strangle me, and we were both arrested and charged with battery. The school and the juvenile court system had opposite responses. The school initially expelled me (overturned and became a suspension that let me graduate although it lasted until the end of the year due to the appeal. I'm convinced they dragged their feet to keep me out to prevent any incidents, then let me graduate to get rid of me) while letting the bully off. The court acquitted me for self-defense and gave the bully probation.

Makes one wonder what society the school is trying to prepare kids to live in, no?

SlickRCBD · Jun 30, 2023

Prince Charon said:
Makes one wonder what society the school is trying to prepare kids to live in, no?

I'm not going to derail this thread with a response, as I seem incapable of responding without an off-topic rant. It was 30 years ago this year, yet I still am angry and resentful when I get on the topic.

libertinlary · Jul 2, 2023

Ashley9469 said:
Snip
FirstSelector

Prt report

the ghost of the Appalachian Trail

A few weeks After disappearance of codename phase, it was reported by local authorities, the tale of a ghost by singer description who's seen wandering the trail numerous attempts have been made to capture phase all have been unsuccessful.

( folk song )

Hair of Brown And will of iron,
the ghost does walk the trail
into nights so long and days so bright
she tells the whole of her her tale
from the bay she comes
her home she does regale
of mothers death and fathers wails
the ghost does tell of witches three
there torture she reveals

Highlord · Jul 2, 2023

Prince Charon said:
Makes one wonder what society the school is trying to prepare kids to live in, no?

"Lay down and let the abuse happen. Fighting is always wrong."

libertinlary · Jul 2, 2023

Highlord said:
"Lay down and let the abuse happen. Fighting is always wrong."

you are being to generous it can be said with a single word

submit

Dakkah · Jul 2, 2023

Highlord said:
"Lay down and let the abuse happen. Fighting is always wrong."

"Don't become inconvenient."

"Disregard history and common sense, violence is never the answer."

KingCrimson1081 · Aug 5, 2023

Omake: A Confession Too Late

Emma realized that there was something wrong with her as she walked down the sidewalk after getting off the bus. Well that was a bit of a lie, she had realized that there was something deeply wrong with herself after she shoved Taylor into a locker of rotting garbage and thought that was a good time to restart their friendship. But what she was doing now certainly measured up to that, or at least had similar chances of getting her arrested. Especially since she was planning to break into Taylor's house and root around her things while no one was home.

But in her defense she was desperate, Taylor had been gone for nearly two months now and there was no sign of her coming back anytime soon with even the Boston Wards being silent on the matter when asked. So Emma in all her wisdom decided it would be a good idea to commit a bit of breaking and entering to try and find something that would at least give her a starting point to try and mend things with Taylor. After all if the PRT were willing to let her get away with attempted murder then a bit of home invasion wouldn't be noticed, or at least that is how Emma justified it to herself.

Besides it wasn't as if Emma wasn't taking any precautions to keep from getting caught she wasn't stupid despite what she had thought privately to herself for the past few weeks following Taylor's meeting with the Wards. She was wearing one of her sister's old hoodies that she left when she want to college, it was a bit big on her but good enough to obscure her form and any other defining features. To anyone watching she would appear as just some teen skipping school, which she was, not worth a second glance or that was what Emma hoped.

Coming down the painfully familiar street that she had walked down countless times in the past when going to visit Taylor she spotted the old house. It looked almost exactly like she remembered it from when she had last visited over two years ago, sure the paint was noticably more faded and the yard a bit more overgrown but the details were more or less the same. But more importantly there wasn't a car in the driveway it had seemed that she was right about Danny still pulling double shifts at the docks. Her plan would have fallen apart it he had been home but now it seems she has a few hours to complete her objective.

Stepping up the porch steps and nearly face planting on the broken step which had also remained the same since the last time Emma visited.

Picking herself up and making sure that no one had noticed her stumble Emma quickly and quietly searched around until she found the hidden key the Heberts always kept. The key of all things brought up more painful memories for Emma of better times when she was trusted to know where it was for emergencies by Auntie Annette who was no doubt looking down at her with scorn for what she did.

Brushing aside these thoughts Emma unlocked the door and stepped inside relocking the door behind her. What she saw inside was almost exactly the same as what she had seen outside. Everything was exactly the same as it was two years ago just more worm down like the depressive fog that had surrounded Taylor and Danny following Auntie's death had spread to the house itself. In the fact the only thing that had changed was the accumulation of garbage all over the living room and kitchen. There were empty beer bottles and food wrappers on nearly every surface and both the sink and garbage were filled to the point of overflowing, clearly Taylor was the only one in the house that made an effort to keep things clean.

The state of the house wasn't Emma's concern but she couldn't help but blame Danny for if he had been stronger and had actually cared about Taylor this would have never happened and Emma would still have a chance at fixing things.

No that was wrong she was just mad at herself and assigning blame to Danny because she couldn't come to terms with her own actions. Repressing her thoughts further Emma made to Taylor's room something she could do with her eyes closed despite the distance that had formed between them.

Opening the door despite the growing voice of 'this is wrong' playing on repeat in her mind Emma stepped in.

The room was unchanged, but not in the same way as the rest of the house. There were differences less pictures for one particularly any that had her in them and a new bed for another. Instead it had been left in the same condition probably since Taylor left, her bed was unmade and a thin layer of dust was forming on everything.

Emma felt dirty like she was stepping into a place she was not welcome, it was almost enough to make her turn back but she had come too far and to turn back now was to make this all for nothing. So with that Emma got to work searching going through the drawers and looking around what Taylor had left behind when she went to Boston.

It was when she was rooting through Taylor's closet she found it. Burried all the way in the corner was a box, Emma took it out and looked at it. There wasn't anything special about it but it was the only thing in Taylor's room that she had put any effort into hiding so it was her best hope.

It wasn't locked so all Emma had to do was open the latch and look inside. Within the box there were several items a notebook that had been completely filled, two matching handmade bracelets that made Emma sad to look at, pictures that had been deliberately turned upside down which after a quick inspection revealed they all had her in them, and at the very bottom was a piece of paper that had been folded until it was just a little square.

Looking at the contents of the box Emma realized that thisbwas ironically what she had been hoping for. Everything that Taylor thought of her was in this box, if any place had the clues to fixing things with Taylor it was here.

Taking the journal out first Emma flipped through it before putting it back down unable to read anymore. It was a diary containing everything she had ever done to Taylor described in agonizing detail. Emma took some shaky breaths to calm herself down this whole endeavor was looking more and more like a mistake, but it was too late to back out.

Next was the pictures each one had her and Taylor in them, or occasionally their parents or Anne. Emma knew them well she had the copies back in her room tucked away after Sophia had commented on them, a decision like most other choices regarding Taylor she had come to regret. Finding nothing that could help her in the pictures she put them back in the box this time face up.

The bracelets came out and quickly put back in Emma already knew what they were, at camp Taylor had made them friendship bracelets which had been the first thing she had mocked about her for being childish and stupid. If Emma could she would have gone back to that moment to throttle her younger self for being so stupid but it was too late to go back now despite how much she wanted to.

Finally, there was the paper it was old partially torn, written on a sheet of notebook paper, and folded repeatedly that Emma was afraid it would fall apart if she tried to unfold it. Taking it out gingerly she slowly unfolded it until it was back to full size and what she saw made her heart skip a beat...

~~Dear Emma Hey Emma~~ Emma, I wanted to say this to you personally when I saw you once I got back, ~~but well I~~ but you weren't in the mood I guess and that's fine. I have been thinking about ~~you~~ us a lot recently and at camp I think I finally realized why. ~~I don't know what you have been going through recently and I don't care I will be there for you, after all you were there for me when I needed you.~~ I know you made it very clear that you don't want to see me anymore, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't tell you. It doesn't matter if you hate me or don't want to see me again after this but I owe it to you, you were there for me when I needed you most and it wouldn't be right for me not to do the same. ~~Emma Emma Emma~~ Emma I love you, not as friends or as sisters but I love you, I everything about you and I think I always have. I know you probably don't feel the same but that is okay I can live with that just so long as I know you are happy that would be enough for me, even if that happiness means I won't be there for it.

Love, Taylor.

Emma blinked tears from her eyes as she choked back a sob once she finished reading Taylor confession. It hurt, it hurt more than seeing the look on Taylor's face when she walked into the Wards room and saw, it hurt more than all the times she looked back at what she did to Taylor and hated herself for it. Taylor loved her, and she had taken that love and used it to hurt Taylor in everyway imaginable until Taylor couldn't stand the sight of her. She had come here thinking there was a way to fix what she had broke but now she knew, in her stupidity and bullheadedness she had destroyed the last shreads of hope that she had there was no fixing this nothing she could do that could make this right.

So there she sat sobbing holding the letter because she didn't know what else to do.

A.N: This was actually inspired by the recent chapter of the completely unrelated fic Sisterly "Love" where Taylor admits that she was in love with Emma at one point. So I thought that sounds like a great idea to hurt Just a Phase Emma so this was born. It is mostly just build up to the end there, and I don't think I did the love letter quite enough justice but it still works.

Anyways let me know what you think.

Also FirstSelector

Mr.unlucky · Aug 5, 2023

snip

could Danny kill Emma in self-defense? she broke and enter his house he's aware she's a cape and knows what she did to Taylor. so it can be reasonable that he believes she came hare to kill him.

RogueInquisitor · Aug 5, 2023

Mr.unlucky said:
snip

could Danny kill Emma in self-defense? she broke and enter his house he's aware she's a cape and knows what she did to Taylor. so it can be reasonable that he believes she came hare to kill him.

Probably not. Even Castle Doctrine just removes the duty to retreat inside the home. Simply breaking in probably isn't enough on its own to justify lethal self-defense. Given she's just sitting there and sobbing, Danny would probably be best served by calling the cops.

KingCrimson1081 · Aug 5, 2023

Mr.unlucky said:
snip

could Danny kill Emma in self-defense? she broke and enter his house he's aware she's a cape and knows what she did to Taylor. so it can be reasonable that he believes she came hare to kill him.

RogueInquisitor said:
Probably not. Even Castle Doctrine just removes the duty to retreat inside the home. Simply breaking in probably isn't enough on its own to justify lethal self-defense. Given she's just sitting there and sobbing, Danny would probably be best served by calling the cops.

Pretty much what Rogue said and considering that you can't go in and deal with squatters in real life I am also gonna say no.

I actually did contemplate having Danny coming in at the end but decided against it because it would have detracted from the ending too much and Emma did mention she had hours before he was due home. Could she have sat their sobbing for hours until Danny got back sure, but from what I know about Danny he doesn't tend to carry a gun on him or own one so unless he intended to beat Emma to death him killing her is unlikely. He would most likely either call the cops on her, or call Alan and Zoe so they can come pick up their dumbass daughter.

Highlord · Aug 5, 2023

Oh, look. The worthless backstabbing cunt is aping her betters by pretending regret.

Too late bitch, lay in your forgotten coffin and rot. You are not special, no matter what the people in awe of your powers say.

FirstSelector · Aug 5, 2023

KingCrimson1081 said:
Omake: A Confession Too Late

oof, that letter

KingCrimson1081 · Aug 5, 2023

FirstSelector said:
oof, that letter

If anything would be the final nail in the coffin for Emma it would be that, at least in my opinion.

Of course she could just go the complete other direction with the revelation after her sanity snaps and tosses caution to the wind in her quest to get Taylor back.

The Unicorn · Aug 6, 2023

Mr.unlucky said:
could Danny kill Emma in self-defense? she broke and enter his house he's aware she's a cape and knows what she did to Taylor. so it can be reasonable that he believes she came hare to kill him.

Not if he spots her sitting there, or recognizes her. But if he sees someone he doesn't recognize in his house it could be legitimate for him to shoot, regardless of who that turns out to be.

BF110C4 · Aug 6, 2023

The Unicorn said:
Not if he spots her sitting there, or recognizes her. But if he sees someone he doesn't recognize in his house it could be legitimate for him to shoot, regardless of who that turns out to be.

Also if he thinks she is a legitimate threat. Such as a parahuman who bullied his daughter almost to the point of killing her and is acting in a very unstable way. The same way you would be justified to shoot a mentally ill person who broke into your house and is waving a gun even if she is not acting in a threatening way, because there's always the chance that will change in a second.

KingCrimson1081 · Aug 6, 2023

BF110C4 said:
Also if he thinks she is a legitimate threat. Such as a parahuman who bullied his daughter almost to the point of killing her and is acting in a very unstable way. The same way you would be justified to shoot a mentally ill person who broke into your house and is waving a gun even if she is not acting in a threatening way, because there's always the chance that will change in a second.

Honeslty it can kinda go either way with the legality of it for multiple reasons.

Yes she is a parahuman and by definition has a power that can be used as a weapon, and yes she is in a compromising position having broken into Danny's house and rumaged through his daughters things. But on the other hand Danny is a person who would have a motive to murder Emma due to the whole she bullied my daughter and almost killed her incident. That is something that would be jumped on during a trial by anyone trying to persecute Danny which they will Emma is both a Ward and has rich parents so a number of people will be trying to get at Danny for that. So even though Danny gave a statement as to what happened it would look very convient from a lawyer's perspective that the only person able to give a different telling of events is dead.

So yeah it can very easily go either way.

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