Disclaimer: If Worm isn't by Wildbow and not by me, I'll be flayed by swarms of bees. Everything else belongs to me. BEEEEES!

Queen of the Bay

0.0:

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Brockton Bay
21 February 2011

The roof was her new sanctuary. No one really wanted to be out here with the winter chill still in the air. Between that and the creepy staircase to the top floor which was used as a combination storage/garbage dump, plus bypassing the security door to the ladder to another locked security door? There were far too many easier places to find some peace and quiet in Winslow. But not for Taylor Hebert. No, the roof was her new Fortress of Solitude away from the Trio.

So far, they hadn't managed to figure out she was up here. For now. It wouldn't last of course. But she would take her little temporary reprieve for however long it would last. It was also a great place for her to practice.

Taylor smiled as the horde, no … swarm of flies pirouetted in midair and took out in an arrowhead v-wing formation. It was getting easier and easier, she realized as she simultaneously had a stream of cockroaches marching single-file in a perfectly straight line. And pivot! In a single movement of absolutely perfect coordination, the stream of roaches swiveled in lockstep and continued marching—this time in a broad line.

She tried not to giggle at her antics. It was amazing. To think, just a few days ago that she was completely overwhelmed with all of the sounds, lights, smells, and perceptions being filtered through the bugs in her range. But she had gotten used to it—like a droning buzz in the background. It was akin to suddenly realizing that you were blind for half of your life and donning glasses and seeing the world in perfect vision. Only for Taylor—it was a world of smells, sounds, minute vibrations, and other sensory perceptions that her swarm of insects were feeding to her.

Maybe … just maybe, she really could be a hero. Just like Alexandria. She smiled even wider at the thought. That would be so cool, she reflected wondering just what would it be like to meet with the legendary heroine. Guess I can't ask her for an autograph … that wouldn't be too cool for a fellow superhero right?

But it wouldn't be easy. My range is definitely improving. Since last week, its increased about eight to ten feet which means that my range has practically doubled in about a month. I wonder if my range will simply continue to progress or if there is some sort of upper cap… Taylor mused to herself as she scribbled a few notes in her secret journal—no, her HERO Notebook, she corrected herself proudly.

Right. And not only that I'm getting better at being able to discern just what kind of insects they were. Idly, she made a quick identification of the five million, eight hundred thousand, seven hundred and eight insects within Winslow itself. That was a fly, that was a moth, a group of bees, and a lone butterfly … it was a bit amazing really just how many bugs there were lurking around. This dump really needed an exterminator, she noted a sizeable infestation of roaches in the kitchens of the cafeteria and mentally reminded herself to never eat the food there, like EVER.

She tapped her pen on a section of blank paper thoughtfully. The problem wasn't linking to the bugs in my range—she did that practically automatically and identifying what kind of bugs that she linked to was becoming more and more instinctive. But what she was having a problem with was the extra sensory stuff. That was a bit difficult to filter through. Bugs just didn't see like humans did, didn't hear like humans did.

That was what was screwing her up, she figured. She wasn't used to seeing what a bug sees and hearing what a bug hears. Not to mention that ALL of that sensory data at once and trying to keep it cohesive.

Right. I guess I should practice that a bit more, she mused and set down her pen and closed the notebook. With that stray thought in her brain, she closed her eyes and started to concentrate. Breath in. And out. Breath in. And out. Breath—and she practically screamed as a huge barrage of sensory data flooded into her and caused her brain to practically explode into agony.

"fairlyitselfBITCHfuckyouwithinternFRACTALSwordprocessIweatherWEDNESgametonightThursdayrememnext—"

She squeezed her eyes tighter and pinched the brow of her nose and tried to breath regularly. Slowly, her headache eased a bit. Woooh. Right, take it a bit easy.

After a few minutes, it no longer felt like her brain was trying to burst out of her skull and was just a dull ache. Oookay, first rule. Don't have all of the bugs in my radius feed their senses to me all at once. That was just … too much. Too … too fast.

Maybe… Taylor nodded mentally as a trickle of information began to flow into her.

"canbeaithectarefreeKaisergress…"

There was a … mental pressure but it wasn't painful like the last time. Yeah … nice and easy—as she likened it to slowly opening her eyes and letting it to adjust bit by bit to a bright light instead of simply trying to stare directly at the sun and being blinded instantly.

OK. Right. Narrow it down. Further.

"merchanz bye de ewww we turkey club shit can her bleachers…"

With her focus narrowed, she was 'seeing' and 'hearing' through the eyes of several nearby bugs, narrow it down further, narrow it down and…

"—phia!"

Taylor twitched, hyper-alert at the familiar voice reverberating the atmosphere. Emma! She cursed mentally.

Suddenly, she was there. The images were blurry, the sound was hazy but it was almost as though she was standing 150 feet southwest from her position in a locker corridor with her former best friend and her chief thug.

"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses," Sophia Hess growled as she snapped her cellphone closed. "Piggy was squealing at me over that last bunch of skinheads I popped. Excessive force, my ass!"

Skinheads? Like Empire 88? But—but why would Sophia be apprehending E88—my mind blanked as the conversation continued.

"Let's go before all of the food in the cafeteria is gone!" Emma whined.

"Just lemme stash my books in my locker," Sophia protested.

"Hurry up!"

Sophia paused and then checked out the deserted corridor carefully. "Ehh. No sweat," she said. Then her entire arm transsubstated into a dark mist and then she thrust the smokey appendage through the metal door of her locker, dumping some of her school books—my mind stuttered to a halt and my focus was lost even as my eyes flew open in shock.

Sophia. Her arm … she turned her arm intangible. She … Sophia was a parahuman!

Her mind was frantically whirling, bits and disjointed pieces coming together.

Taylor only knew of only one parahuman who could turn into a mass of black smoke. That parahuman was Shadow Stalker. Sophia is Shadow Stalker. Shadow Stalker is Sophia. That singular thought ran through her numb mind. Then her frozen brain finally leapt to the next horrifying realization.

Shadow—Sophia is a Ward. She's … she's a Hero. A Hero!

A Hero did this to me!

The blood was pounding in my ears—no, I could literally hear the reverberations of the insects around me responding. Chittering, skittering, all of them reacting to my agitation.

And then everything fell silent as the next chain of logic fell into place.

They … they know. The school, the teachers … they know. They have to know. That's—that's why they don't do anything. It's not because of Emma's Dad or because Madison is cute or even because Sophia is a big important track star … that's why they ignore me. They're protecting her. They're … they're protecting their precious Hero! Her mind spat. And why not? What am I? I'm nothing! Just like Madison and Emma and Sophia say. I'm nothing! Worthless! Garbage!

I can't … I can't … what can I … they're not … they're not going to stop … they WON'T stop … the so-called Heroes won't stop her … there's … there's nothing I can do … no one will do anything … what … hot tears sprung into her eyes, coursing down her cheeks as she stared down at her Hero Notebook. She clutched it spasmodically, feeling the urge to rip it apart in a fit of savage rage. Useless! All of it! Her dreams of being a hero were spiraling down the drain because there was no way that she'd ever be a Hero like Sophia! She'd rather die! I'd rather be a VILLAIN than a Hero like her!

She barely felt her nails digging into her palms as she clenched her hands into fists, didn't even notice the blood oozing out and dripping as her towering rage stoked higher and higher as she started to hyper-ventilate.

Maybe it would be better if she had died back then … nothing had changed … GOD, things were even worse than before! She KNEW that nothing would change because Sophia was a GODDAMN HERO and she was trapped … trapped just like back in the locker … just like … LIKE—!

DESTINATION.

TRAJECTORY.

AGREEMENT.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: Did I just Second Trigger Taylor? Why yes, yes I did. This is like a week or so after she comes back to Winslow from recuperating after the Locker and she inadvertently discovers that Sophia Hess is Shadow Stalker.

Taylor is still regaining her emotional balance, high on the thought of being a Hero when she discovers that a Hero, a Ward had done this to her; she had a panic flashback to the Locker and BAM.

And so … the world undergoes a major shift thanks to Taylor inadvertently seeing a trivial use of Sophia's power and makes the connection between her and Shadow Stalker.

One of my reviewers on Archive Of Our Own, another site that I posted this story on; Muroshi9 stated that: "Only one problem with second triggering Taylor. Taylor second triggered while still in the locker in cannon. Numberman tells us this during Worm at one point. Adding another trigger would put her into the realm of the insane third triggers who become almost one with their passengers like Noel/Echidna, Glaistig Uaine/The Fairy Queen, or Taylor Hebert/Kephri."

My response was that: "Quite frankly, I never really bought that explanation of dual-triggering in the Locker. Once, yes I could understand but twice is a bit much. I have also read some speculation on the Worm Wikia that the Locker was Taylor's second trigger and that the first was right after her mother's death. Again, I had a hard time grasping that as Taylor never seemed to notice any powers after that event. It's possible I suppose but again, I found it unlikely. Welp, just consider it Alternate Universe shenanigans and leave it at that I suppose."