As requested by the original author I removed the other chapters except Deus Introductio from my account. Go check them out on ThePlotBunnyWhisperer's account on AO3 if you haven't.

Mors Feriarum: Vermis
Chapter 2: Yes, I'd like a Happy Meal with my Shard, Please

Darkness.

Taylor could feel Death (which was a rather hard idea to wrap her head around) pulling her through the nothingness. Flashes of light flew by, going faster than she could make them out.

A silver circle appeared before her, and the next thing she knew she was in the hallway at Winslow, behind Sophia. The teen had just closed the locker after pushing Taylor in, and was turning to Emma with a snide grin. Neither girl had noticed them yet, but Emma was about to glance their way. Taylor glanced to the side at Death, who was observing the scene with a calm smile.

Death glanced the students over with an unamused eye, taking in the group before him. His gaze stopped on Sophia, and he leaned forward with a raised brow.

Sophia flinched as the duo just appeared in her peripheral vision, and she whirled to the side with an explosive "What the fuck?!"

Emma took a step back, her face blanching at the portal that was vanishing. "Taylor?! Are you a-a-a a cape?! A villain?!" she said in horror. The students took multiple steps back, the instinct to leave when a cape shows up was ingrained into their bodies.

Taylor stepped back instinctively, the situation a bit too confrontational for her. Death shrugged with a lazy grin. "To some, perhaps. I prefer to be neutral but that's neither here nor there." From out of nowhere a clipboard appeared and he skimmed through it. "Let's see here... Sophia Hess. Born October 23rd 1995. Emma Barnes, December 23rd, 1995." He glared at Sophia harshly. "You've been bullying Miss Hebert here by abusing your abilities for nearly two years now. That's extremely rude." he said irritably.

Sophia took a few steps back, warily judging the unknown man who just appeared in front of her. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded in confusion. "How do you know me?! Why the hell did you help Hebert?!" She glanced to the side, sliding a phone out of her pocket.

He sighed, grin widening. "It's been quite some time since I've gotten to interact with mortals. It's amusing, really. The lives you've taken. Were they worth it? Were you ever the predator, or were you too busy stalking your own shadow?" He said with a wink snapping his fingers. Her body turned into a shadowy mist for a brief moment before reasserting itself. She stumbled, blood dripping from her nose. The silvery lines across his body pulsed a little as he looked more closely at her.

Sophia stared at him, aghast. "You just... the unwritten rules..."

"You never bothered with them. I don't bother with the written rules either, so it was no sins off my back. However, your little parasite that gives you those abilities of yours has also messed with your head. I'll fix that." he reached forward with a hand towards her face.

With a growl of fury, she reached into her backpack with a free hand and drew a knife, swinging at his hand. It cut into the palm, sticking straight through with no resistance. She stared at him for a moment before realizing it wouldn't inconvenience him. So instead, she pulled out the dagger and threw it at Taylor.

Taylor flinched as the blade approached her face with deadly precision. Right before it hit, it changed with a poof into glitter. They all looked to see Death holding Sophia's wrist with one hand and a strange gnarled stick in the other, which he had pointed at Taylor. "Well. That wasn't very nice." Death said, no longer sounding amused. Sophia tried pulling out, but Death's arm didn't even twitch. "I was just planning to only remove your power as punishment for your actions towards my host, but with that little stunt, you don't deserve to taint the ground with your presence." His eyes darkened, an impossibly dark void overtaking the previously vibrant green of his eyes.

Sophia began breathing faster as he reached for her again. Right before he touched her, she suddenly turned to shadow in his grasp and tried to pull away. The students broke out into whispers. Sophia froze as she realized she was still being held in place. His grip tightened. "Ah ah, none of that now."

Sophia bared her teeth at him. "Try me bitch. Just because you want to-

[CoNnECtiOn teRmInaTEd]

[PAIN]

[CESSATION]

[CESSATION]

[CESSA-

"-help Hebeeeaaaart..." Sophia's words suddenly slurred as her legs buckled. Death released his wrist, and she fell, slamming into the lockers. Her eyes stared into nothingness as blood suddenly dripped from her nose. With a sigh of annoyance, Death gently grabbed her chin, both his and Sophia's eyes turning black as night.

The remaining students had already been fleeing as any smart Brocktonite would do when an unknown Parahuman appears in your midst, and they sped up even more when they saw Sophia collapse without any visible attack.

Emma was frozen in fear, staring at the near catatonic body of their friend. Madison had run with the rest of the students. Taylor was standing there stock still with a strange expression on her face. "Wha- how- what did you do?!" Taylor stuttered.

"Nothing permanant, just taking her soul. I mean, honestly, it would have been a waste to let it get reincarnated. We already have enough people being punished. What's one less?"

Taylor and Emma stared at Sophia's still body for a few moments before they both fainted.

Harry sighed as the two girls collapsed. "Ugh, really? It's just one soul, hold it together." he muttered as he sent Emma Barnes to her home with a flick of the Elder Wand. He'd deal with her later. "I mean seriously, the amount of death in this city alone should have desensitized you to it, but noooo..." he complained.

Taylor was floating an inch from the floor where he caught her with his powers, and he awoke her with a single motion.

"Buh- Wha..." Taylor mumbled, eyes snapping open to find herself on the floor.

"Now now Miss Hebert, do get up. I can't exactly let you get hurt until my job here is done. I do like taking time, and this is a vacation, but I'd rather not spend it having you recuperate in a hospital." he smiled, pulling her to her feet.

"You just... she's..." Taylor stuttered, staring down at the dead, staring eyes of Sophia Hess.

"Oh please, she's only dead. Less than she deserves if I'm being honest, and unfortunately temporary. I haven't signed the papers yet, so she's fine." he explained, levitating her into the air. "Now if we just drop her off at her home, now that her powers are gone she should be a more reasonably balanced person."

"English please?!" Taylor said in frustration.

"She had superpowers. I removed them. Her body didn't like it." Death deadpanned, silver tattoos reflecting the fluorescent lighting in the hallway. His skin seemed to have a healthier pallor to it. "It also helped me recover my abilities a bit. This realm is hidden behind some quite large barriers, and this is an avatar of myself. Powerful yes, but limited. The more parasites- powers, I take, the closer I am to killing the god that's causing all this trouble."

Taylor blinked. "So she had powers?" she asked.

He groaned in frustration. "Are all mortals this deaf? For Hela's sake, yes she had powers. Do you already have an issue with my methods? From what I gathered after reading your life's paperwork, she tormented you so much already she deserved it. You do realize you would have died in that locker had you not gotten powers?" he lectured.

"Yeah..." she responded, still trying to comprehend the events of the day. If Sophia had powers, that would explain so much. Like how her stuff kept getting taken. And how Sophia knew how to fight so well. Running through all the capes in Brockton, the clear answer was Shadow Stalker. A Ward, which was why she got away with so much bullshit. Did the PRT know about this? If they did, what could she do? At this point, Taylor didn't really feel bad about the whole thing. She had heard that Shadow Stalker had only gotten into the Wards on parole. Rumors about manslaughter charges had been going around.

"I'm going to stop you there." Death said from his position against the wall. "I know you want to go on a warpath for revenge. I was once in a similar position when a mass murderer I killed as a baby who came back from the dead tricked me into thinking my godfather was being tortured." he took another sip from the purple cup with a fond smile on his face. "Ah, good times." She turned her head to stare at him incredulously. He shrugged.

"Regardless, I was tricked and it ended worse than if I hadn't gone. Now, in order for me to have an avatar here and interact with stuff, I had to use your power you should have gotten from the locker. As such, I do believe I owe you. I will help you get justice for the events that happened at school and generally make your life better. I would offer immortality, but I know better than to do that."

Taylor stared at him. "Sure. I'll probably take a day or two to fully process this, but hey, that's fine. I'll deal with it then. However, I want you to restore Sophia. I don't want to be marked as a murderer now that people think I have powers!" she complained.

He sighed, crossing a line on the paperwork he was suddenly holding? Had been holding? Whatever. Sophia shot awake on the floor, gasping for air and coughing.

"Hey, welcome back to the land of the living." Harry smiled. She stared at him, unseeing. "Yeah, the images of the underworld will vanish from your mind soon, becoming those repressed memories you mortals are so fond of, yadda yadda." She blinked once, focusing on him. He patted her on the cheek with a smile. "See you later. Stay out of trouble!" he smirked.

A wave of one hand opened a portal to Taylor's room, and he pulled her through once more before she could react.