Do you have any idea how horrific it is to have ridiculous work hours AND insomnia?! I swear to the Gods Above and Below the first person to complain to me about our work load is getting shoved into the old freezer we left behind the factory because no one wanted to pay for it being scrapped.

I have the unclasped keyless padlock, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Oh, right. Written in about an hour fifteen, enjoy!

Side note, Tay's armaments? Merchants are going to be a thing next chapter, just thought I'd clarify that.

When the alarm on her bed stand went off Taylor's first thought upon reaching consciousness was a very definitive "WHY!?" After that moment of teenage lamentation she rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the bathroom while grabbing her change of clothes for the day.

Her first day back to school after Sophia's assault, and hopefully the last day she'd have to suffer the indignity of attending Winslow as her educational facility. Which, honestly, really seemed significantly less daunting now that she'd taken on the self appointed mission to pull the rug out from the E88 for her own personal gain...

Go figure.

While Taylor just went through the motions with most of her morning ablutions she took time with her hair, the near singular bit of her body she took any pride in, then she paused as she glanced at the mirror.

She hadn't needed her glasses since she had Triggered, she had in fact replaced the lenses with plastic she had snatched from a window kiosk months ago just to keep up appearances...but...why bother now? She was going to start a new life at Arcadia next week, and...what would it hurt to not hide behind the massive frames for one day?

What would it hurt to feel pretty, one fucking day in that hell hole.

So she slowed down, and took a bit of 'me' time for herself. Lip and eye liner, eye shadow, lip gloss, hell she even took a bit of time for her brows, brushing a hand through her hair she made a kissy face at the mirror and couldn't help giggling a bit.

She completely counteracted this 'girling up' moment by quickly attaching a collapsible baton holster to her right forearm before placing said baton in place. Pocketing her can of mace in her jacket, her butterfly knife in her pants, and jamming her taser into her jackets inner pocket she paused when her gaze met the gift Lisa had given her before they had left Fugly Bob's the night before.

She burned nearly five solid minutes before she snatched up the Glock 19 and shoved it into the back of her pants and wasted another five making sure her new black leather jacket covered it. Shoving the spare magazine in her back pocket she stared at the stranger in the mirror, and Taylor couldn't help letting out a dark laugh as she shook her head and turned away marching towards the foyer.

Dad was long gone, work started at five after all, Lisa wouldn't be awake yet, and she was done stalling, done letting others dictate her life. Snatching up her backpack she shoved her phone into her singular pocket not containing a weapon and made her way to school.

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The first thing Taylor noticed as she entered her school was that nearly everyone paused as she stepped through the front doors, and to be fair she couldn't blame them for their initial reaction.

Before the 'Shadow Stalker Incident' she had only worn neutral coloured, baggy clothing, today she was wearing black skinny jeans, combat boots, a violet blouse, and the black leather jacket with red stripes down the sleeves Lisa had bought her.

Add to the fact she was armed for a full on fucking assault and walked with the confidence of knowing this, she probably cut just a bit of a figure...

At least...she hoped...

Maybe the lack of glasses and the done up hair and makeup helped? Oh fuck was she out of her depth here...

What would Revan do?

Well... she would own this bitch, that's what she would do.

Sneering at a couple of girls who had laughed at her when Madison had dumped juice on her in Earth Studies less then a week ago Taylor sauntered past them while she did her best to project confidence. If this was the last time she saw any of these bitches she wanted them to know how little they mattered to her, and the surge of pure unadulterated spite made the corners of her lips turn up ever so slightly.

She had no idea that it simultaneously made her look both spiteful, and sultry.

The girls winced, one whimpered, they all turned their gazes aside, and Taylor sauntered on ignoring their very existence because, in the grand scheme? Not even worth vengeance, they had not ever, and never would matter to her.

That was...a kind of heady feeling really.

Arriving at homeroom she gave the very shocked Mrs. Knott a jaunty wave that she quickly returned as a quite bemused smile curled up the older woman's lips. The bell rang, the computer assignment was given out, Taylor completed it in five minutes, then she played Oregon Trail, which eventually had her swearing fluently in French when she heard an "Ahem," behind her.

Not even pretending she was bothered she leaned her head back and met her favorite teacher's gaze as the woman raised a singular brow, Taylor just grinned in response for a moment before speaking up.

"Cholera appears to be my misbegotten family's greatest enemy."

Mrs. Knott stared at her stoically for a few seconds before letting out a giggle snort, shaking her head she stepped around to the front of Taylor's work station and leaned forward speaking just loud enough for the ravenette to hear her.

"Be that as it may, Taylor...what...what happened?"

Taylor stared at the only adult aside from her dad that ever stood up for her in her darkest hours for a time before letting out a tired sigh, "I can't say specifically, but lets just say that I'm finally being given a decent turn and got myself a one way ticket to Arcadia. I just wanted...I j-"

Mrs. Knott placed a finger on her lips silencing her as she shook her head slowly looking slightly amused, "You just wanted to let all these little idiots know what they had taken for granted all this time before you were done with all of them for good?"

Taylor was silent for a time, and when Mrs. Knott removed her finger from her lips, she didn't speak, she only nodded, once.

Standing the older woman shook her head sadly as she patted Taylor's shoulder while whispering, "You're a good kid Taylor, and I'm going to miss you, but God Speed, go forward and never look back. I'm proud of you kid, give 'em hell." With that she turned around and walked back to her desk, leaving Taylor with her very confused thoughts.

Lunch should have been a simple affair, especially since her girlfriend had packed her lunch and she shouldn't have had to deal with anyone because who would bother her at this point?

Huh... Principle Blackwell hadn't said a word to her yet either...or the PRT...whatever... Like she actually cared at this point.

Very efficiently using her chop sticks she dipped her California roll into the soy sauce tray, all while filing away the fact that she needed to let Lisa know she was not afraid of real sushi, Taylor popped the rice and seaweed ball into her mouth while letting out a delighted sigh.

So much better then Winslow supplied food.

"Bitch, what the fuck did you do to Sophia!?"

The green tea was amazing too, just enough honey to sweeten it but not enough to drown out the flavor.

"HEY! I'm talking to you here!"

Holy shit were those fresh baked chocolate chip cookies? Taylor had a hard time be-

"HEY I'M TALKING TO YOU BITCH! I- GAH!"

Emma had tried to grab her tray, and Taylor soon found herself standing, holding her by the throat, knife in hand.

Tinkering distractions were one thing, girlfriend gifted snacks were another.

The cafeteria froze, Taylor tilted her head to the side, then released the gagging Emma letting her fall to the ground as she spun the knife closed and pocketed it as she sat back down to her incredibly awesome Lisa supplied lunch. She didn't even bother noting Emma's retreat, though when she went to throw her trash away she did blink in confusion as a group of skinheads smirked at her and nodded in respect.

Huh.

As she was walking away from the cafeteria to hide in the library for the last half hour of lunch an older girl sidled up to her side while smiling brightly, "Taylor! I'm so glad to see you up and about! How are you doing? I mean you were stabbed and all, yet here you are only a couple days later strutting about like you own the place."

Taylor blinked at that, "I'm strutting?"

Penny giggled and nodded, "Oh yes, you are strutting, so spill girl, what's going on with you?"

Remaining silent for a time Taylor eventually shrugged before replying with, "Err...I kind of inadvertently got an in with Medhall..."

Penny grinned in return, "Oh...do tell..."

Slightly paraphrasing here, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one (wo)man in (her) time plays many parts."

Darth Revan was never the most powerful Sith Lord, the most cunning though, well... When plot requirements didn't kick the idiot ball into their court, there was grounds for argument.