7

Just InCommunityForumMoreEx Synthetica by willyolioleo Books » Worm Rated: M, English, Adventure, Skitter, Tattletale, Victoria D./Glory Girl, Panacea, Words: 334k+, Favs: 4k+, Follows: 5k+, Published: Oct 21, 2019 Updated: Mar 18, 20212,186Chapter 7: Excursion 3

Excursion 3

"Hey Taylor. What's bugging you?" Dad asked me.

"Nothing," I sighed. I was still thinking about how I had been nearly killed by Lung. It was hard to forget, with the painful burns on my back still not fully healed.

"Don't give me that. Something's up. You're looking pretty glum," he said. "Is it the bullies again?"

"No... not really," I said. "I just wasn't sure if I really wanted to do the whole superhero thing or not." When people like Lung roamed your local streets, a lot of people wouldn't want to be open about having powers too.

"Taylor. Not everyone has to be a superhero. Just do what you do best. Do you want to work on your robots? Maybe get some new tools, visit the junkyard again?" he asked.

I knew he was trying to cheer me up, but it was hard to take my mind off the main issue. I wasn't sure if I could really do anything, be an effective force against crime. My dreams had basically died that night with Lung. I could make tiny robots. Could I really make any significant contribution before getting pounded down by someone as powerful as Lung? Or Kaiser, Purity, or any of the other villains with ridiculously broken powers in this town? At the same time, I couldn't just stop. Denying my power was like denying my gender. It wasn't something I could just sit back and ignore. I didn't know what to do.

"Sorry, dad. I just... don't think I want to do anything right now," I said. I'd moved beyond human-sized tools anyway. There wasn't anything I could do with my father with regards to my power. Maybe I would just work on fixing mom's flute right now. My bots might be able to perform friction welding.

"Well, whatever it is... just know that I'm here for you, Taylor. Whenever you're ready..." Dad quietly walked out and closed the door.

Yeah, I had problems. I guess I should just start with my own wounds. My literal wounds. Even if I couldn't survive the Brockton Bay cape scene, at the very least I could just fix my injuries and maybe get my bullies off my back. Maybe I just didn't have it in me to be a hero. I'd just solve my little, personal problems first and figure things out from there.

My bots couldn't do anything like accelerate biology, so I was relegated to healing at whatever normal pace the human body could. At least the continuous cleaning and microscopic-level care that my bots provided did help speed up my healing slightly, though the extent of the burns were still massive.

I ended up spending most of my free time lying face down in bed. I still kept myself busy, either by reading some more textbooks on biology and medicine. Some of it was actually interesting. When I got bored of that, I worked on fixing my mom's flute.

My bots were strong enough to bend soft metals like copper, even at the microscopic level. I could actually fully repair my mom's flute, albeit slowly. With nothing better to do until I got better, I decided to spend most of my after-school time to getting it right.

Of course, my mom's flute didn't require my entire reserve of bots. I didn't let the others sit idly. I decided to just build. Build more, without direction. Just get my mind off my life. Normally that meant I had to go and buy supplies. But in my current condition, I wasn't ready to go out and procure materials. Heck, just getting through school and hiding my injuries was enough of an ordeal.

I used my bots to scavenge around the neighbourhood for what I could use to make more. I didn't want to vandalize my neighbours' belongings, but trash was fair game. People didn't throw out electronics often, mostly plastic packaging, food, and a whole lot of paper. It was hard finding material for my bots, unless I redesigned them to use those materials instead.

I had ideas, but nothing that would help me against Lung. I was still scared of something like that happening again – with even less luck on my side. I could very well die next time I faced Lung.

Then again, what the hell was I thinking, next time? Maybe I shouldn't think about fighting Lung. Like a normal person. Normal people didn't think about fighting a transforming dragon-man who could incinerate them.

I really needed to focus on what I actually needed. And right now, I needed rest and healing. So, with nothing better to do, I went ahead and created bots using the garbage I could find around the neighbourhood.

They were pretty disappointing, even to me. They weren't nearly as strong as my current designs, and were more fragile to boot. I tested their ability to take an impact and form armour, and they weren't much stronger than football gear. Including the bulk. Certainly nothing useful against a fire-breathing metallic dragon-man, because they were even more flammable than my metal bots.

They weren't really good for much other than keeping me busy, letting me test control, keeping me from getting bored by allowing me to sense the neighbourhood. Perhaps I needed to refine the plastic-and-glass bots more. For now, I just made more, just because I was bored. At least there wouldn't be any burglars sneaking up on our house. Or our neighbour's houses. I could, at least, provide secret neighbourhood security while I lazed about at home in bed.

As far as actual function, those bots were only capable of doing basic first aid – stabilizing wounds, disinfection, stopping bleeding, stuff like that. I didn't have a way to deal with internal injuries, not without smaller bots that could fit into the circulatory system. Good thing I hadn't suffered any internal injuries in that encounter. But it was something I was interested in, especially after reading through first aid books and biology texts.

Half the time, when it came to first aid, the treatment for internal injuries were basically just "keep the victim calm and wait for the ambulance." Maybe if my bots were small enough to traverse the human circulatory system, they could do a lot more. I was afraid of myself getting injured, with internal bleeding or something like that, and dying on the street.

Even if Lung didn't burn me to death, he was certainly strong enough to do that to me with a punch.

Not that I wanted to fight him again, I reminded myself.

I just had to get the designs out of my mind and into the real world. Just focus on that. Focus on solving my little personal problems, and leave it at that. I wasn't obligated to save the world or clean up Brockton Bay, after all. I just... needed to take this one problem at a time. And maybe the gang warfare wouldn't be my problem.

Sophia and Emma had gotten away with so much, and it was clear to me that there was no chance of them ever being actually punished for breaking the rules. I looked over at my mom's flute. No, justice would never happen if I just waited. Things would only get fixed if I did it myself. I'd have to get strong enough myself to make sure they got what they deserved myself. I had gotten a little bit of revenge, but that wouldn't be all.

I needed to start small. I didn't need to stop there, but I did need to start there. I didn't need to beat Lung myself. I couldn't deliver justice unto Sophia and Emma right away. Nobody else would fix my problems. Fix mom's flute. Fix the broken step at the front of the house. Heal my burned back. One step at a time.

I didn't really have a way to put all the pieces together, and I was still missing some chunks of material, but my bots were able to help me bend it into approximately the right shape. Unfortunately there were still a few dents to hammer out and holes to fill in, which my bots couldn't do, especially not the cheap plastic ones. Maybe if I had more of my higher-quality ones, but almost all of those had been lost in the fight against Lung. And I wasn't going to wander back into ABB territory to try retrieving any surviving bots I had left behind.

Strangely enough, fixing mom's flute inspired a lot for me. I suddenly knew specifically what my bots needed to be capable of. Better repair tools, greater strength, better interlocking and coordination. Specific designs flooded my head, and I knew I needed to buy a lot of materials I couldn't just salvage out of the junkyards. Stuff I couldn't find in the neighbourhood trash cans.

I managed to hold off for nearly two weeks, but like an itch I couldn't scratch, I eventually gave in. The neighbourhood was already covered in my cheap bots and I didn't want more, in fear of someone noticing and reporting it to the PRT. I decided to head to the electronics specialty store to pick up what I needed.

Perhaps I was being a little paranoid, but I was still afraid to go out without a good coating of bots over my body. Sure, I needed to cover the burn to make sure it was still healing properly, and a little bit of extra to support my injured back muscles. But I still took enough to at least cushion a strong punch. I didn't have enough armour-bots at the moment; almost all of those had been destroyed by Lung. The cheap plastic bots made from garbage did manage to form light body armour, but nothing good enough to stop a bullet.

To do that, I would need more advanced construction bots, and to do that, I needed to get some more specialty materials first. I can't believe how many steps I had been set back simply from a single night against Lung. At least I had money.

I had to remind myself that I already more protection than I usually took when I used to go jogging. I couldn't wait to start that again, once I had healed up more. It didn't hurt me to be a little paranoid, though. Along with the bots I was "wearing" for protection, I spread many of the bots I had made at home and school, into the streets ahead of my path to watch for any shady characters.

The walk to the store was completely uneventful. But as I approached the store, I suddenly had a new problem. A whole bunch of bots came into my range, ones that I hadn't placed there. More than that, they were very old ones, the type of bots that I had made when I was first starting out.

While I could keep track of my bots almost to the individual level while they were within my field of control, I had no idea which ones these were. They were the insect-sized ones, probably one of the ones I used at school. Crap. Possibly ones I had used to keep track of the Trio; maybe one of the ones that had gotten stuck in their clothes. Or maybe someone else had noticed one after I had left school? I was pretty careful about having them crawl into the ceiling and between the walls to hide after I left, but who knows...

They were sealed in a container, unable to actually do anything, but I could see and hear through them. Not enough to get a clear picture or high-quality sound, but enough.

"...unusual orders?"

"No, just my usual customers. Well, a few new customers. One's buying a lot of wiring and basic control boards, but it's pretty typical for custom lighting. Oh, there's a new kid, her dad was introducing her to hobby electronics, I think. And a radio enthusiast introducing a friend. Nothing special."

"Very well. Please inform the Protectorate if you notice any unusual purchases. Here's my card."

My bots couldn't read the card, nor did they need to. The blue suit of power armour and the roar of the motorcycle as he left told me everything I needed to know. Armsmaster was probably investigating me, looking for me in places where Tinkers usually shopped or salvaged. It probably meant I couldn't go to the scrapyard any more, either.

Crap. Sophia probably blabbed to him about it. Probably over the hair thing. No doubt, someone with Armsmaster's specialty would have found my bots and started analyzing them. Before Armsmaster drove out of my range, I had all the bots in the jar attack and dismantle each other, essentially self-destructing.

I needed to lay low for a while, but I also needed to get more bots. Better ones. Would that mean I had to find another source of material.

I sighed. With the local stores being monitored, I had to start buying things online. They probably had a way to track that too, but at least it gave me some options. Deliver things to a PO box or dropoff point, and pick it up later? Heck, I could have things delivered to the docks under a fake name. Either way, cash could only take me so far, and the Internet didn't deal in cash.

I had spent another two weeks trying to make do with what I could find from the trash, trying to stretch my creativity and see how far I could get without making any suspicious purchases. I started going on walks, seeing if other trash bins around town had more to offer me to salvage, but for the most part it was pretty similar. I did find the occasional bit of metal I could use, but it was usually something cheap like tin or aluminum cans. Sure, I found some quality steel every once in a while, but not nearly enough to keep up with the production speeds I knew I was capable of.

Moreover, I couldn't do any of the interesting designs I had. I really needed some specialty materials, including powdered diamond, purified lithium, bulk teflon, maybe even some kevlar if I could find some. So many ideas but nothing I could truly do unless I had them.

I'd had enough of being patient. I needed those materials, and I didn't want the PRT or dad to catch me buying them. Which meant I needed to deposit my stash I had gained from the Merchants into a new bank account, maybe see what businesses would let me buy things by online debit or wire transfer. My dad could see my statements from the youth account he set up for me, and he definitely would wonder where thirty grand (probably less now) suddenly came from.

Off to Brockton Bay Central Bank it was.

Banks really weren't my thing. I mean, most people considered school boring, but at least they were trying to teach you something. Throw some kind of new information at you. At the bank, it seemed like boredom incarnate. Line up. Teller 2 is free. Walk a step forward. Wait. Teller 1 is free. Walk a step forward. Wait. Teller 5 is free. Opening a new account? Fill out these forms. And pull out my ID cards. Fill out another form. Sign here. And here. And here. And initial here. Just double-checking that you know everything you already knew, and we'll repeat it to make sure you know it. Did you know that? Sign here.

I just wanted the boredom to end. I wanted to have something productive to do. But when I saw a familiar dark smoke flow in from the back of the bank, I just had to sigh. "Damnit, universe, this isn't what I meant."

People started screaming, and a few wanted to run, but they immediately stopped after taking a step. One of Bitch's dogs covered filled up the entire entrance, ensuring nobody would be leaving out the front door. Front doorway. The doors had been torn off their hinges by the massive dog when it squeezed itself into the lobby. It pinned the security guard to the floor with one paw. The other Undersiders strolled in under the cover of Grue's darkness from the back of the bank. People were screaming, some of them frozen in fear, others running around like headless chickens.

It was the first time I got to see the group as a whole, doing what they were known for. Bitch was standing outside, her other two dogs patrolling the street. Grue, Tattletale, Regent, and a new member dressed like a harlequin or jester walked in and took positions behind the counter like they worked there.

The black smoke swirled around, covering the windows and exits. The only thing we could see now was them. Grue jumped up on top of the counter. "Alright everyone, shut up and listen up! This is a robbery. We're here to take the bank's money. Not your money, not your lives. Don't be a fucking hero, and nobody gets hurt, deal? Everyone, sit with your backs to that wall. Heads down, hands where we can see them." He pointed to the exterior wall.

People were still frozen.

"Now."

Bitch's dog growled. People started scrambling over to the wall, including myself.

What were they doing here? Technically, I already knew, if I listened to the logical side of my head. I mean, they were villains. No doubts as to what they were. But I was still under the impression they were mostly decent people. Most rumours said they just stole from other criminals. They'd picked me up and carried me to safety after fighting Lung and tended to my wounds, after all. I thought they would stick to hurting the other gangs. Not a legitimate business like the bank. And not in broad daylight.

I was debating whether or not I should fight them. The urge to be a hero was still there, but right now I just wasn't ready. I hadn't taken a massive number of bots with me, and the ones I had weren't great anyway. I might be able to take a punch from Grue, but not Bitch's dogs. I resigned myself to being another nobody.

Regent had found the bank manager. He was prodding him with his taser-scepter. "Where's the vault key?" he asked. The manager didn't say a word, and just shook his head. His face was red and he was sweating bullets. He kept his head down, avoiding Regent's gaze.

Regent zapped him with the taser with a short burst. The man fell to the ground, groaning in pain. "Why are you trying to be the hero, man? Didn't you hear what Grue said? We're here for the bank's money. We ain't gonna hurt anyone unless you give us a reason to. And you seem really keen on giving us reasons. You get off on this, buddy? Does pain make you excited?" He jabbed the scepter into the man's neck.

Grue walked up to the manager. "Why do you think the bank deserves your loyalty? Seriously, they're a bank. You think they fucking care about you? You think they're going to give you a bonus for getting beat up? The bank's got no loyalty to you, man. They'll fire your ass just for asking for a raise. We'll get the key eventually anyway, and then they'll fire you for not being a security guard when they're too cheap to hire good security themselves. Fuck 'em. Just give us the key."

The manager just cried and mumbled.

"Screw this. Tats, where's the key?" Regent shouted.

"Left back pocket. The brass one with the square-shaped head," Tattletale replied. "Nobody even think about being a hero, got it? I'm psychic. I can tell," she announced to the crowd.

The jester still hadn't said anything. She pulled six throwing knives out of nowhere (at least, I didn't see anything on her skintight costume that could have held that many knives) and started juggling them with a wicked grin. I had no doubt she could throw them with pinpoint accuracy.

"Go," Grue said, nodding to Tattletale.

"Before I go… I'm going to have to take a hostage with me," she said. Our eyes locked for just a second. She pretended to scan the crowd, and "randomly" settled on me. "You, girl with the brown hair. Come with me."

I didn't know what she was thinking. Was she forcibly recruiting me? I didn't want to be turned into a villain before I even had the chance to be a hero. Then again, the gun was pretty convincing. I stood up with my hands up, walking to the back of the bank with Tattletale behind me. As we left the lobby, I could see Grue spreading his darkness further, leaving everyone in the main lobby blind.

Once we got to the very back, Tattletale holstered her gun. "I'm so sorry… uh… you know, you never gave us your cape name. Oh, you still haven't picked one yet. Sorry again. Look, I wanted to be a friend. If you need some advice being a hero, I'm still willing to help. And don't tell me your real name yet. That's my first piece of advice."

"What are you guys doing?" I hissed at her.

Tattletale began typing away at a computer. I noticed she either got really lucky and guessed the password, or she was hacking her way through easily. "Robbing a bank. I thought it was obvious," she said with a grin. Seeing my scowl, she sighed. "Look, a girl's gotta eat, you know? We don't want to hurt anyone. This is just the life we've been forced into."

"But why crime?" I pleaded. "I mean, I get robbing criminals like the ABB. I'm not gonna be a hypocrite. But these are innocent people. They don't deserve this."

Tattletale shrugged. "Like I said, it's the job. When your choices are to rob a bank and get paid for the job, or get murdered for disobeying orders, the choice is pretty simple, don't you think?"

My eyes widened. They had a boss? But…

"I didn't tell him about you. Don't worry. I don't like working for him, and I don't want you working for him either, so I'm seeing if I can find out his true identity through banking records," she said. She plugged in a USB memory stick into the computer and began to copy files. "Look, I know you want to be a hero. And I'm willing to help with that, okay? In fact, I could really use a hero soon, one with the kind of power you have."

I cursed under my breath. "Fine."

"The rest of my team don't know. Each of them have their own reasons for working for my boss, and he's got dirt on each of them too. My boss probably knows I intend to betray him at some point, I can only hope my power lets me get him before he gets me. Please don't tell anyone. I want out, but if I don't time this right, I'm dead, understand?"

I nodded.

As the files were being copied, Tattletale finally went over to the vault and unlocked it with the key. I don't know where she got the combination, but she got it on her first try, again. Damn, her powers were bullshit. Tattletale started stuffing money into a duffle bag. I found it odd that they didn't have more members loading money here. Weird. For a bank robbery, they really didn't seem to be prioritizing getting the actual money. Maybe it had something to do with what Tattletale was grabbing off the computers.

The dog at the entrance barked three times.

"Shit, the Wards are here," Tattletale said. "Sorry, girl. I'm going to have to take you hostage again. Shadow Stalker is probably going to be coming in through the back any second now..."

My breath hitched for just a second when she mentioned the name. I barely even noticed myself doing it, but Tattletale had. "Oh… you and Shadow Stalker have a history. But not as a cape… no, you have a history with her civilian persona. You know her civilian identity? Oh, crap, this is why you blame the PRT for your trigger. Fuck, this is messed up. Hey, look, as a friend – am I a friend? I can help you with revenge against her if you want."

I was very tempted to take her up on her offer. If she was really either reading my mind or what, I wouldn't doubt that she was capable of it. But it was hard to trust someone who had a gun at your back.

Before I could reply, Shadow Stalker came stepping through the wall in full costume, crossbow in hand. Talk about good predictions.

"Stop right there, Shadow Stalker," Tattletale said. She held me close like a human shield, lining our bodies up closely and peeking just over my shoulder. She pointed her gun at the Ward. I just froze in place, not sure what to do.

Shadow Stalker quickly brought up her crossbow, but didn't shoot. If I had any doubts that it was Sophia, they were gone now. She didn't even care that I was a human shield, she was obviously willing to shoot me to get at Tattletale. I started shifting as many bots to my front as I could without anyone noticing.

Funny how I was more concerned at being shot by Sophia than by a literal villain whose real name I didn't even know holding a gun.

Tattletale whispered in my ear. "Wow, she hates you. She's going to use this as an excuse to beat you up while she takes me down. Probably accuse you of being an accomplice to doubly screw you over. Your bots can take a hit from her crossbow, right?"

I didn't move, but she was making perfect sense. My bots had finished forming an extra-thick layer of protection, enough to stop even the pointy tranquilizer darts. I just hope she didn't aim for my face.

"Give up. You can't hurt me," Shadow Stalker said. "You're weak. You don't do shit except bark. I bite."

"You sure about that? I'm psychic, you know," Tattletale said. "You keep telling yourself you're strong, but you can't do anything that matters. You think your crossbow is gonna help against an Endbringer? You're cannon fodder at best."

"Shut the fuck up. A weakling like you can only talk, and nothing you say even matters. Look at you, hiding behind a useless human shield."

What was she doing? Provoking Sophia? I could see her grip tightening on her crossbow. Tattletale definitely knew how to get under her skin. The way she tended to ramble, I had a hard time believing she didn't get under everyone's skin.

Tattletale whispered to me again. "She's going to aim for your neck. On my signal, jump." I shifted as many of my armored bots higher up my shirt without revealing them.

"Oh, I know everything. You only pick on people weaker than you so that you can pretend to be strong. You stop at street level. Drug dealers and petty criminals. You've never even taken down a cape before, and you never will. The Undersiders fought Lung and we're still standing."

"Shut up. Like you know anything, all you do is stand at the back and let your teammates do the fighting. Now get down, they aren't here to help you."

"Oh, I could beat you just fine. What, you manage to grab one gangly little hostage and you think that makes you a pro villain?"

"You're cute. You think you're a prowling panther, when really you're just a kitten. You can't beat any other Capes, only normal humans. You can't even beat me."

Even though Sophia was wearing a full face mask, I just knew that last sentence completely pissed her off. I couldn't help but let out a tiny snort in amusement when Tattletale said that. I hadn't seen anyone put Sophia down so easily. She actually took her eyes off Tattletale for a second to glare at me when I did that.

Tattletale shoved me from behind. I nearly lost my balance and barely comprehended the fact that I was suddenly moving towards Shadow Stalker. My legs, having been ready to hop up at Tattltetale's command, sprung without thinking.

I ended up doing a wild, flailing and ungraceful leap at Shadow Stalker. She fired her crossbow straight at me. The crossbow bolt hit my collarbone, cushioned by my bots, blocking the tranquilizer from getting injected into me. I was glad Tattletale had told me to jump; it really would have struck me in the neck if I hadn't. I nearly collided into her, but she deftly twisted out of the way and I sailed past her, collapsing on the ground.

Tattletale dodged to the side towards the desk and pointed her gun at Shadow Stalker before she could bring her other crossbow at the girl.

Shadow Stalker changed to her ghost form. Tattletale fired two shots at Shadow Stalker, and the bullets harmlessly passed through her Breaker form. At the same time, she swept her arm across the desk and knocked a desk lamp at her. As the cord passed through the ghostly body, she screamed in pain and reverted to her normal body. Tattletale took that opportunity to kick her crossbow away as she stumbled. Sophia charged at Tattletale, ready to take her down with her fists, but fell clumsily as her right leg suddenly kicked out from under her. Regent appeared behind her and jabbed his taser into her back, taking her down.

Apparently electricity forced her out of her shadow state. That was a detail I didn't know about. I wondered if I should electrify my locker to stop her from stealing my stuff, but that would be way too obvious that I was targeting her directly.

"Thanks for the save, Regent," Tattletale said.

Regent snorted. "I didn't come back here to save you, I just wanted to grab more cash than you can carry yourself. It's time to go, it's starting to get hot out there."

Tattletale rolled her eyes. "Then go get it," she said, jerking her head over at the vault.

While Regent ran to the vault, she grabbed the memory stick from the computer and held me again. To me, she said, "Get in touch if you ever want some advice. Hero or villain. Just sit back with the rest of the hostages and pretend you had nothing to do with this. You're just a victim." Regent took a minute to stuff another bag full of money, then tossed one to Tattletale. We marched out to the lobby again, and I had my hands up. It was still completely dark, but Grue began to retract his cloud so that Tattletale and Regent could see where they were going.

The view outside was still blocked, and sound was muffled as well. But I could tell that there was a battle going on outside, mostly against Bitch's dogs. Suddenly, the ceiling caved in. A beautiful blonde girl hit the floor of the bank in the classic heroic three-point landing. Glory Girl. What was she doing here? She wasn't one of the Wards.

"Alright, criminal scum! Give it up! You aren't getting away!"

Grue and Bitch had jumped onto the demon dogs, ready to flee already. Some of the hostages were being marched in front of the demon dogs. The jester, however, was holding a young girl in a hoodie with a knife to her throat as she backed up towards the exit.

"Ames! I swear, if you hurt her, I'm gonna..."

Wait. Ames? As in Amy Dallon? As in Panacea, Glory Girl's sister? Oh crap. I hadn't even noticed that she was here. I guess that explained why she covered her face with her hoodie; New Wave's capes were all famous and unfortunately didn't have a separate civilian life. For Panacea especially, I bet she couldn't walk ten steps without someone stopping her and asking for some healing.

Glory Girl was strong, angry, and reckless. Giant hole in the ceiling being a bright, shining example. I couldn't decide if it was a good or horrible idea to take her sister hostage. I just hoped the clown and the rest of the Undersiders didn't get smashed into pulp.

Right as the jester reached the dog, she let go of Amy and started to hop on. Glory Girl took that opportunity to rush the jester that had threatened her sister. She shoved Amy towards her sister, and Glory Girl twitched mid-flight like she was doing an aborted somersault. She didn't stop in time to catch her sister, and they crashed into each other instead. I saw a smirk on Regent's face as the clown hopped on to the giant dog just before they disappeared into the inky black smoke.

Glory Girl ended up smashing straight through the wall, tumbling end-over-end while Amy lay in a crumpled heap, moaning in pain.

The Undersiders took advantage of the commotion for the final retreat. Grue grabbed a few hostages as he retreated into the darkness - no police officer would risk shooting a hostage they couldn't see. They fled in the chaos that Glory Girl had caused.

I rushed over to Amy. Her powers were publicly known. She was the world's greatest healer – she could cure any disease, even regrow lost limbs sometimes, with just a touch... on anyone other than herself. I removed the bots that had been tending to the burns on my back and sent them to Amy.

Crap. She had a few minor cuts, which my bots could clean pretty easily. But she was clutching her arm, I figured it might have been broken. "Hey, are you okay? How's your arm?"

"Broken," Amy confirmed.

"I… I think I can help a little. I'll stabilize it, okay?"

Amy looked at me oddly. "Um… sure. You're a cape?" she groaned out. I couldn't heal a broken bone for her, but the best I could do was make my bots form a kind of scaffolding around her arm like a makeshift splint to make sure it didn't get worse. I sent my other bots to clean the wounds and pinch some wounds shut like stitches.

"Um… I'm new. I don't have a name yet. Just call me Taylor, I guess."

"Amy. Nice to meet you. Thanks for helping," she said. "If you don't want to be part of the cape scene, I'll keep your secret for you."

I nodded. "Thanks. It means a lot. I'll stay here until the ambulance comes. Um, I can only keep control of these things if I'm nearby."

Amy chuckled. "Funny. I've never been in this situation before. Strange to be on the other side. Can you pull a little bit that way? It'll set the bone properly..." She directed me carefully, but even so, she was suffering a lot of pain. She screamed through gritted teeth as we got it aligned better, and I got all my bots to reinforce the arm.

Glory Girl must have heard her, as she came rushing in looking like she was ready to murder me. "Ames! Get away from my sister, you-"

"Stop, Vicky! She's helping! The Undersiders are already long gone!" Amy held up her good hand. "Broken arm… Damnit, Victoria, you have to be more careful."

"Oh my god, Amy! I'm so sorry! Shit, that stupid Undersider did something to me and..."

Amy just shook her head. "Just… help the hostages. I'm fine here. She's looking after me."

I waved meekly. "Um… Hi."

Glory Girl smiled. "Thanks for helping my sister. You know, I think we owe you a dinner for this, at minimum." I almost squealed in delight. Me, dining with a local celebrity cape? I just nodded dumbly. I just hoped I didn't look too stupid.

"Great! You free tomorrow? We can meet at Fugly Bob's. They make the best burgers. Hey, you got a boyfriend? He can come, too. We can make it, like, a triple date!"

"Vicky, go,"Amy said to her sister, pointing at the mess in the bank with her good arm. When Vicky flew off, she whispered to me, "So... I noticed that you've got some pretty bad burns hidden under there. I could help get rid of the scars."

"Oh... yeah. That. I, uh, accidentally got caught in the crossfire when Lung went on a rampage. I wasn't ready to come out as a cape, so..."

Amy nodded. "Look, if everyone who had powers decided to jump out and fight Lung, I'd have even more dumbasses to heal. Or maybe less. If my sister didn't have her invulnerability, I'd be afraid for her every night. Are you using your powers for healing? Healers are pretty valuable to everyone."

My eyes drifted down at the basic first aid that I was giving her. "I don't know... I don't know much about medicine... I only know a bit about first aid."

"Well, just something to think about. Thanks for the help again." Amy smiled at me.

I smiled back. Did I just make a friend? Or two? After being friendless for so long, I had trouble remembering what it was like, or what I should do. Or what I had missed. Today had been one of the strangest days of my life. And I still hadn't deposited the money.

Author's Notes:

I hope everyone's enjoying the story so far, and thanks for the reviews!

As much as I kinda dislike the Stations of the Canon trope, I played around with this a few times and decided the whole bank robbery thing was still the best way to get a few other plot points rolling along. At least things will start to diverge more from here.

« First « Prev Ch 7 of 62 Next »

 ReviewJump:Chapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18Chapter 19Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapter 25Chapter 26Chapter 27Chapter 28Chapter 29Chapter 30Chapter 31Chapter 32Chapter 33Chapter 34Chapter 35Chapter 36Chapter 37Chapter 38Chapter 39Chapter 40Chapter 41Chapter 42Chapter 43Chapter 44Chapter 45Chapter 46Chapter 47Chapter 48Chapter 49Chapter 50Chapter 51Chapter 52Chapter 53Chapter 54Chapter 55Chapter 56Chapter 57Chapter 58Chapter 59Chapter 60Chapter 61Chapter 62Share: Email . Facebook . TwitterStory: Follow  FavoriteAuthor: Follow  FavoriteContrast: Dark . Light

Font: Small . Medium . Large . XLTwitter . Help . Sign Up . Cookies . Privacy . Terms of Service