Work Text:
Happy Valentine's day, everyone! This is planned to be a 2-3 part special.
Thanks to my beta reader, JelleyStatic!
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"Do you know why you're here, miss Hebert?" a monotone voice came over the speaker
"No. I haven't done anything!" Taylor said in the Master/Stranger room.
"So you did not master Sophia Hess?" Armsmaster asked. "You did not force her to admit to making you trigger?"
"I didn't do that!" Taylor said.
"Nuh uh! you totally did! I started feeling weird feelings and that made me want to come clean!" Sophia yelled from somewhere next to Armsmaster.
"So, miss Hebert. Are you saying you aren't a Master?" Armsmaster continued.
"I'm not a HUMAN master!" Taylor said quickly.
"So, you are a master, then?" Armsmaster said.
"I control bugs. Is she bugs?" Taylor asked rhetorically.
Armsmaster sighed "...Miss Hess, are you-"
"I'm not fucking bugs!" Sophia yelled. "You did something, I know it! You made me feel nervous in my stomach and all that."
"Miss Hebert, are 'stomach butterflies' in your repertoire of controllable bugs?" Armsmaster asked.
"What? No? That's just a figure of speech." Taylor asked, confused.
"There's a cape in Wyoming that claims to control the fire that occurs on someone's pants when they lie." Armsmaster explained.
"I know she did something to me! She made it so I can't stop looking at her and makes my heart beat quicker! I think she put bugs in my blood!" Sophia cried out.
There was the sound of a palm hitting a forehead as Armsmaster groaned.
"Miss Hebert, you may proceed to power testing to confirm your power does what you claim. If you do in fact only control bugs, you are free to go. Miss Hess, a word?" He said, before the speaker cut out. A door opened, and a PRT trooper escorted her to a power testing room, and 10 minutes later she was allowed to go home, though a very conflicted-looking Sophia eyed her as she passed in the hall.
The next day at school, Sophia was nowhere to be seen. Mostly. Taylor could sense her with bugs, but Sophia seemed to be avoiding Taylor more than Taylor tried to avoid the trio.
That didn't stop Taylor from hiding in the bathroom, though. Especially when the trio seemed to approach said bathroom with a powerful-smelling container.
She tried to be as quiet as she could when they entered the bathroom, but they seemed to know where she was anyway. The stall door shuddered as it seemed to be held shut. With her bugs, she could see Madison hoisting the container to the top of the stall wall. Fearing the worst, Taylor drew back and braced herself.
Several bouquets of roses tumbled out into the stall. A clearly overstuffed envelope was passed under the stall door, and then the trio beat a hasty retreat out of the bathroom.
Taylor sat there, dumbfounded. It took her a solid 45 seconds to even notice the envelope. She decided to read it later, as the next class bell was only a minute or so away from ringing.
One class later, Taylor was on the bus home. Her dad hadn't come home yet, so she made herself a quick snack, before pulling out and reading the envelope's first paper, a pink folded card
"Hey Cuteface. Roses are red. Sorry I made you have to get a brain scan. Armsmaster was mad at me and now he says I have to talk to my therapist more. Thanks a lot, beautiful."
The second piece of paper was a Wards Identity NDA, of all fucking things, for some fucking reason.
The third and final paper was a notecard with contact information on it, presumably Sophia's.
"What the fuck" Taylor said to herself. "Valentine's day was TWO FUCKING DAYS AGO!" Because of all the absurdity, that little tidbit of information was the only thing she could really grasp at the moment. Everything else was just too out there.
She took the contents of the envelope up to her room and booted up her computer. Logging onto PHO, she sent a direct message to the account that was presumably Sophia's
Owl-of-reasonable-size: Sophia? What the fuck. What's your game? What the hell is all of this?
She didn't get an immediate response, assuming Sophia not to have her phone right then.
Pulling out her homework for the day, she got to work. Not just on her homework, but on the spidersilk suit in the basement. She had finished the shirt-part, though she hadn't yet attached the armor plates, but the legs were currently only shorts-length. She had them past the knees by the time her dad's car pulled into the driveway. She put her finished homework in her backpack, and checked her messages on PHO again
Cr0ssb0wfan1: Did you sign the fucking paper? It's like
Cr0ssb0wfan1: a valentine note
Cr0ssb0wfan1: or whatever the fuck
Owl-of-reasonable-size: The Wards Identity NDA which I have to sign is a two-day-late Valentine's note?
Cr0ssb0wfan1: JUST FUCKING SIGN IT YOU HOT BITCH
Owl-of-reasonable-size: I'll do it later.
Cr0ssb0wfan1: GFDWGHAGDAWK
"Taylor! I'm home! I brought dinner!" her dad yelled from downstairs.
She walked down the stairs and sat down at the table.
"How was your day, Taylor?" her dad asked.
"Interesting and weird" Taylor responded.
"In a good way or a bad way?" Danny prodded.
"I can't tell yet." Taylor said.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Danny asked, but she shook her head.
After dinner, Taylor went back up to her room, sat at her computer, and picked up the NDA. She read over it for about half an hour, making sure there was no secret hidden bully clause that let Sophia punch her once a day or something. After being absolutely sure it was just a standard Ward Identity NDA (which, still, was totally weird to put in a valentine's day card), she reopened PHO.
Owl-of-reasonable-size: Ok I signed it. You can quit bothering me or whatever.
Cr0ssb0wfan1: send a picture of it for proof
Owl-of-reasonable-size: seriously?
Taylor sighed, holding the paper up to her webcam so that it was perfectly framed, and took a picture. She saved it to a folder on her desktop, then emailed it to the email on the card Sophia gave her.
Owl-of-reasonable-size: ok there. Still don't know what this is all about. If this is just to get me in trouble for, like, knowing a wards identity without being allowed to, you should know that YOU get in trouble for telling me that, not me.
Cr0ssb0wfan1: I don't want to get you in trouble.
Owl-of-reasonable-size: I don't believe you, since you have in the past.
Cr0ssb0wfan1: I was going through some stuff. You said you controlled bugs and stuff right?
Owl-of-reasonable-size: what's your point?
Cr0ssb0wfan1: So you know what a trigger event is like. So, yeah.
Owl-of-reasonable-size: That was YOU. YOU made me trigger, asshole.
Cr0ssb0wfan1: yeah, my bad. I was going through some stuff.
Owl-of-reasonable-size: Scion fucking eidolon what the hell is wrong with you
Cr0ssb0wfan1: My PRT therapist says it's "Directionless anger, unstable ruthless aggression, and unhealthy coping mechanisms" so for starters there's that
Cr0ssb0wfan1: Anyways, I'm Shadow Stalker
Owl-of-reasonable-size: Yeah, I figured that out. Are you like, threatening me or something?
Cr0ssb0wfan1: Nah, Armsmaster wants you in the wards so he says I should reach out and be nice so I don't scare you away.
Owl-of-reasonable-size: And your way of being nice is late valentines day cards and whatever the hell this is? Do YOU even want me in the wards?
Cr0ssb0wfan1: Oh, lol. Nah, this is being nice. I want you to join the wards so that I can spend more time with you. And the valentines stuff was valentines stuff.
Owl-of-reasonable-size: By "spend more time with me" do you mean you're gonna attack me more?
Cr0ssb0wfan1: I mean, that's what sparring is, right? It's like
Cr0ssb0wfan1: making you stronger and stuff.
Cr0ssb0wfan1: But if you mean like not sparring then nah.
Owl-of-reasonable-size: What if I don't join the wards? What if I go join New Wave?
Cr0ssb0wfan1: Glory Girl is dating Gallant, it's nbd
Owl-of-reasonable-size: We're not dating, Sophia.
Cr0ssb0wfan1: We could be...
Owl-of-reasonable-size: Go tell that PRT therapist you're delusional too.
Taylor angrily turned off her computer. Her dad was about to go to sleep in his room, so she went to the basement to attach her costume's armor panels. She was almost done with the body suit, and then she could begin work on the hardest part, the full mask/helmet. She had some choice pieces of chitin picked out, and she had found the old prescription goggles she wanted to use for the eyes, but actually putting it together was going to be an ordeal.
She crept back up to her room, and went to bed, hoping tomorrow made a little more sense.
The next day did not, in fact, make any more sense. She arrived at school, to find Sophia waiting for her. The girl shadowed her, opening doors for her. Emma came up to her, saying she was "Glad she is strong now", whatever that meant. When it got to lunch time, Sophia pulled Taylor aside to somewhere well out of ear or eyeshot of the other students.
"So, do you have a costume yet? What about weapons? Have you gone out hunting?" Sophia grilled her
"I only have most of a costume" Taylor said. "Why do you want to know so bad?"
"If you're set on a look, make sure you go out in your own costume and get seen once before you join the wards. It gives you more control over your image. Otherwise you just get whatever the pervs on the Public Image team staff give you." Sophia explained. "Though, I wouldn't mind that too much" she added with a wink.
"Ok, my turn to ask a question: What's up with Emma?" Taylor changed the subject.
"Well, she only wanted to make you strong, so now that you are, she'll probably want to be your friend again." Sophia answered.
"Fucks sake. Of course her reason for all of this makes just as little sense as the rest of it." Taylor complained.
"I dunno about that" Sophia countered. "I mean, it worked, didn't it? You were weak, but now you're strong"
"How do you know I wouldn't have become 'strong' faster if I didn't have to deal with your group's bullshit every day?" Taylor argued.
"Whatever" Sophia dismissed. "You're strong now, that's what matters. And cute. You're like a snake. Or a wolf. A super strong, super cute snake-wolf."
Taylor gave her a concerned and confused look.
"Like a Chimera. A cute Chimera" Sophia finished.
"I didn't take you for someone with mythological interests." Taylor quipped.
"They let you read them when there's not much to do since apparently it's good for naming special threats. I didn't like it at first, but there's this part in the Illiad where it's just a bunch of dudes killing each other so you know who's more badass, and that's pretty cool." Sophia said.
"That's..." Taylor sighed "nevermind"
"I have an idea. Let's go on a patrol tonight" Sophia whispered.
"Can I even do that legally? Besides, my costume isn't finished yet. Also I still don't trust you. How do I know that Emma and Madison aren't going to be waiting around some corner to get me framed for something?" Taylor said with a suspicioned glance.
"Pfft. Those two have some party by the docks or something tonight. How about we go to a sports store and get whatever parts you don't have for your costume and then go out hunting?" offered Sophia.
"I wouldn't say no to picking up parts of my costume, but I don't know about going out on patrol tonight, even on my own." Taylor said. "But don't you dare try anything. If this is a trick, I'm not holding back."
"Heh. Cool. That's cool. You're cool." Sophia said, before realizing she had yet to touch her food.
They spent the rest of lunchtime eating in silence. After the bell rang, Taylor made her way to her next class. In the hall, it seemed that Madison had been saddled with the responsibility of glaring at and fending off anyone who hadn't gotten the memo not to go after her anymore. It was a weird feeling for Taylor.
She spent the rest of the school day contemplating if she had made the right decision to agree with Sophia's offer to get costume supplies.
As the last class let out, Taylor walked to the front of the school as Sophia caught up with her. They waved goodbye to Emma and Madison, which felt odd, but also familiar to Taylor. They left for the sporting goods and outdoor supplies store.
They entered the store, Sophia leading Taylor around to get a pair of running shoes and shin guards. Sophia complimented Taylor's good thinking when the bug girl picked out a pair of metal toe-protectors, to which Taylor almost didn't flinch. Progress!
Sophia also picked up a lower face mask, clearly in a rush to get Taylor's costume 'ready enough', and a metal bat, which Taylor wasn't sure she'd ever actually use. The gear was surprisingly cheap, until Taylor inspected the shin guards and noticed they seemed, well. Less than 'brand new' was for sure. Nothing was damaged enough to be an issue though, so they could go on the costume. As soon as she painted over the garish 'sporty' pattern splattered across the face of the shin guard plates by a manufacturer who had seemingly thought it would sell better if it hurt to look at. Taylor reckoned she was perhaps in a mood and taking it out on the sporting goods. Whatever. They paid, they got a bag full of their stuff, and they left.
"So are you going out hunting tonight now that you have everything?" Sophia asked hopefully.
"No? I've still got to put everything together, and even then, I have to make sure it all fits good. Might take me another week. Besides, I don't even know where any crimes are." Taylor replied.
Sophia just grunted. "Well, if you change your mind, want to go and hunt together and stuff, you can message me. I can show you where all the crimes are."
Taylor went home. She was ready to just be done with today and all this weirdness. She was still home before her dad, so she decided to put the new parts on her costume now. It all actually fit surprisingly well; the lower face mask connected easily to the prescription goggles with minimal spider silk, which alone would save her maybe a week or more. Finishing up, she decided to put everything away before her dad got home. She sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.
She did not like what she saw. An Empire attack, very close to the Dockworkers building.