A/N: I don't own Worm. It belongs to Wildbow. This story diverges from the actual plot at 1.05.

"Hey, want a ride?" Grue asked. I shook my head, looking at the creatures that they had called dogs. Grue shrugged in response.

"Hey, what's your name?" Tattletale asked as she seated herself on one of the dogs behind Bitch.

"I don't...I haven't picked one yet." I said.

Well, Bug, a cape is gonna show up in less than a minute. You did us a solid by dealing with Lung, so take my advice. Someone from the Protectorate shows up, finds a junior hero has taken down an established bad ass like Lung, there are gonna be questions. If you don't want to deal with that, you may want to bail now." Tattletale said, flashing a smile as she said it. "And us small time independent type heroes are already under a lot of scrutiny, you know?"

It took me a moment to process her words, but once I got it, I nodded. The girl's grin seemed to intensify as I did. With that, the group took off on the dogs, leaving me alone. I sat down on the roof, processing what had just happened.

It was pretty obvious that the group that had just left were the kids that Lung had spoken of. The kids they were going to kill. Regent, Tattletale, and Bitch had been easy enough to identify as teenagers. I figured Grue was as well.

But they were heroes, not just defenseless kids. They had faced off with Oni Lee. Though, looking at them, they didn't look the way I imagined heroes would. They seemed more...villainous.

I was shaken from my thoughts by the sound of a motorcycle. I remained in my sitting position, feeling too tired from my fight to even consider leaving just yet. After a moment, Armsmaster seemed to fly up to the roof, landing near me. His halberd jerked as he landed, though, and I thought I saw the head shift a bit, which led me to believe that it functioned as a grappling hook.

"You gonna fight me?" he asked.

I shook my head quickly. "No, I...I'm a good guy." I said.

He stepped closer to me and tilted his head. "You don't look like one."

I flinched back a bit. I knew that my costume didn't look classically heroic but...I stopped my thought as I realized that I probably looked like I fit more with the group of young heroes than the Wards or Protectorate. "That's...not intentional. I was nearly done with my costume when I realized it looked more edgy than I meant it too. By then, it was a bit too late to do anything about it."

There was a long pause as Armsmaster seemed to take in my words. "You're telling the truth." he finally said. I wondered how he could say that so definitively, but I didn't want to bring it into question. "You need a hospital?" he asked.

"No, I think I'm alright, surprisingly enough."

"You're new." Armsmaster said.

"Don't even have a name yet." I said. "Most bug themed names either make me sound like a supervillain or a total dork."

Armsmaster chuckled, and it sounded more normal, human, than I would have thought. "I wouldn't know. I got in the game early enough that I didn't have to worry about missing out on all the good names."

"I almost died..." I admitted to him.

"That's why we have the Wards." he said.

I nodded. "You get Lung?"

"He was unconscious, beaten and battered when I arrived. I pumped him full of tranquilizers and welded a cage to the sidewalk around him. I'll collect him on my way back."

"Good. With him in jail, at least I feel like I accomplished something tonight." I said. "Only reason I took him on was because he was talking about killing some kids. Turns out those kids were some other heroes, so they could have probably handled him."

Armsmaster looked at me, and prompted me to tell him more. I walked him through the fight, and gave him descriptions of the young heroes. By the time I was finished, he was pacing a bit.

"And they knew I was coming?" he asked. I nodded in response.

"That explains a lot." he said, staring off over the city. "They're slippery. They generally strike and slip away before we can debrief them. All we really know is that they either win any fights they've gotten in so far, or slipped away more or less unscathed. We don't know much about them. Grue and Hellhound had...sordid pasts before joining the group." he said, scowling as he did. I raised an eyebrow at that.

"The other two, though, are nonentities. If Tattletale has some way of tracking us, it would go a long way toward explaining why they're doing so well."

"It's funny." I said. "They didn't seem that hardcore. Grue said something about them panicking when they heard Lung was after them, but they were being casual and joking as they fought. Grue was even making fun of Regent."

"They did all of this in front of you?" Armsmaster asked.

I shrugged. "They said I helped them out. Maybe they connected with me because I'm around their age?"

Armsmaster nodded. "Well then, we need to decide where we go from here."

My heart sank, figuring he was going to bring up the Wards again.

"Who gets credit for Lung?"

That caught me off guard. I started to speak, but was stopped by him raising his hand.

"Hear me out. What you did here tonight was spectacular. You played a major role in taking down one of the most well known villains in the city. You need to consider the potential consequences of that."

"Consequences?" I asked, trying not to get too elated over being complimented by Armsmaster.

"The ABB is extensive, inhabiting territory throughout Brockton Bay and the neighboring cities. Not to mention Bakuda and Oni Lee, the two other superpowered members."

"I know about Oni Lee. Never heard of Bakuda before." I said.

Armsmaster nodded. "Makes sense. She's new. Her first act as a cape was a terrorist plot at Cornell University. Her plans were foiled by the New York division of the Protectorate, but Lung managed to recruit her and bring her to Brockton Bay, which is...concerning."

"What does she do?" I asked.

"She's a bomb Tinker." Armsmaster said. I could only nod at that. Tinkers were capable of incredible feats of technology. One whose focus was bombs? That was scary.

"Now, consider the danger of taking credit for Lung's capture. Bakuda and Oni Lee will be out for blood, and as a solo cape..."

"You're saying I shouldn't take credit?" I asked.

"I'm saying you have two options. One, join the Wards. There, you'll have support and protection in case the ABB comes after you. Two, keep your head down, don't take credit, and fly under the radar."

I sighed. This wasn't a decision I was prepared to make. I didn't want to think about all of the headaches that would come with joining the Wards. What's more, I didn't want to get on the bad side of one of the major heroes in the city.

"Please keep my involvement in this a secret." I said. I was disappointed to say it, but didn't see an alternative.

Armsmaster smiled, and I noticed that his smile was pretty nice. It made me think he could win over a lot of women, regardless of what the top two thirds of his face looked like.

"I think you'll look back at this decision and see that it was the right one." he said. He strolled over to the edge of the roof and paused. "Call me at the PHQ if you're ever in a pinch." he said.

I picked up on the subtext. I had ceded all claims of victory to Armsmaster. This was his way of saying he owed me.

A moment later, I heard the sound of his motorcycle starting up and driving away, presumably taking Lung away. Hopefully to a life of confinement.

I had about a half hour walk to get home. I would pick up my normal clothes that I had stashed on the way. My dad should already be dead asleep when I arrived back, so I had no more concerns for the night.

All things considered, my first night out could have gone worse. I had taken down a major villain, and had 5 heroes indebted to me in some way or another. There were plenty of hero stories that had started like mine, and ended much worse.

Despite the aches that were already setting into my muscles, I couldn't help but to smile. Even with tomorrow being a school day, I felt pretty good.