22
Hax and Regent: The Rematch
by Luan Mao
Taylor was taking a rare break from school and villainy, just hanging out on the boardwalk by herself, when her power pinged. The cape who'd walked into the restaurant had a powerset she recognized.
The girl stiffened, then carefully looked over. It was him! It was that bastard who'd drugged and kidnaped her! Well, he'd kidnaped Alibi, but he thought he was kidnaping Taylor.
There weren't any heroes around whose powers she could copy. Not even any other villains. She moved her power's spotlight over to the boy. Beggars can't be choosers.
Beggars don't have to be stupid about it, though. Taylor had Alibi give Uber and L33t a heads-up.
As soon as the voice started whispering the new power to her, Taylor smirked and hid her face behind her cup of soda. She had to have her target in sight for her borrowed power to work, but she'd be able to snipe and cause him trouble and get away with it clean.
Taylor struck when the boy walked past an occupied table. A twitch of his arm smeared a hamburger across a jock's face. The resulting shouting and apology and shoving were all she could have wanted.
When the boy was picked up and thrown into another jock's meal, Taylor couldn't hold it in any more. She collapsed over her table, screaming with laughter.
"You! I recognize you! You're that girl! How are you doing this?"
Busted! Before Taylor could think of a plausible denial or even get up to run away, her hand twitched and dumped her soda in her lap.
"Hey!" she yelled as the boy laughed at her.
"What's the matter, beanpole? You wet yourself when you laugh?"
Trying to blot up some of the wetness with a handful of napkins, Taylor waved her other hand at the boy as he stomped toward her. "What's the matter, spaz?" she taunted as his legs tangled up and he fell over again. "Can't wal—guh."
Taylor's taunt was interrupted by her hand shoving itself into her nose and mouth.
"What's the matter, spaz?" she heard. "Trying to pick your nose and eat it?"
The nascent brawl between the jocks settled down while Taylor and the boy attacked each other, leaving the other customers with nothing to do but look at the two clumsy, soiled teens flailing around on the floor. Taylor should have been able to find a way to use her borrowed power more effectively, but couldn't concentrate because of pulling a napkin dispenser onto her head and being made to cross her eyes so that she couldn't see straight. On the plus side, the boy looked like the victim of an axe murderer, with ketchup dripping from his entire head.
And the crowd still wasn't doing anything, just standing around watching and filming it with their cell phones. And pointing and laughing.
And help still hadn't arrived. Where were Uber and L33t? The other Undersiders? Even the ordinary police?
Taylor finally crawled close to the boy. She'd planned on strangling him with her bare hands but he looked so bedraggled she couldn't bring herself to do it. Either that or she couldn't do it because there were too many witnesses.
"Call it a draw?"
"Yah. We both get out of here with as much dignity as we can."
"Right. No dignity at all. I'll get you next time."