webnovel

Fanfiction I am reading

Stash of fics I am reading or want to read mostly uploaded to make use of the audio function Warning - Non of the uploaded fics here belong to me as obvious as it is the fics belong to there respective authors u can find original on Fanfiction.net or ao3 or spacebattles list of fics uploaded below :- 1 . Patriot's Dawn by Dr. Snakes MD ( Naruto ) 2 . How Eating a Strange Fruit Gave Me My Quirk by azndrgn ( MHA) 3 . HBO WI: Joffrey from Game of Thrones replaced with Octavian from Rome by Hotpoint (GOT) 4 . Kaleidoscope by DripBayless (MHA) 5 . Give Me Something for the Pain and Let Me Fight by DarknoMaGi. (MHA) 6 . Come out of the ashes by SilverStudios5140 ( Naruto ) 7 . A Spanner in the Clockworks by All_five_pieces_of_Exodia ( MHA) 8 .King Rhaenyra I, the Dragonqueen by LuckyCheesecake ( GOT ) 9 . A Lost Hero's Fairytale by Ultimate10 ( Ben 10 × Fairy tail ) 10. Becoming Hokage by 101Ichika01: ( Naruto ) 11.Bench Warmer (A Naruto SI) by Blackmarch 12. The Raven's Plan by The_SithspawnSummary ( Got ) 13. Tanya starts from Zero by A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos ( ReZero × Tanaya the Evil ) 14. That Time I Got Isekai'd Again and Befriended a SlimeTanJaded ( Tensura ) 15 . Heroes Never Die by AboveTail ( MHA ) 16 . The Saga of Tanya the Firebender by Shaggy Rower  ( Tanya the evil × Avatar : the Last Airbender) 17 . The Warg Lord (SI)(GOT) by LazyWizard ( GoT ) 18 . Perfect Reset by shansome ( MHA ) 19 . Pound the Table by An_October_Daye ( X-Men ) 20 . Verdant Revolution by KarraHazetail ( MHA ) 21. The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi by FoxboroSalts ( Naruto × Fairy Tail ) 22 . Fighting Spirit by Alex357 ( SI DxD ) 23. Retirement Ended Up Super By Rhino {RhinoMouse} ( Skye/Supergirl ) 24 . Whirlpool Queen, Maelstrom King by cheshire_carroll ( Naruto & Sansa stark as twins ) 25 . What's in a Hoard? By Titus621 ( MHA ) 26 . A Dovahkiin Spreads His Wings by VixenRose1996 ( Got × Elder scrolls ) 27 . our life as we knew it now belongs to yesterday by TheRoomWhereItHappened347 ( GOT ) 28 . A Gaming Afterlife by Hebisama ( Gamer × Dragon Age × MHA × HOTD) 29 . Children of the Weirwoods By Wups ( GOT ) 30 . Shielding Their Realms Forever by GreedofRage, Longclaw_1_6 ( GOT) 31. Abandoned: Humanity's by Driftshansome 32 . The First Pillar by Soleneus (MHA) 33 . Fyre, Fyre, Burning Skitter by mp3_1415player ( Taylor Herbert × HP ) 34. Blessed with a Hero's Heart by Magnus9284 ( Konosuba X Izuku Midoriya) 35 . Wolf of Númenor by Louen_Leoncoeur ( Got) 36 . Summoner by SomeoneYouWontRemember ( Worm Parahuman) 37 . I, Panacea by ack1308 (Worm ) 38 . A Darker Path by ack1308 ( Worm) 39 . Worm - Waterworks by SeerKing ( Worm ) 40 . Ex Synthetica by willyolioleo ( Worm ) 41. Alea Iacta Est by ack1308 ( Worm) 42. Avatar Taylor by Dalxein ( Avatar × Worm ) 43.The Warcrafter by RHJunior ( Worm × Warcraft ) 44.A Tinker of Fiction Story or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Suplex the Space Whales by Randomsumofagum (Worm × SI) 45.Welcome to the Wizarding by Wormkinoth ( Worm × Harry Potter ) 46.A Throne Nobody Wants by Vahn (GOT × Fate ) 47.Broken Adventure: Arc 1: Origin by theaceoffire ( Worm × xover CYOA) 48 .Well I guess this is happening by Pandora's Reader (Worm × Ben 10 ) 49 .Legendary Tinker by Fabled Webs (Worm × league of legends ) 50. Plan? What Plan? by Fabled Webs (Worm ) 51 . Slouching Towards Nirvana by ProfessorPedant ( MHA ) 52 .Look What You Made Me Do by mythSSK ( Marvel) 53. Mana worm ( worm fic ) 54. The Wondrous Weaving of Wizardry ( Celestial grimiore Worm × fate × multi cross ) 55.Teenagers Suck (Worm CYOA) 56.Nox by Time Parad0x ( Worm × Solo leveling )

Shivam_031 · Anime & Comics
Not enough ratings
2600 Chs

4

Chapter 4

Chapter Text

Adrian, aka Bayleaf, was a metahuman. He could change at will into a half dozen different forms. In his baseline worgen form he could leap a city street or deadlift a truck by the bumper. He could maneuver in land, sea, or air. He could summon extradimensional energy to smite his enemies or heal his allies, and control (with some limited success) both animals and plants. He could craft weapons that would make a platoon of marines crap their pants. It may not have shown but even in his most minimal form, that of a baseline human, he was beyond pinnacle baseline human ability.

And at lunch it became unsettlingly clear that his first, and biggest hurtle was one for which all his brute powers would be virtually useless: shutting down three epic level Mean Girls set on destroying Taylor Hebert's life. That was something that was going to require intellect.

The first salvo was early on. They'd found some seats at a corner table; Taylor had packed her own lunch so he left her and his backpack to hold their seats while he waited in line for… he sniffed multiple times. Meatloaf, maybe? While he was standing in line waiting to get a tray, he saw the Gruesome Threesome make their first move out of the corner of his eye. It was a "drive-by" this time. Emma, or Resting Bitch Face as he now thought of her, and two other girls, one a tall athletic black girl with cornrows, the other a petite brown haired girl in a crop top and demin skirt with her hair up in a "cutesy" style, went sidling past Taylor's table. The black girl made a point of clipping Taylor in the back of her head with her elbow; while Cutesie-Hair shoved his backpack into the floor in passing, obviously thinking it belonged to Taylor. Emma didn't do anything physical, but he'd managed to learn how to keep his wolfen hearing in his human form, so he clearly heard her as she passed Taylor's seat:

"Ew."

Subtle and vicious, like a hat pin driven through your ribs. He gave it an eight out of ten.

He briefly contemplated doing something nasty in retaliation while he was still up, but beyond blasting them with a bolt of moonfire while their backs were turned (which really wouldn't go over well) he was short on ideas at that second. Instead he took his tray, let the lunch ladies fill it up with whatever it was they were serving, and returned to their table. Already he could see Taylor pulling back inside her shell. That wouldn't do.

He pretended to spot his bag in the floor, shoved it under the table with a foot and sat down. "The mighty hunter returns with his kill," he said, dropping his tray on the table. Man, he knew it was a common joke about cafeteria food, but this stuff looked seriously nasty. Some macaroni and cheese of some sort on the side, wrinkled peas, and… he still wasn't sure if it was meatloaf. "A mercy kill, from the look of it," he added.

Taylor "snrked" a little, then glanced over at his tray in genuine puzzlement. "What is it?"

Adrian poked it with his fork. "I'm not sure," he said, "But I think I know what happened to Jimmy Hoffa's body now." She'd been in mid-bite of her sandwich roll; her snort of laughter sprayed a few bits of cheese and meat across the table. Face red as a tomato, she swept it up with her hand; Adrian handed her a napkin without a word. "So what are you having?" he asked as if nothing happened.

"Um." She wiped the corners of her mouth. "Chicken wrap, with lettuce, rice and some mixed shredded cheese. Oh and a little sauce." She brushed her hood back; the butterfly in her hair fluttered in the cafeteria light.

"Sounds good," he said earnestly. "...Trade?"

"Not a chance."

"Come on. We'll go halvsies. Half your tasty chicken roll for half my Jimmy Hoffa loaf." She spluttered with laughter into her napkin. He pointed at his macaroni cheese sludge. "I'll throw in some of this delicious Cream of Cootie, whaddya say?"

"Eww, you are awful--"

A dark-skinned hand slammed down on the table; Taylor jumped in her seat, the smile vanishing from her face. It was Sophia. Flanking her were Madison and Emma, in full Resting Bitch Face mode. She stood there, leaning over their table in a domineering, space-invading pose. "Hey, Hebert. 'Sup?" Her smile was thin and toothy and about as warm as the ones he'd seen on a shark.

Adrian hadn't been taken by surprise. He'd been tracking them with his peripheral vision since he'd sat down. They'd been at what he assumed was one of the 'popular kids' tables, Emma and Madison shmoozing it up with their social fu while Sophia lounged there like a cheetah on a rich jetsetter's leash. All three of them had been keeping a spare eye on Taylor; when he'd sat down their look of surprise on their faces had been blatant. Emma's mouth had even dropped open in surprise. (Really? It was that unusual and outrageous that someone had sat down with Taylor?) The three had begun whispering together-- too quiet for even him to hear-- and eventually gotten up and headed for where they were sitting, social murder clearly on their minds.

Adrian had faked ignorance till they were right at the table. When Hess slammed her hand down he looked up and cheerfully drawled "Well, what can I do you for?"

Sophia just gave him a look. That was right, she was the more physical of the three. It was Emma and Madison who handled the more verbal attacks. "Oh, and who is this?" Madison chirped, all bubbles and sunshine. "C'mon, introduce us, Taylor."

Sophia, like a good little attack animal, took her handler's cue. "Yeah Taylor," she said with a smirk, eyeing him up and down. "Introduce us."

Adrian felt his eyebrows go up. Now what was that all about? Did she just give him the once-over? He decided to go with a neutral approach first. "Adrian Smith," he said. "New here. New everywhere, actually."

"Why are you hanging around with Hebert?" Madison said, giving him a lookover as well. "Really honey, she's not your type." She gave Taylor a little sneer.

My social-fu is a little weak, here, Adrian thought. Duck and weave, duck and weave… "Hmm, I think I know you," he said. "Heard your name somewhere… what was it?" he snapped his fingers, pretending to think. "Oh yeah, Massengil." Taylor had been taking a sip from her water bottle to calm her nerves; she nearly choked on her own spit take. Madison's face went wide with surprise then puckered up into a scowl.

Adrian decided to push it. "What's the matter, dear?" he said sweetly. "Are you not feeling… spring time fresh today?"

Taylor went from coughing to choking. Madison's eyes went wide and her mouth formed a perfect "o;" she looked like someone had slapped the pigtails off her. Emma and Sophia bridled up but Adrian wasn't through. "Well, it seems Douche Princess has nothing to say," he snarked. "How about you, Barnes?"

Give her points, she rallied. "We saw Hebert here hanging off of you," she said, her nose tipped up. "Since you're new we figured we'd come over here and warn you."

"Oh really."

"Yeah really." Emma tossed her red hair. "Taylor here's a headcase. She'll be all friendly like at first, but then she'll get upset about something-- just any little thing, the poor dear--" she simpered. "And then she'll be in the Principal's office, making up all sorts of wild accusations about you. She did it to us..." her smile was sweet as an arsenic-laced cookie. "Just a friendly warning."

"Oh." He smiled back just as sweetly. "You mean like, saying you knocked her bag in the floor?" He said, picking up his own backpack and holding it up. He let them see it before setting it down in the chair next to it. Her smile didn't move, but her eyes glazed. "Or saying you tripped her in the hall and tried to knock her down with a push to the back? I caught your performance in the hallway, Resting Bitch Face. Eight out of ten for effort but a zero for execution. You should leave the physical stuff to your friends."

Sophia shifted her stance so she was facing him. "You like to live dangerously, don't ya, Adrian Smith?" Her eyes glittered dangerously.

"Well, kitten--" he slapped his much larger hand down over her relatively slender one where it rested on the table. Scowling she tried to yank her hand away; to her consternation she couldn't. She tugged again, then harder. It was no use, he was pinning her hand to the table without any apparent effort. "You just may be right. But I'll tell you one thing I don't do." His smile vanished, his face became an expressionless mask but his eyes smoldered.

"I don't play little girly games. I don't do this running around little 'tee hee, he said she said let's call them names out loud in the cafeteria' crap. I don't drop anonymous hate email or scribble crap on someone's locker and then go running off giggling with my little school friends about how badass and edgy I am. And I don't put up with useless skanks who do that kind of crap.

"So take Douche Girl, Resting Bitch Face and the rest of your little goldfish poop gang and go be worthless somewhere else." He lifted his hand; she yanked hers back and glared at him like she wanted to burn holes through his head with her eyes. But the look in his eyes, eyes that a second ago she could have sworn were a cool blue grey but she now saw were flecked with gold, was a kind of dangerous that her cape hindbrain couldn't ignore. She whirled around and marched off, hackles up and all but radiating vicious anger. Emma and Madison fell in behind her and marched off too, noses high but cheeks flaring red.

"Whoa" came from several nearby tables. There were laughs and catcalls and a few bits of applause, even…everyone loved a free show. Adrian turned his attention back to his alleged lunch. Taylor was hunched over her own meal, looking like a terrified rabbit. "Why did you do that?" she hissed.

He shrugged. "Why not? I was supposed to put up with that crap?" It was important he establish that this was for his own benefit, as well as for hers.

"She won't let that go," Taylor said. "None of them will. You don't know how bad they can make things for you--"

Adrian snorted raucously. "Taylor, they're a bunch of high school bitches," he said. "They've got three and only three things: money, tits and popularity, and the first two is where they get the last one. And no matter how much of the first two they have, without the last one they're like a Beverly Hills bimbette without her daddy's credit card: useless." He gestured around. "How popular are they really? Did you hear how many people applauded them getting ganked just now?" He stabbed his meatloaf with a fork. Possibly to make sure it was dead. "All it takes for them to lose it all is for just one person to not take their crap."

Taylor shook her head. "You're a hopeless optimist, in that case."

"Ehh, shuddup and eat your Jimmy Hoffa Loaf," he said, pushing the tray at her.

She pushed it back, grinning and wrinkling her nose. "Ew no. You eat it!"

"No you!"

"You!"

"Okay, a compromise, maybe a respectful burial in an unmarked grave out back--"

 

 

 

The day proceeded; Taylor and Adrian shuffled from class to class, discovering they shared a handful of them; Gladly's regrettable class, and Mrs. Knott's for computers, just to name two. For a miracle, the Gruesome Threesome actually kept their heads down the rest of that day. Adrian was pleased.

Taylor was not. She knew it just meant they were planning.

Taylor was generous. For all their malice the Threesome would never be known for in depth strategy or, for that matter, an ability to think through long-term consequences. Emma was the closest thing they had to a tactician. After their fumble at lunch, she knew they had to act fast to re-balance the scales.

The three were in the bathroom together, skipping out on the last period of the day. "So why not go after this Adrian bitch's locker?" Sophia was complaining. "He's the one who talked back to us..."

"Because we'll be the first suspects everyone thinks of if we do," Emma said, carefully touching up her eyeliner. "We get dissed in the cafeteria, then two hours later he gets his locker trashed? Blackwell and the teachers may not care but even they wouldn't be able to pretend they didn't know, and I don't know about you but I don't wanna spend my afternoon sitting in Blackwell's office sucking up to her, trying to get off the hook. Gimme your lip gloss, Madison." The other girl obediently handed it over.

Sophia snorted and crossed her arms. "Look at it this way, Soph," Emma said. "This Adrian guy, he obviously thinks he's some sort of white knight or something. Taylor's already starting to latch onto him, to hide behind him-- and that's just after one day!

"But if, while he's out there on bended knee, promising his lady fair he'll defend her honor, you wreck her stuff right under his nose--"

"He'll look like a chump," Madison threw in, tucking her rouge in her handbag and blowing herself a kiss in the mirror.

"Better yet it'll yank the rug out from under Taylor again. Big bad muscly macho man couldn't even keep her safe for 24 hours...She'll be heartbroken. She'll probably never trust anyone again." Emma sighed, dropping the lip gloss into her own back and snapping it shut. "Such a tragedy."

Sophia's face split in a grin. "Damn, Emma," she said. "You are one vicious little minx."

"Don't I know it. We'd better hustle. Maddie, you'll stand at one end of the hall, just around the corner, and be lookout..."

 

 

 

Minutes later, they were in the hallway in question. Taylor's locker was in a short dead-end hallway off to one side. There were no classroom doors in that hall, and none in the main hall that looked in on it. It was the perfect blind spot-- the main reason the three of them had gotten away with so many things they'd pulled on Taylor already.

Madison took up her lookout position just around the corner. Emma however stayed by Sophia's side. Emma wasn't on the lookout for teachers; she was busy watching Madison in one of the curved security mirrors at the end of the hall, making sure Maddie didn't get it in her head to peek at an inopportune moment. It was a good thing Maddie wasn't particularly bright. "Okay, Soph, she's totally focused on the classroom doors," she said. "Go ahead and do your thing."

Sophia stepped up to Taylor's locker, a smug smile on her face. "You said the flute, right? In the top compartment?" She said.

"Yeah, it was her Mom's. She'll be devastated."

"Got it." Sophia grabbed the lock. Her hand suddenly went smokey and transparent, like a shadow given form… the lock along with it. She yanked it off, dropping it to the floor. She opened up the door--

"BIMBO DETECTED! BIMBO DETECTED! THIEVING SKANK ON THE PREMISES!"

The locker lit up from within with a strobing red light and a klaxon, piercingly keen and loud enough to wake the dead, began blaring. Over top of the klaxon the voice continued shouting.

"CRIMINAL TRESSPASS! ATTEMPTED BURGLARY! BREAKING AND ENTERING! HALT WHERE YOU ARE CRIMINAL SCUM!"

Sophia yelled and tumbled backward, slapping her hands over her ears. "The HELL?" she screeched. It was some sort of damned toy-- a robot or something with a police light for a head. It was strobing the hallway with fire-engine lights and blasting out siren noises fit to wake the dead.

Madison hadn't come running yet, she'd apparently been startled into confusion by the noise and the flashing red lights illuminating the hallway. Emma could see her in the mirror, spinning in a circle in panic. Emma mimicked Sophia, covering her own ears against the deafening noise. "Turn it off, turn it off!" Impulsively, Sophia reached in and grabbed for the toy planning to smash whatever-it-was with her bare fist, if she had to.

This might have gone badly for Obie. It went decidedly worse for Sophia. While Obie was built from Azeroth blueprints, the Agent's gifts had made Adrian a gifted enough engineer to make certain improvements. The first of course being Obie's rather attention getting voice. The second being a much more potent power supply.

The third being the tasers implanted in Obie's stumpy metal hands.

There was a flash of blue-white light and a sound like a tesla coil sparking, and Sophia Hess went flying across the hallway to smack into the lockers there with a bang and fall in a heap to the floor. She was shaking and jittering, and the rubber bands binding her hair braids had come undone, giving her the start of a rather impressive Afro. "Sophia!" Emma cried. She ran to the undercover cape's side, panicking.

She looked around. She could hear doorways opening and people pouring out in the main hallway, teachers and students alike. Maddie, thank Scion, was still there running interference-- crying and yelling and freaking out and taking up everybody's attention. The janitor's closet-- it was open! She grabbed Sophia under the armpits and dragged her to the closet door. She pulled her inside and shut them both inside a split second before everyone began pouring around the corner to see what in hell all the noise was about.

Mr. Gladly was at the head of the pack. He stood there and stared at the sight: a wide open locker with what looked and sounded like a fire engine going berserk inside. "What in the world…?" he mouthed. Then somebody panicked-- or more likely took advantage of an opportunity-- and pulled the fire alarm. The mob of curious teenagers suddenly turned into a torrent as they began pouring for the exits, sweeping up the bewildered teachers and staff in their path.

A moment later Adrian and Taylor both, for similar but distinct reasons of their own, squeezed out of the herd and came running around the corner. Both stopped and stared for a moment at the tableau. "All clear, all clear!" Taylor shouted. Obie fell silent; the fire alarms unfortunately continued.

The toe of Taylor's sneaker caught on something. She looked down and picked it up; it was her combination lock, still closed. "What…?"

Adrian sized the situation up. "Rrrright," he said. He grabbed Obie and stuffed him in his sack. "I think we're both taking an early day. I've got my stuff, you grab yours..."

Taylor nodded; as the saying went, her Momma didn't raise no fool. She grabbed her flute case and her books, pocketed the lock, and followed Adrian as they hastily-- but in a quiet and orderly fashion, of course-- blended into the yelling mob of students flowing out into the street.

Eventually the fire alarm stopped, although the danger lights in the hallway kept flashing. The broom closet door rattled. "Ah @#$^!!!" Emma's muffled voice said. "The door must've locked when we-- Soph, wake up, you gotta get us out of here. Sophia!"

"Nuh mummy, I duh wanna enter the junior beauty pageant…."

Emma groaned in disgust.

Then the sprinkler system-- including the heavy duty sprinklers in the Janitor's closet-- kicked in.

"AAAHAHAAHG!!"