Disclaimer:Worm is Wildbow's , Exalted is White Wolf's. This is a non-profit work and is not to be distributed as such

1.1

I knew that life never was kind to people like me; the victims stayed victims unless they changed something. But, I thought when I am slammed into the back of a locker hard enough for my vision to fade into a haze of pain for a moment, It had been nice to not be constantly on guard and able to walk the halls of the school without fear of attack.

In my state of pain-filled shock I barely reacted to the ominous sound of the door crashing closed behind me. As I regained focus, the true extent of my situation hit me; I was locked in the dark confined space of a locker filled with used tampons and pads that by the smell that engulfed me had been there for a while. My eyes began to tear up from the betrayal and the smell, and I lost control over my rising stomach. The days lunch working it's way up my throat and joining the mess below. The addition of my stomach's content did nothing to improve the atmosphere and, to make thing worse, I felt my legs give out beneath me.

I sat there, my entire lower body covered in filth, and cried. I cried from the horror of the situation, from the loss of whatever hope I had held for a normal school life, but mostly I cried because of betrayal. I knew, knew that it was too good to be true. All my interest in war and long studies of battles had told me that deception was a core aspect of it. But whatever logic I had used had been overpowered by my need for it to be true, and now I cried with deep heaving sobs.

Time passed, the dark and unchanging nature of the lockers inside prevented me from knowing when in the day "now" is. Until finally, emotionally exhausted, I fell asleep.

When I woke, I was much more coherent. The jagged edge of pain in my heart had faded to a dull throb and my nose had, somehow, gotten used to the smell. As I checked my pockets for a phone I knew was not there, I noted that yesterday was Friday which meant that the entire school was empty and would be so for two days. Even my only cursory knowledge of how a human worked told me I would probably be dead from thirst before anyone could rescue me, and I was probably in shock with how little that seemed to scare me at the moment.

With slightly hysterical calm, I chose between breaking down into a sobbing wreck at the realization or thinking about my situation.

I would like to think that I chose the more constructive choice and spent the next few hours screaming my voice sore and beating the metal walls trapping me with tears trailing down my face.

I only stopped when rivulets of blood began running down my arms and the pain from my now damaged hand hit me full force.

The thirst soon overpowered the hunger, with images of cool water dancing in my head overpowering all other thoughts. It took an enormous effort of will to force my mind off the non-existent water and my trapped state. With nothing else to do, I thought and planned.

I thought of Dad and how my death would hurt him.

I planned horrible things I could/would do to Emma, Sophia, and Madison if I got free.

I thought of what my future could have held.

I thought of becoming a hero and bringing justice to my tormentors.

I felt the strength leaving my limbs as thirst takes it toll on my body, ravaging it for resources. Time stretched and contracted and as the day ended all I was were increasingly fragmented thoughts dancing and bouncing in my head. "I" no longer existed, only a conglomeration of thoughts and hallucinations bound to a slowly dying body of flesh remaining of the individual formerly known as Taylor.

Spiders crawled from my mouth and tap-danced on Taylor's face.

Taylor's ears held a discussion of ethics, ending when the right one killed itself after espousing Nihilism.

A tiny Cape version of Taylor flew around her face and screamed about justice.

As suddenly as I entered the state of madness, I left it. Clarity bringing a sudden jerking end of my disassociation. The first thing I noticed was that the Thirst and hunger were gone. Not reduced, but completely gone. The second was that my nascent dreams of becoming a hero had become a burning desire.

The third was that my Heart was no longer beating.

I had never noticed the noise before my heart disappeared and my breathing stopped. But without those slight but constant noises, the quiet was deafening. I could hear the insects moving around my feet, and the slight sound of fabric moving against fabric when I moved. Panic threatened to rise, quashed only by the thought that something had changed. Something that might allow me to escape this alive.

I had triggered. It was the only possible explanation for going from dying of thirst to being perfectly healthy and with no vital functions in an instant that did not involve dying. And I really did not feel dead. In fact, I felt more alive than I have ever felt before and I could sense energy pooling inside me and in the air around me.

There was no handy instruction book, so I choose to use the ancient and venerable art of trying shit until it worked. I decided that strength was a logical place to start, and shifted in place to get a better stance to try punching my way out. Half-remembered lessons on of to fight drifted through my mind, and with a silent grunt of effort I threw a perfectly formed punch into the metal imprisoning me.

It crumpled and exploded outward into the hall, a metallic crash marking when it hits the ground. For a second I was dumbfounded, I actually had super powers! I jumped out of the locker and almost moaned at the lack of the ever present smell; Freedom smelled so sweet. I walked out into the school with my head held high, whatever tortures I had been subjected to in the past were nothing to the realization that I was now something more than an ordinary schoolgirl.

A window was my way out of the school building itself, a broken latch I saw in class letting me jump out from the second story. I landed perfectly, with a small roll to disperse the force, and immediately began the journey home. The sky is pink with the light of dawn, and I can see the sun beginning to rise and as I walked to my house, I wondered how I was going to explain this to dad.

When I reached home I quietly unlocked the door and stepped inside, shutting it behind me. Right in front of the entrance I saw Danny. Sitting slouched over a chair with a phone in one hand, he looked haggard. I wondered if he has been sitting there the entire weekend, waiting for me to get home. I felt tears gather in my eyes again, and angrily wiped them away with one hand. Moving forward I engulfed his sleeping form with a hug, and I smiled through the tears that now flowed freely down my face at his unconscious expression of distaste at the miasma that surrounded me.

I left him to his rest and almost ran the last few meters to the shower, scattering clothes behind me. I actually moaned when the hot water hit me, washing away the filth that had been encrusted on my legs. For an hour I stayed under the water, allowing it to clean away the trials of the last few days. I left the shower almost glowing red, skin raw from repeated scrubbing. I gathered the discarded clothes before going to my room, carefully avoiding the worst stained parts as I gripped them between two fingers in disgust. I entered my room and immediately threw them in a corner; I would destroy them later. I fell face first into the bed and luxuriate in the soft embrace, burrowing into the sheets for comfort.

I was too hyped on emotion to sleep however, happiness at my new status as a super-powered person marred by the circumstances involved. My thoughts circled the subject of the future, and in the center of it all was my new dream and hope for the future.

Everyone wanted to be a cape; when you grew up hearing about their exploits and cool powers it was only natural. But very few actually ever managed to do so; I was no different. As a child I had played heroes and villains with Emma like all the other kids, but it had never featured strongly in my life and died along with so much else when I entered High school. However, now I felt it burning in my (non-existent) heart like a phoenix born again from the ashes.

My name is Taylor Hebert And I am going to be a Hero!

1.2

I woke to the constricting embrace and muttered prayers of thanks of dad. As soon as I opened my eyes he began frantically asking questions about my health, where I had been, and if I was okay. It scared me. I had not realized just how badly he had taken my disappearance, and once more couldn't stop my tears from staining my face with liquid. Faced with my tears, he broke of his questions and just hugged me tighter; desperately clinging to my shaking form as if I was going to disappear. We sat like that for the greater part of an hour, taking comfort in the closeness. When we finally begin discussing exactly what happened it was at the kitchen table, each with a steaming cup of tea to calm our nerves.

" Where have you been?" The question was laced with a definite note of fear, and I imagined that countless horrible scenarios where rushing through his mind.

I could have told him the truth, spilled the horrors of my last few days. But something stopped me. I felt it deep inside me, an unnamed want to solve my own problems. To fight this battle alone and unaided, and for the victory to belong to me alone. It was an intoxicating thought, and so I lied.

"I am sorry for worrying you Dad. But it was nothing, I was just invited to a sleepover by some friends and forgot to call." The lie is just on the edge of unbelievable, dad knew I had few friends; but he also knew that in the last few months my social life seemed to have gotten better. In the end, I believed that his trust for me was the deciding point and he dropped the matter with a rueful laugh and a sigh.

"I really need to get you a cellphone, we can afford a cheap one and I don't want something like this to happen again. And please remember to call next time! Promise me!"

I buried the guilt of my deception with the firm silent and vocal promise to contact him if I for some reason won't make it home. It took a week for me to work up the nerve to attempt my first act of heroism. During that time, I familiarized myself with the key capes of the Brockton Bay area focusing mainly on the villains and what i could expect if I fought them. I would have tried exploring my new found powers, but dad's almost constant overwatch and insistence for me to come home immediately after school stopped me from getting almost any testing done. I did however, very quickly, learn that while I no longer needed to breathe, eat, or drink I still could. My senses were also much better, with my glasses no longer needed for anything more than keeping up the facade that nothing had changed, and all the others sharpened to borderline superhuman levels.

It was distracting, the inane chatter of school life felt like needles carving through my skull on bad days, and the roaring of a highway on good ones. The smells I had never noticed before came to the forefront, with perfumes and colognes chemical scent becoming a common companion wherever I went. The only positive was that Sophia and her cronies seemed to have quieted down for now. Perhaps unnerved by my lack of reaction to their attempted murder.

The night I chose to begin my career as a hero was the Friday one week after I had been locked in the locker. Dad had lessened his constant watch, and after assuring him that I would be fine and over at a friend's, I left home with a small bag containing my new "work" clothes held under my arm. I had been to the docks more than most people my age, and finding an abandoned building to stash my clothes was easy.

Without access to any high tech materials or personal tailors, I had been forced to rely on normal clothes to cover and disguise me as best they could. Loose black pants, and a black hoody covered most of my body. Together with a simple black scarf wrapped around my lower face to obscure most of my features and I was, in my own inexpert opinion, unlikely to be identified in the shadowy night.

I moved silently through the docks, almost gliding through the warm night with smooth movements. I guided my path through the omnipresent gang tags, following a series of markings for Empire eighty-eight deeper into their territory looking for any suspicious activity. I knew that E88 was known for having a large population of capes, but I hoped to avoid any tonight. Fighting someone without knowing your own strength and limits would be foolish and that was something I wanted to avoid.

After twenty minutes of searching I finally find my targets for the night; a small group of five skinheads, and luckily for me not the giant masses of muscles that were so popular on TV. They were rake thin and young with drawn faces illuminated by lit cigarettes, while they were obscured at the mouth of the alleyway I didn't think any of them could be much older than me.

I slip into a wary-crane stance-readiness and closed the last few meters. My voice was soft, but it broke the nights silence and could be clearly heard by the young gang members.

"Good evening gentlemen. I am here to take you off the streets, don't resist." the effect was only ruined by a tremor of fear that made it's way into my last words.

The men look incredulous for a moment before one of the men speaks, and voiced a question that was an order at the same time. "James?"

One of the other members of the group, unique in that he is wearing glasses, took a moment to look me over before replying. "She is not a known cape, probably just another wannabe."

At a gesture from the one who spoke earlier the four others moved forward, surrounding me. While they had organized, a strange calm had fallen over my thoughts. The fear was gone, replaced by an almost eager anticipation for the coming violence. I broke out of my introspective as the apparent leader speaks again.

"We get dozens of you wannabe heroes coming to our turf every week, and no matter how many we send to the hospital you idiots never seem to learn. James, Fred, Adam, Lucas. Teach this bitch to stay at home and leave the Empire to its business.

The man with glasses , James,who stood behind me to the left attacks first. Power wells from inside me, and the unexpected a hay-maker, that I instinctively know would have damaged me badly just a week ago, is clear in my mind. With a whirling motion I twist around, parrying the blow with my left arm. It stings slightly, but was as solid and unmoving as a wall in my protection. Continuing the motion, my right arm describes a perfect crescent path into his trachea, colliding with the perfect amount of force to impair his breathing and knock him out of the fight without killing him.

Less than a second after he began his swing, James is on the ground clutching his throat for air.

I felt compelled to speak, my voice level and chiding. "If you must attack from behind, use something faster so you actually utilize the moment of surprise."

Knocked out of their disbelief at my mocking advice, the remaining three men bull-rush me. I jump, skipping from head to head in blatant defiance of gravity and landing behind them.

"Do not lose yourself to anger. It stops you from thinking rationally and creates openings for your opponents to exploit."

I followed up my words with a powerful snap-kick to the right knee of the closest man, dislocating it and causing him to collapse with a scream.

"Like that"

Before the other two can do more than turn and raise their clenched fists in defense, I was upon them deceptively strong blows raining down on them and locking their movements. In seconds their defenses fall and they join their companions on the ground, one clutching a broken arm the other unconscious from a blow to the temple. Power flows again, and I attempt to dodge to the side to avoid the kick heading for my spine.

I fail, and with a grunt I feel what promises to be a magnificent bruise begin to develop on my right side. This guy knew how to fight better than his underlings; when his straight kick had missed, he had twisted it mid-motion into a side kick and caught me in the side.

Stepping into a low stance, he dashes forward and attacks with a series of punches that I effortlessly bat away with sweeping blocks, each preceded by that sense of power. After three chained attacks, I twist my parrying hand and grab hold of his arm and pull myself over him.

Well behind my opponent, I lash out with a lightning fast series of blows.

A snapping strike to his shoulders rip both arms from their sockets.

A twisting motion with my hip throws him to the ground.

A final, carefully judged, kick to his head knocks him out.

Panting slightly, I stood above the fallen bodies of five grown men and laughed slightly. A week ago I could not even face my bullies, and now i had just finished completely destroying a group of five men with moves like those from a martial arts movie. My internal victory party was interrupted by the sound of applause, a slow sarcastic clapping sound that resounded through the alley.

Looking for the source of the sound I found it at the top of the nearby building. Cloaked in darkness I could only just glimpse the dark mask covering her face in the sparse moonlight, but it was enough to identify her.

Shadow Stalker.

1.3

For half a second I froze. A real cape, one of the Wards, had seen me fight. Then I forcibly relaxed myself. We were both on the same side and if she had watched me fight then she probably knew I was not a villain. But Shadow Stalker had a reputation for not being the most sensible cape around and her vicious nature was a matter of fierce debate online. She jumped from the building, and turned into shadow to slow her descent, she touched down with no sound except for a soft tap.

This close the quality of her outfit was apparent; I felt threadbare in comparison and I was suddenly unsure of how well my makeshift costume would hide my identity. Power welled within me but before I could figure out why, the dark figure of Shadow Stalker approached.

"Hey. Nice work on these idiots." she emphasized the last word with a kick into one of the man's ribs.

"You're a newbie, I can tell from the-" she gestured to my clothes. "don't worry about it, all us non-sponsored have gone through the same thing. You have a name yet?"

When I replied, I tried to lower my voice an octave, but it just sounded as if I had trouble speaking.

"Not yet I-" something told me to keep the fact I had just triggered to myself, a nagging voice in the back of my head that told me something was not right. "-just arrived in town." I finished lamely.

We both fell silent for a moment.

"Why don't you join me on my patrol? I could show you some of the tricks of the trade." there was a not so subtle hint of aggressive challenge in her question; daring me to refuse.

I didn't of course, the chance to watch a real cape in action? This was an excellent opportunity, and one I wasted no time in accepting. I jumped and bounced between buildings, to ascend to the top of the nearby apartment complex. Shadow passed me in her incorporeal form and had been waiting when I reached the top.

"You can keep up? Good. Then follow me and I will show you where you usually can find some gang members to take down and then we can really cut loose."

We moved quickly after that, and in silence, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Below on the streets I easily saw that we were headed to even rougher neighborhoods, the buildings became more dilapidated and the people looked more desperate. We stopped on a low convenience store roof that overlooked the main avenue, she gestured for me to come closer.

"Alright, we are now pretty deep in Empire territory, so keep your eyes open for the heavy hitters. I know the location of one of their secondary meeting places and thought we could shake it up some and see what falls out. Lets keep it simple when we need to fight; you keep them occupied and I will pick off any stragglers. Get it? Got it? Good."

I wasn't sure I liked how she seemed to assume that I would follow her instructions; but she was an experienced hero and it seemed like sound advice, so I nodded my assent. We dropped to street level behind the store, and she motioned to me to remain silent.

We Approached a filth encrusted entrance set in the wall of the convenience store, she flickers into her shadow form again and steps through the metal door. For several seconds I was alone in the alley, with the background stimuli of the city as my only company. Then the door opens, and Shadow steps out. Behind her I saw what I assumed to be the unconscious bodies of two Neo-Nazis.

"Come on in"

I Dipped into my power and move into the stance from earlier, gliding into the building with unnatural grace. The room we entered was a tiny thing, I assumed it to be a backroom of the store itself. The only interesting thing about it was the narrow stairs that lead into the basement of the building.

The bottom was wreathed in darkness with no lights except a single flickering bulb in a corner. Another door barred our way but this time when she slipped into shadow form she knelt on the ground in front of it and slowly moved her head through. It looked strange, a headless body shifting in place with her neck inside a door.

She pulled her head back out and returned to normal before she spoke in a low tone. "Okay, It looks like they are having some sort of cage match in there. I spotted Stormtiger, Cricket, and around twenty low level thugs. You get in there and distract them and I provide support from through the wall. Wait until I start shooting to attack."

With utter assurance that her plan was the best one, she pulled out her crossbows from under her cloak. They became shadows, and she took a wide stance before she aimed at the wall and pulled the triggers. Bolts of darkness erupted from both, in an instant they pierced through the walls and, from the yelps of pain that came from it, hit those on the other side. As she began reloading, Shadow gestured for me to begin my attack.

Power surged and my fist hit the iron door with enough strength to rip it from its hinges, it continues into the room, its flight was broken by the bodies of several gang members. I noted the bodies already down from bolts and did a quick tally.

17 left.

I was a dervish amongst them, their numbers stopping them from organizing any true defense. A blow to the floating rib of a man cracks it and downs him in an instant. 16. An attack from the side was intercepted by a punch that breaks every bone in the offending fist in an instant, the pain caused my attacker to faint. 15. To more bolts flew through the wall, each expertly aimed to incapacitate their targets. 14. 13.

By now the mob had managed to organize slightly, and I fell into a defensive stance backed by power. I became an unassailable fortress. 12. 11. every attack against me was rebuffed , 10. 9., and then followed by powerful incapacitating strikes of their own. 8. Before we could finish the last few underlings Stormtiger, who had just managed to exit the large cage that dominated the center of the room, lost patience.

With an explosive discharge, air erupted from the back of the room. It threw both the remaining gang members and me into the wall behind us with enormous force. On unsteady legs I rose again, settling into my combat stance again.

Behind the bare torso of the man with the tiger mask I spotted the smaller form of a woman I assumed to be Cricket. In her hand she held a viciously curved short scythe that she seemed to be able to wield with some skill.

Air had compressed itself around Stormtiger's hand, and taken the form of shredding claws. I only had time to wonder where Shadow Stalker was before both of them attacked in unison. In the split second before they reached me, I noted that both were excellent fighters and seemed to know each others styles very well allowing them good teamwork.

His claws head for my chest and her blade my stomach, both moving faster than I could possibly act, both lethal if they hit.

Then they are not and did not.

To all our surprise, their attacks swipe harmlessly through the air.

During the battle a red light had been slowly but surely filling the room; and now it blazed. I looked down at my hands and saw that my every movement was followed by a crimson aura of intertwining threads of light and incomprehensible writings.

Having shook off their surprise at the miss, the duo attacked again. Cricket moved in first, and Stormtiger stood back cautiously, observing my moves. I attempted to dodge an inhumanly quick series of blows, but only succeeded partially. A dozen open wounds over both my left arm and side are the result; but with effort I manage to ignore it. Taking strength from the wounds I retaliate with a single unstoppable punch.

Cricket's Kama, that rose in a desperate block, shatters from my strike; I felt several ribs snap under my blow before the strength picks her up and throws her away from me. Her flight was interrupted by the same cage she had been fighting in earlier and I winced slightly at the loud cracking sound her impact makes. Panting slightly I retake my stance, and noted that the light had intensified again.

Luckily I was saved from having to fight Stormtiger. Apparently, having taken out Cricket in a single punch made him wary enough that he decided retreat was the wiser option for now. Pausing only to pick up his female partners still form before disappearing into the shadows in a corner where I vaguely made out another door. I made no move to stop him, and when he left the room I fell to my knees panting in exhaustion, and the light around me flickered out as well.

I looked at my hands; they were shaking, though if it was from fear or excitement I did not know. I, little unassuming Taylor Hebert, had almost single handedly taken down over a dozen men and fought off two capes. It was more than just joy that I could fulfill my dream, it was the guarantee that I could now stand up for myself.

The only thought that marred that realization was the question of where Shadow Stalker had gone. After launching her second volley, I had seen no sign of her.

Where could she have gone?

1.4

I knelt there amongst the groaning bodies of my foes for almost five minutes before I felt that I had gathered enough energy to begin moving again. Muscles ached; unused to the punishment I had been exposing them to, and even the power I had been using to fuel my amazing feats felt low. I pulled myself to my feet and wondered exactly what I was going to do now. Before anything else however, I decided to secure all the gang members so they couldn't escape before the authorities came by and picked them up.

I was forced to improvise in tying them up, and several of them soon found themselves shirtless from my need for cloth bindings. Arms and legs were quickly and efficiently secured and I made sure to gag them as well, just in case. After I had made sure they all were secure, I began to search through their pockets to see if they had any interesting information. Before I managed to find anything of interest except a few hundred dollars in loose bills, Shadow Stalker dropped through the ceiling. She looked no different from before, and seemed unruffled at the sight of all of the men on the ground.

"Sorry about dropping out on you. There was another group that I was forced to deal with upstairs, and you seemed to have these schmucks under control." Her tone, like always, has a faint undertone of arrogance as if expecting me to agree with all she said. It was starting to grate on my nerves slightly.

"I called the PRT. They should get here soon, and you should be gone before they arrive."

I looked at her in surprise. "What? Why? I haven't done anything wrong, and you can just tell them I am not a villain."

She cocked her hip slightly before replying with a lecturing tone. "You don't want to be here because the PRT doesn't really like rogue heroes. They won't hunt you of course, or declare you a Villain. But don't expect any freedom until you agree to join them, especially when you're so new. So take my advice, and get out of here. We can meet up where you beat up those punks during the nights if you want."

Was what she said true? Would they try to force me to join them? I didn't know, but the chance was enough that I would do as she asked. Maybe in the future I would try to join the Wards, but now I wanted to explore this new world of mine. Of nightly escapades and battles, unbound by any organization.

So with quick goodbye and a final check on the downed Nazis, I left. I noted that there were no bodies at the top of the stairs but had no time to check if they were in the front. I had just managed to leave the building and leap onto the roof of a nearby living complex before I saw several costumed forms descend from the sky to the store. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, I left before I could identify exactly who they were.

I made my way home in silence, my head full of thoughts. Moving across the moonlit rooftops, the sweet giddiness at my victory intermingled with disappointment at not being able to meet any other capes. It was a childish emotion perhaps, but my dream was to become a hero and for all my ideas on how to measure up to the heights of those that had come before, I had not even considered if I wanted to join the wards, join some other team, or stay on my own. I was reluctant to consider joining a team. Something I had enough self introspection to know was a result of my bullying. I was afraid that even if I managed to join one of the groups that were spread across the city that it would only become high school 2.0 this time with superpowers. Perhaps it was a silly fear. But it was mine, and it was buried deep in my heart like a splinter.

I was glad to see that no lights were on in the house and that dad seemed to be asleep. I moved through the house carefully, avoiding the squeaky steps on the stair and falling into bed with a sigh after stripping of my "costume". I was exhausted, and fell asleep almost as soon as I relaxed. Dreams began to move through my sleeping mind like mist, covering all my thoughts in a blanket of silence.

Once, there was a Maiden…

Shadowed forms moved over my recumbent body, watching me with judging eyes. I could hear their whispers in the wind. "Why is this allowed when it can be prevented?"

…whom many men wanted for their own.

Bones protested the exertion as a powerful blow ripped through the skull of an inhuman beast like it was rice paper. I sighed and wondered, was this all there was left in my life?

She stepped as softly as starlight.

The golden halls of Yu-Shan held many secrets and I walked amongst them as one. They danced to my tune and sang at my command.

She shone with glory.

The two younglings fell within moments. "Your movements are slow and predictable. Again." they moved as one and attack.

And one by one, they came to claim her.

I watched from afar as the end of an age began and I wondered. Could I have prevented this? Should I have?

She fled by the quickest route she found.

I watched the gods die. Their corpses became nothing but weapons of unparalleled power. I picked up the remnant of an old friend in the form of a broken sword. He had lost his battle.

"Why do you run?" the storm clouds said.

Death came in darkness. Not the silent comfort of the night, or the howling evil of the Underworld. But the suffocating nothingness of Oblivion. I knew it was a trap, but it was a battle I needed to face.

She said, "I cannot help who drives me."

I woke, sat up straight, and looked down on unfamiliar hands.

1.5

I stared down at the small pale things before me, where they my hands? I moved, attempting to leave the bed. My movement, perfectly calculated for my true body, tripped me and I fell to the floor and- What? I shook my head to clear it of the last remnants of sleep, startled at the sudden pain of my body hitting the ground. For a second my mind was blank as it processed what just happened. Then panic set in.

That was no dream. I knew it with the same certainty that I knew the sky was blue and that the sun was a weapon of unimaginable power- No! I gripped my hair and pulled, the slight pain focusing my mind. Something was wrong and now my last sanctuary, the only place I knew where I could be perfectly safe, my mind was being infiltrated. The Simurgh was my first thought, but the fact I could even suspect it was enough reason to make that unlikely. I calmed myself with an effort of will, forcing my emotions back for the moment to be more objective.

The strange feeling of dissociation had faded, but the memories had not. And memories was what they were. They felt right if that was the best word to use, natural, and not something that came from an outside source. I think I sat there with my hair in my hands and unmoving for almost fifteen minutes before I reached a verdict. Even if that verdict was not one I particularly liked.

I could do nothing. If it was a Thinker of some kind messing with my head then I could do nothing unless I found out who. If it was something else? Then I barely knew where to start. But if it was something or someone else trying to influence me, why where the dreams so strange? I needed more information and, until I got it, I would need to keep suppressing my panic and fear at the thought of someone messing with my head.

I could feel a headache coming on already.

That morning I smiled when I saw the news, while it was not the headline, my nights escapade had been reported. A short piece on how a large gang gathering had been broken up by heroes and several men with outstanding warrants arrested. It only mentioned that an unknown hero had been involved in passing, but for me it was enough. The realization that I had actually done something to aid the people of my city and my dad unlocked something inside me. It was not some great rush of power or epiphany, just a tiny hint of something more, but it refreshed me and It solidified my decision to continue on this path. I caught sight of myself in the hall mirror on my way out and gasped. On my brow, lit in an ethereal red light, burned the mark of mars.

My first thought was that someone had made a mistake. Mars was traditionally the sign of males and Venus of females. The second was that it looked pretty cool. The third was that Holy fuck my head was glowing what was i going to do now? My hands flew up to cover my forehead, but did nothing to obscure the mark as it hung in the air in front of my forehead. I shouted a goodbye to to dad and rushed out of the house before he could enter the room and see my new marking.

I kept my head low as I half walked-half ran to a nearby park, avoiding roads where I knew that there would be more people at this time. Luckily, I managed to find my way without incident and even more luckily the park was empty. Obscured by a small grove of trees I collapsed into a perfect lotus position in front of a small pond. Bending over and inspecting my head in the reflection, I noticed that there was no sign of either the red mark or strange light anymore. With a sigh, I stand up and begin to stretch.

Since I had triggered and disappeared for a weekend, dad had been keeping me grounded/watched pretty much every minute he could. So today was the first time I could really try and see what I could do with them… Which in hindsight might have been good to do before rushing out into the city and fighting thugs. It had gone well but it was unlike me, and I had been starting to suspect that my power had a mental component as well.

I finished the last exercise meant to limber up my muscles, and promptly fell right back into the lotus position. After organizing my thought I made a mental list of what I knew about my powers:
seemed centered on martial arts.
more exotic applications seemed to use some sort of energy
3 This energy came in both Internal and external flavors and seemed to be limited in some way.
4. Using too much of it seemed to make me glow red and get a freaky floating mark of Mars on my forehead.
5. It might be messing with my head and causing me to be more aggressive/ less careful.

I tried to think of more, and came up blank.

How had I survived last night? I had no real clue what I had been doing, and if my power had not been so ridiculously instinctive I would probably be in the hospital right now. I shook of that unproductive thought, stood, and walked over to a nearby tree. I resisted falling into the stance from last night, instead focusing on the core of power that now rested within me. With a kiai I struck, the tree cracking and erupting outward in a spray of sap and splinters where I struck. It did not fall, but I doubted it would survive the rest of the day.

It had ceased to be a tree in my mind, becoming both foe and obstacle as i pummeled it with punches, kicks, knees, and elbows. Each tearing more and more splinters of torn wood from its still frame. With each blow the red glow that had begun to manifest around me grew stronger and with each blow I learned more about the nature of my foe. I knew of its purpose to grow, I knew that while it bore me no malice I needed to face it in my path to continue, and I knew where to place my strikes to maximize their damage. The great trunk of the old tree began to resemble a killing field, torn beyond recognition from blows that could slay a man.

I would become a Hero, this had become a central truth inside me this last week. A child's dream made concrete by power. I would fight villains, I would rescue civilians, I would fight Endbringers, and nothing that tried to stop me would be allowed to do so for long. Power flared within me, and my fist exploded forward with unstoppable force. The tree was less pierced and more annihilated as the entire lower section was reduced to sawdust by the blow. I panted slightly as the crimson light shined around me, filling the entire park with its light.

The remains of the tree hit the ground with a crash that startled me out of the slightly amazed daze I had been in. I looked around and knew that a broken tree and red light show in the middle of the day would call unwelcome attention to it. I decided to leave before anyone showed up and suppressed my internal power and fled the scene, moving in an unpredictable circle home to throw off anyone trying to track me.

After spending some time with dad I returned to my room and pulled out pen and paper. I had been too haphazard yesterday and if nothing else a plan was always good to have. I put pen to paper and began write my future.

From the top.

1.6

When I left the house that night it was with solid idea and a plan for my near future. I would, for the first few weeks at least, avoid other parahumans if I could and focus on honing and exploring my power. After I got a handle on my power I would then proceed to take down one of Brockton Bay's many gangs. This was so that when I joined the greater cape community it would be as an independent and worthy peer. From there only the sky was the limit.

This plan lasted about five minutes before it was crushed under the iron heel of reality.

The first inkling I had that something was wrong was when I arrived at Shadow Stalker's indicated meeting point and she wasn't there. The second was a massive blast of fire that erupted into the air from deeper in the dock area like a volcanic eruption. My head snapped towards its origin, several hundred meters away, but even from where I stood the ominous glow and smoke of fire could be seen.

I really shouldn't have decided to investigate. It went against my plan and would probably end badly for me; I still began to move towards the disturbance because if Shadow Stalker was in trouble and I didn't even try to help I would regret it and, the fact that deep inside me, my still non-beating heart burned with excitement at the thought of a battle that that illuminated the sky like a-n anima banner sun.

What was an anima banner? I shook of the strange thought, focusing on moving stealthily closer to the source of the chaos that now surrounded me. That was truly the right word as well; the area was a swirling hellish smoke and flame filled storm. I burst through a thick smoke cloud and onto a roof and saw the source of the flames.

It was a- Fire aspect Dragon-Blooded, and from the heavy mutations he seemed to have been deployed in the wyld for some time. It was fought two people at once, flinging fire at one to keep it occupied while he engaged the other with powerful blows. For a second I was dumbstruck, It was like something out of a story. Two knights facing a dragon in battle.

Then I saw who the knights were.

Leet and Uber, two low level supervillains who themed their crimes after video games and comic books. Uber, who could learn any skill in moments, was facing the dragon man clad in shining used a large two handed sword that sparked with electricity to keep his foe at bay, but the rents and blackened scorch marks on his armor seemed to indicate that he was losing. The draconian beasts advance was halted when a coruscating beam of energy struck it, the beam had emanated from the top of a intricate staff that Leet was holding.

Leet, who could create anything but only once, was also clad in armor but a much lighter design that was mostly covered in a gray cloak and was using a tall staff that shoot energy as his weapon. Each beam of energy seemed to do little however and as I watched, two enormous skeletal wings tore their way out of the back of the dragon. Their appearance seemed to have marked a shift in the battle, as powerful blows forced Uber to defend without pause.

It was not just brute strength either, I saw that he carefully moved to keep Uber between himself and Leet's line-of-fire while continuously bombarding him with waves of fire. They would lose this. It was clear in my mind that they would not, could not win, and guessing from the aggressive nature of their attacker they would be killed. I looked around, but I couldn't see any other capes that could help. Damn it all, I did not want to watch two relatively harmless people die. I might not be able to defeat the dragon-man, but I might buy enough time for them to escape.

I jumped, and landed In front of the rampaging Fire aspect. I had seen this before, a madness overtaking the rational mind of of the terrestrial. It passed, but until it did there was nothing to do but avoid or restrain him.

"Fall back, I will keep him occupied!"

The two mortals looked at each other in confusion. Did they not know Low realm? I repeated the command several times, each in a different tongue but they showed no a sigh, I gestured at them then pointed away indicating for them to leave. Eyes brightening they did as I commanded.

Then the Dragon-blooded moved having silently been inspecting the exchange, wary from my arrival. His attack was prefaced with a wave of fire hot enough to burn bone to ash, but I simply dipped my finger into it and pulled the core of the flame into me. Then fire washed over my still form, licking at bare flesh and clothes but doing no damage, it felt like a hot wind and not the scorching flames it was. I fell into the stance of the crane, mark of mars flickering into existence on my forehead, not wishing to kill such a powerful and therefore valuable Terrestrial.

Moments after the fire hit the draconian bulk of the rampaging man exploded into sight; If he was surprised that I could resist his flames he did not show it, not pausing or hesitating in the least. My essence pool was low and he was much stronger than me, but in the face of overwhelming skill strength was nothing. I was as the reed in the wind, swaying away from his attacks and redirecting his force against himself.

It was a refreshing battle, my low essence forcing me to rely on more unconventional tactics than I usually employed. I found that I enjoyed it, even as he tried to crack my skull with a two-handed blow, the simple dodge and parries relaxing in a way. Unfortunately, our battle was interrupted by the sudden arrival of a group of young boys and girls who announced themselves in a flurry of crossbow darts and fire blasts. One, dressed in white, moved to get closer.

Foolish.

The second he was within range my foe struck with astounding speed, and only my carefully placed punch to his elbow stopped the young man from being impaled to the scaled fist. However, the arrival of this group seemed to have begun to calm the Dragon-blooded down. His movements were less crisp, and his head moved around and seemed to be searching for an escape route.

Plans exploded inside my mind, a fractal pattern of cause and effect. A plan crystallized and was selected. He was powerful, and while I did not know who his lord was it did not matter, he would serve.

I met his gaze, his draconian eyes locking with my crimson ones for a moment. Then I faked an opening; he took it with gusto, slamming me aside and moving to escape walls of fire blocking any pursuit. I smiled beneath my face cover, then pulled my remaining power for my task. My anima flared around me as I activated my charm

and

In the sudden shock of transition from not me to me I felt two "knots" of power dissolve,I screamed as the fire that moments before had felt harmless began to burn me. My mind was splintered and raw from the whatever happened and my scrambling for power to reasert my protections could not find anything as darkness began to taint my vision. The last thing I saw before falling into unconsciousness was the flames beginning to fade, and the last thing I heard was the sound of my renewed Heartbeat inside my chest.

End Destiny

Interlude: Wards (Clockblocker)

Clockblocker was bored out of his mind when the alert came, doing nothing except idly surfing around the paranet for what felt like the hundredth time. It was required and expected for the Wards to read and memorize as many villain profiles as they could. It also became boring after the first dozen times. So when the alarm for a full mobilization came, he leapt into action with a prayer of thanks.

By the time all the wards had gathered, the situation had escalated and the entire dockside area was lit by flames. They moved quickly through the streets, following directions from an overhead helicopter. Miss Militia was leading them, her hands gripping a rifle and the visible parts of her face set in stone. They moved through crowds of fleeing civilians that nonetheless parted for them. As they closed the distance towards the centre of the disturbance, the crowd thinned quickly. The quiet conversation between the wards about what they were about to face quieted when Miss Militia spoke.

"I just got confirmation that the source of the flames is Lung."

Fear and groans was the natural reaction and Clockblocker couldn't help a whispered "Not that guy"

"Quiet." Militia's tone was sharp. "He is engaged with an unknown cape who seems to be keeping him at bay for now but that can change so don't relax. We don't know who or how this started, but that does not matter. We go in, take him down, and bring in the other cape for questioning. The fight has been going for a while so I don't recommend getting close to him. Vista, your job will be to keep him off us while we harass him. Shadow Stalker, your attacks are most likely to pierce his armor, so try taking out his legs. The rest of you, be careful if you need to approach. Now lets go!"

When the wards moved into sight of Lung and his foe, they froze. The battle was a strange thing to see; a small figure dressed in black fighting a massive draconian man, both engulfed in fire that seemed to bother neither. To their surprise, it seemed like the smaller man was winning. He was not attacking, at least not outright, but every time Lung attacked he either dodged or guided the blow with sweeping parries. Clockblocker's comment was rather disbelieving.

"Is that guy fighting Lung with Kung-Fu and winning?"

Miss militia ignored him. "Stick to the plan people." She commanded while aiming her anti-materiel rifle.

"Open fire!"

As one those wards with ranged weapons open fire. Bolts, bullets, and beams flew, but most simply broke on the thick scales of Lung. The bolts enhanced by Shadow Stalker pierced though, one burying in his shoulder, but the sedative that was its main perk burned away in the intense heat. As the attacks continued to fly clockblocker began to move closer, circling the battle slightly and slowly picking his way through safe paths in the fire. Just before he got close enough to freeze the rampaging man, Lung twisted his body, much faster than something his size had any right to be, and struck with a spear-hand towards clockblockers chest.

The only thing that stopped his imminent impalement was a small arm suddenly coming from the side and striking Lung's elbow, diverting the blow. This close the small figure could be identified as female, a fact that only barely managed to penetrate Clockblocker's slightly shocked mind. He retreated before Lung could turn his attentions on him again.

After that the battle did not last long; a single mistake and Lung body checked his foe and escaped into the city, stumbling slightly for some reason before reestablishing his balance. The Wards pursuit was interrupted before it could begin by the pained scream of a girl. The black figure that had been fighting had collapsed, and whatever protections keeping her safe from the fire had as well. Vista moved the fastest, space warping so she was next to the now prone form in a single step.

Carefully picking up the still form with a small grunt of effort, she stepped back out of the fire and back to the group. Setting the smoking girl, she allowed Clockblocker access so he could freeze her until they knew what to do. As he did, he could see that Miss Militia was rapidly speaking to someone through her earpiece. Removing her hand from her ear and resettling her large revolver against her thigh, she began giving out new orders.

"Clockblocker, you and I will be escorting this new cape to HQ. You will be keeping her frozen until evac arrives, and I will keep rest of you! Armsmaster will be joining you shortly, so try keeping track of Lung until he arrives but do not engage."

As Clockblocker moved to kneel by the immobile form, Aegis was quick to take command, his voice carrying an echo of command.

"You heard her, lets go!"