4.3

Today was fantastic. I left Winslow and the bullying behind, I spent the day with Dad, I had sushi and discovered a new power for my potions!

Honestly I wanted more of that. My potions generally speaking just made people better at very specific actions, it was very rare to have any that gave straight up powers. I had something that gave very slow regeneration to make someone a pseudo brute but that wasn't the same. I had invisibility, a stranger power I could just give out and now I had water breathing! That counted as Shaker right? Or would it be a Changer thing? I suppose it depends if it gives the recipient gills.

Did my power giving potions change appearance? I couldn't really test with invisibility since it was… invisibility. Unless that was the appearance change? Could it really be an appearance change if there was no appearance left? Well I suppose that was still accurate, if you changed your room's color, it didn't mean that the room wasn't something else in the first place. It's just being covered up.

Either way, I figured I'd have to tell the rest of the Heroes eventually and get truck loads of Salmon Roe. Despite my initial excitement over the stuff, I didn't really like the taste all that much. It was neutral to me, something I wouldn't complain about eating but I wouldn't run out of the house in my pyjamas with cash in hand if I heard the salmon roe truck pass by.

Such behaviour was reserved for the ice cream truck.

Which now that I thought about it, I had never done before. Now that I thought about it even more I couldn't remember the last time an ice cream truck ever passed our house. Hell I don't think I've ever seen one outside of movies and tv.

Where the hell was my mind going with all this?

"Taylor?" A voice broke me out of my musings once more. "You okay? You've been spacing out lately?"

I chuckled nervously.

"Sorry dad, it just feels like everything keeps getting put on pause these days." Well, my brain at least. "Just thinking about stuff."

He shrugged as we pulled up to our house. The old truck made an odd blowing sound but otherwise obediently made a respectable effort to stop. It wasn't going to break down soon. From my experience, the old truck had made worse sounds before. That said I was no mechanic and for all I knew, the sound was an indication that the engine was about to explode.

"Well Taylor." Dad continued. "While you were day dreaming back at the mall I learnt how to text." That was rather forward thinking of him. "The Protectorate now know about this phone since I've messaged them, but we'll need to go in to make it all official, wouldn't want them to think that this number is some random fan right?"

That made sense. I wouldn't be surprised if someone had managed to accidentally find Armsmaster's number by randomly mashing a bunch of keys together. The fact that I managed to call him using pay phones was a miracle in hindsight. The Protectorate probably had to filter out all the prank calls that were sent that way as well so that the Heroes wouldn't be wasting their time.

Getting out of the car we saw two people outside our door, they both wore what looked like generic office clothes but their muscles seemed to contrast with that. On top of that was the fact that they both wore sunglasses, large sunglasses. One of them looked like he was in charge, the fact that he stood further forwards while his friend scanned the streets. The guy in charge also had a beard.

Dad seemed to gain a concerned expression but didn't hesitate to approach them, putting himself between them and me. I was a bit offended by that, didn't he realise that I had a Brute rating? Did I ever tell him about that aspect of my power? Oh right, I hadn't.

"Stay behind me Taylor." He whispered before calling out to the two men. "Hello Sirs? Can I help you?"

"Danny?" The bearded guy asked. Dad paused for a moment, confusion washing over his face.

"Colin?" Wait a second. Colin? Armsmaster was visiting us? Oh god! Did we have enough chairs? More specifically comfy chairs? Did we have enough tea? Of course we did, I love tea! Wait, was the house clean?

Armsmaster grinned, presumably from being recognised.

"Can we talk inside? A few things have come up." Dad nodded before unlocking the door to let everyone in.

"So…" I began. "Who are you?" I asked the person behind Colin.

"Just call me Smith." He replied in a low voice. "Just a normal office worker." I looked at his biceps that were larger than my head. I didn't buy it.

After the door was shut we all sat down after Dad put the kettle on though Smith decided to stay standing. I produced some sweet rolls but only Dad grabbed any. Smith was such a fake name. I looked at his name badge just to make sure.

'Smith Johnson.'

Huh. It was real and awfully generic. I hope that didn't mean he was one of those expendable people that died all the time on TV.

"Sorry to pop in like this." Colin apologized. "Something has come up and we tried to contact you using your home number but got nothing."

"Oh I have a cell phone now." I piped up showing him the fancy new device. He raised an eyebrow at that.

"Hmm, well it's good that you've got it now, we were worried that something might've happened when you didn't pick up." It was my turn to frown.

"If you were worried then why didn't you come in costume or something?" I replied.

"We didn't want to overreact and cause you to become unmasked, we sent some other non-uniformed agents your way and found nothing wrong, not only that but the case worker that went to Winslow with you mentioned that your father was planning to take you out to the area near Arcadia which hadn't been as affected." Dad spoke to Fiona about our plans? Was I daydreaming when that happened?

"Not as affected?" Dad asked. "What happened?"

"Lung went on another rampage, this time near the train yard at a storage facility." Armsmaster explained. "The fight seemed to have spilled out onto the streets." He told us. "The Undersiders were involved along with a new member of the ABB named Bakuda, some sort of bomb tinker." He frowned at that, even behind his sunglasses I could tell that he wasn't happy about this news. He seemed frustrated. "Damage has been confined so far but we're wary of engaging since the bombs seem to have a variety of exotic effects."

So Armsmaster and Agent Smith were just checking up on me?

"I'm here to ask for more potions." He told me. "Panacea can only do so much, we need another healer with the amount of civilians that were hurt."

"Of course!" I told him instantly putting on my leather costume. Armsmaster winced at that.

"Please put your civilian outfit back on, we don't need your neighbours seeing you leave your home like that." I got the impression that he was scolding me. Just as quickly as I put on my outfit, I soon had it off.

"Well, I guess I'm going to the Rig then?" I asked hopeful. "OH! Will I get to ride on your bike again?"

"No, I didn't bring my costume." He told me. "We'll use the van for now and get to the headquarters that way."

"Woah woah woah!" Dad shouted getting our attention. "Bombs? That seems dangerous!"

"I assure you Mr Hebert, the bombs have already been detonated or disarmed at this stage, they only covered one street, presumably to be used as a distraction." It seemed he had this speech pre-written. "What I'm asking for is support in the vein of Panacea, healing and rescuing survivors. There will be no chance of combat."

Dad paused for a moment there.

"Okay but only on one condition." Wait a second, I didn't need a condition to be out there helping! I was a Hero! Still, I remained quiet to see where he was going with this. "You stay with her, keep her safe."

Armsmaster nodded. "Of course, I was planning to do it anyways to witness the effects of the potions she uses."

Hang on.

"Haven't you tested the ones I gave you?"

He nodded. "Yes, I've run them through a myriad of chemical tests to identify the ingredients. Mundane structure with a unique radiation signature, very fascinating." Wait a second. "The injured rats recovered remarkably quickly."

"Radiation? Oh god, do I have cancer?" Dad's eyes widened in panic as well.

"Not that kind of radiation, it's harmless." He told me. We all calmed down. Standing up Armsmaster made a motion to leave. "We'll head to the headquarters now." I got up to follow but felt dad grab my arm.

"Just be careful alright Taylor?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"You heard him dad, just rescue work and healing, I'm not actually going to wrestle Lung or something."

He sighed. "Alright, stay safe." He told me. I kissed him on the forehead and left.

Before long we were off, however I noted that the road we were on didn't lead to the Rig, at least not directly.

"Where are we going Armsmaster?"

"Don't call me that when I'm out of costume Taylor." Oh right, secret identities. I swear I already had this conversation with dad when he called me Vim without the costume. "To answer your questions we're heading to a stop off point to meet up with Shadow Stalker."

She went to school near here? Now that I thought about it, we were closer to Winslow then Arcadia. I felt guilty about that. All this time I was worried about myself, about all the abuse I had received and I hadn't noticed anything similar happening to someone else at school. I suppose it could've been someone in a different class, in a different grade but I was a Hero! I should've helped her there.

The van came to a stop and I noted that we were in a empty car park.

"You should put on your costume now." Colin told me. I nodded and suddenly I was Vim once more.

Did Shadow Stalker live around here? I looked through the windows expecting to see a shy girl with glasses wearing a sweater carrying a bundle of books. It was hard to imagine what she would look like without her outfit.

Suddenly some shadowy smoke passed through the side of the van before condensing itself into Shadow Stalker. She seemed to flinch when she saw me but otherwise said nothing.

I waved back to her and she nodded, shyly waving back weakly.

"Good to see you're in costume already Shadow Stalker." I told her. The glass on the van was tinted black so no one could look in, possibly designed in such a way so that heroes could get changed.

"Of course." Colin piped up. "She hadn't unmasked herself to you, did you expect us to pick her up in her civilian identity?" I felt a bit dumb to consider that. "We warned her that you'd be here so that she could prepare appropriately."

"Uhh so you're coming to help with the bombs?" I asked her.

"No, just rescue." She told me. "Since I can phase through stuff I can get to survivors more easily." That made sense.

Hmmm, powers for search and rescue.

Well Aegis and Browbeat were both super strong so they could move stuff out of the way. Kid Win and Gallant were both Tinkers, they probably had scanners and stuff built into their gear. Vista could stretch a tiny hole into a door using her powers to save people trapped under debris. Clockblocker took me a bit longer to figure out but I soon realised he probably had the best power for this sort of thing.

Generally no matter how strong you were, a person only had two sets of hands. If you move a big rock off someone then the building that the rock was holding up might collapse and bury everyone else in the other parts of the building. Clock blocker could freeze a building to avoid that. I think… I never really looked into how far his power extended. If he froze a giant building, would only half of it be locked in place? Could he freeze the world?

There had to be some sort of limit right?

Point was, he'd be there to keep the debris from falling on people. As Armsmaster mentioned before I was there to just heal people with my potions. Presumably this meant that the ones he used for testing were already used up for something else. Another thought entered my mind. If they wanted people healed they could've just asked me to give the potions to PRT staff to distribute.

"Colin." I asked. "Why don't we give my potions out to normal people to give out? Wouldn't that be more efficient?"

"It would be yes, however this mission is mostly here to get you into the public eye."

"Wait, fame?" I asked. "This is for fame? People need help!" I argued. "I wanted to be a hero to help people! Not fame!"

"Unfortunately having just a dozen healing serum's won't do, even if you gave them out there would be more people to help." He told me. "Besides, if there are any side effects, I'd rather they only affect one person at a time rather than have dozens of them spread out."

"Dozens?" I asked. "I have way more then that, I've got like…. Almost a hundred."

He sat straighter from that, Shadow Stalker also tensed up from that and suddenly I felt much smaller.

"Hebert." Shadow Stalker began. "What the fuck?" It was very telling that Colin ignored that she used used my real name when I wore my costume but still seemed to share her sentiments.

"How did you find the time to make so many?" He asked. "How long have you had these powers?"

"Uhh… a while, but making them isn't so hard." I told them. "Remember when you met me that night with the Anvil?" He nodded. "How long was I there for?"

"According to the reports, only half an hour at most before I arrived… which meant, you made your armor in that time." His voice filled with realisation.

"I make stuff instantly, you give me the ingredients and the right tools and I'll be able to make them."

He fell silent.

"Considering what I've seen of your house I assume your father isn't wealthy." He began. I felt almost insulted by the way he said it but tried to not take any offense, I wanted to see where he was going with this. "This means that the ingredients are common and cheap which would match what I've already found in my tests." That made sense. "What do you need to make a healing serum?"

"Uhh." I began trying to wrack my brain for something. "Wheat and uh, I can use some bluish, purple flowers, I think flowers from mountains work best? Some mushrooms and uh…" The last ingredient wasn't something I was proud of. "Blue...butterfly… wings." I whispered. I didn't like the fact that I made health potions with bugs. I didn't like bugs in general, more specifically spiders, worms, flies, cockroaches and a dozen of other creepy crawlies that I felt or at least imagined all over me in the locker… in comparison butterflies I supposed weren't so bad.

He stared at me for a moment before pulling out a phone. He didn't have to wait long before the person on the other side of the line picked up.

"Requisitions?" He called into it. "Yes, this is Colin Wallace." He began. "How fast can we get a shipment of wheat, blue and purple mountain flowers, mushrooms and butterfly wings delivered to the Rig?"

He waited for some time.

"Yes I'll sign off on it." He told them. "PO number 349, yes that will work, I'll give you more accurate numbers later, yes I'll sign the paperwork when I'm in, just get that ready." Then he hung up.

What just happened? "You want me to make more potions before we help people?"

"No." He began. "Delivery would take too long, this is for the future after you've exhausted your current supply."

"But what about the side effects?" I asked him. "Weren't you worried about those?"

"I was referencing the exotic effects that Bakuda's bombs have inflicted, your serum's when used on conventional injuries seem to work fine." Huh, those tests he had done seemed to have paid off. Wait a second, didn't he mention testing them on rats? How could he be so sure that they worked on people? Wait… he was a Tinker.

It was then that I noticed the smell of salt. Like we were at sea. I looked out the van and noted we were already on the ferry. I really had to be more aware of my surroundings. At this rate I wouldn't be surprised to find a rampaging Lung right behind me that I would only notice due to someone grabbing my hand to run away.

I sighed. Well if what Colin had said was true then this would be my first, official outing as a Ward and Hero.

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Non-canon omake:

"One thousand bucks?" I asked Parian. "Come on, the dress is nice but it can't cost that much!"

"Sorry Vim, but that's me selling at cost." She told me, seemingly as saddened as I was by the price. "I'm literally not making any cash off this sale." Well… when she put it that way… "Look, I might be a neutral cape that doesn't want any conflict but that doesn't mean I don't support the Heroes."

Suddenly there was a crashing sound and I noted that it was Lung again. The fire, the silvery skin and the angry roar was a dead give away.

"I'LL KEEL OUUU VEEM!!!" He shouted. Then he was punched. In the face. By Parian.

"NEVER SHOULD HAVE COME HERE!" She shouted back.

Edit: Had to edit a couple mistakes.