《The Woven Light》


 Prologue

    Taylor looked around, a whole week had passed quietly, with Emma and the rest of the trio ignoring her instead of their constant stream of abuse. At this point there was not a lot of hope left in her about them having given up, so they had to be planning something.


    First lesson passed quietly no pranks no juice on her seat her homework actually arrived at the teachers table when he asked Emma to collect it. Emma smiled as she gathered everyone''s homework for the teacher.


    This quiet won''t last Taylor thought. It can''t, they never let up, never leaving her in peace for long.


    Most of the day passed quietly with Taylor getting more and more on edge and paranoid. At the end of the day as she was on the way to the lockers, to put the few remaining school books that were not destroyed away.


    Ofcourse the trio was near the locker. Emma, Sophia and Madison are all giggling and looking very happy, barely sparing Taylor a glance.


    What is it this time? A dead rat in my locker? Or has it been filled with letters telling me to kill myself again. Was the thought that went through Taylors mind.


    Nothing could have prepared her for what was in there.


    It was filled with all kinds of disgusting things like used pads stuck to the walls, tampons and even glass shards stuck onto the inside of the locker. The smell was Indescribable.


    Taylor could do nothing besides stand there in shock gagging at the sight and the smell. She was not prepared for what came next, as she suddenly felt a hand grabbing the back of her head forcing her in there. A swift kick followed to force her all the way in.


    The door slammed shut behind her and she heard the click as it was locked. Not even having enough space to turn around all she could do was desperately plead to be let out.


    Pleading rapidly became screaming. ¡°Let me out! Please let me out!¡± Yet all she was met with was laughter from the other side.


    ¡°This should teach her a lesson¡± she heard Sophia''s triumphant voice through the locker door.


    She did not hear much else for a while as she desperately screamed for anyone to let her out. Until her throat hurt too much to be able to continue.


    But it was friday and the end of the day. Most people were already gone for the weekend, the remaining ones not caring enough to let her out.


    Taylor was getting more and more desperate. I''m going to die in here, I can''t survive being in here all weekend. Her struggles were not enough, she was growing weaker and weaker bleeding from the little cuts from all the sharp objects placed inside the locker, none of them big enough to cause serious injury yet in her desperation she still cut herself on them over and over. Slowly she felt bugs crawl all over her, attracted by the smell. Making it even worse. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Eventually something had to give and it did with Taylors very mind starting to shatter.


    Suddenly Taylor found herself floating in empty space, feeling an unnatural calm despite a huge black crystal spiraling towards her.


    ¡°CONTROL, SUBJECT, QUERY¡± more ideas than words broke through her head, everything hurt, was it offering to help?


    ¡°CONTROL, SUBJECT, QUERY¡± instead of an answer to her questions, the same painful set of concepts were slammed into her head.


    ¡°What do you want from me?¡± taylor asked slowly getting more and more hysterical again.


    ¡°CONTROL, SUBJ¡± came blaring into her head again but it was suddenly interrupted. The huge black crystal had a brightly glowing golden spark form on it. Slowly that one spark had golden cracks spread out from it.


    A blinding beam of golden light shined from that spark.


    Once the glare subsided there was a really tall woman standing in front of her.


    With silver armor that had gleaming golden runes all over it. The woman was beautiful, yet clearly not human, her skin was grayish blue with silvery hair and horns that were visible through the hair. Long legs ending with hooves. Her eyes were glowing from within.


    After a moment Taylor realized that she could see through the woman as if she was barely there.


    ¡°Greetings¡± came from the strange woman, she had a aura that seemed to sooth away the panic that was still in the back of Taylors mind.


    ¡°I wish I had more time but this is a opportunity I have waited for a time immeasurable, the creatures shard is without proper guidance and damage, and because of that I have an opportunity to free myself and help you in the process¡± the words from the woman were clear and understandable yet in no language Taylor had ever heard before.


    ¡°Help me?¡± was all Taylor managed to say before the woman continued to talk.


    ¡°This opportunity won''t last long so I''ll have to be brief, I can give you my might, skills gathered over millenia, might that very few in the multiverse can match. And unlike the damaged shard trying to bond to you I need your agreement to do anything. Will you take this chance and be more than you ever would be otherwise?¡±


    ¡°What power? How can I trust you?¡± Asked Taylor. Her paranoia growing over an offer too good to be true. She was certain there had to be something wrong with it, there always was.


    ¡°I can''t offer you any proof, at this point i''m just a ghost trapped and being used as a power generator. All I want is to be free to pass on, I will give you all I can to help you be a hero, someone that can change the world for the better.¡± the woman explained, her voice sounding desperate.


    ¡°Please! Soon the shard will recover and I will be chained once more.¡± Hearing the desperation in the woman''s voice Taylor made up her mind.


    ¡°I will help you. If I want to be a hero I can''t leave someone suffering when I could help.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, and may the Naaru bless you.¡± was all the woman said before everything was filled with light. Through the massive stream of light flowing into Taylor, she could see the giant floating crystal in the background crack more and more. And the glowing woman becoming more and more ethereal, slowly diminishing until she was barely there.


    ¡°I wish you the best of luck in your travels young one.¡± came as barely a whisper from the woman, as she evaporated into nothingness.


    For a moment Taylor found herself standing inside a empty space as strands of golden light flowed to make a gigantic shape of herself that she was standing inside of. Giant orbs made of light slammed into place all around her making nexus points for the flowing light.


    Slowly as it faded Taylor could see for a moment a faint form of that same woman standing there.


    Jolting awake she was once again back in her horrible trap of a locker.


    That would not do. With no hesitation about if she could, she pushed the locker door open, breaking it, the hinges shattering from the sudden force.


    Once free she spared barely a glance for the locker that had kept her trapped for the whole day and headed to the school showers to clean some of the gunk off.


    It felt natural to be able to see in the darkness, with her eyes glowing from within. Feeling calm despite the ordeal she had just gone through.


    In that one moment destiny shifted as one fate was denied and another found.

 Chapter 1 Discovering Light

    The school showers were just as run down as the rest of the school. But at least they would allow her to get most of the mess off herself.


    With some effort Taylor scraped a lot of the stuff off her clothes, they now looked dirty but not as if she had taken them straight out of a dumpster. Not going to enjoy putting them back on. Taylors thoughts of having to put them back on did not fill her with happiness, but she resolved that it would still beat trying to make her way home naked.


    The water was ice cold, no heating as it was the night and the boilers were off, but she barely noticed. So many cuts, how do I hide them from dad I really don''t want him to worry. Taylor had barely had time to think of the cuts before realizing that she could heal them. A tiny bit of focus and a faint golden light flowed over her with the cuts closing in moments.


    Feeling a lot better and being a hell of a lot cleaner she headed for home.


    Only once walking past the lockers towards the only door that she knew did not have a working lock, did she realize that there was a light coming from her eyes. They looked so unusual, her normal eye color was not even visible through the light shining from her eyes.


    That shine should make me basically blind, yet I can only really see it in the reflection, with it not hindering my sight at all. This will out me as a parahuman without me even having a chance to do anything. As soon as she had thought of it, knowledge on how to tune the raging inferno of light flowing through herself, to allow it to be hidden flooded her mind. Yet knowing clearly that using any larger amounts of it would bring the glow straight back.


    One problem solved she finally made it out of school. The night was dark yet the city had worried looking people going around, and more than a few gang members visible in the streets around her as she hurried home.


    To her own amazement and happiness Taylor was able to jog the whole way, not even feeling out of breath. This is amazing! Im feeling as if i''m barely trying while going at a pace that would have left me gasping for breath just yesterday. The temptation to try just how fast she could go was there but tempered by not wanting to draw attention.


    Arriving at home, the lights were still on.


    After taking a deep breath desperately trying to think of what to say to put her father at ease. She stepped in.


    ¡°Taylor your ok. I was so worried! What happened?¡± her father''s voice was frantic as he rushed up to pull her in a hug.


    ¡°I''m ok it was just a stupid prank at school¡± said Taylor, resolving yet again to not tell her dad about how bad it was as there was nothing he could do. The school would just deny anything having ever happened, and Emma''s father was a lawyer they would have no chance in court either, even if her dad could afford it.


    ¡°A prank that left you unable to get home till 3 in the morning?¡± Asked Danny, the outrage in his voice at the very idea that it was just a innocent little prank.


    ¡°I just got locked in a classroom, i''m fine¡± The lie came easily with a practiced ease, ¡°I just want to go to bed now it''s been a long day.¡± Listening to Taylor it was easily visible that he did not really belive her, but at the same time he was unwilling to really push to try and get her to tell him what was really going on.


    The next day after checking on her to make sure she was fine, Danny headed off to work. Once more working on the weekend as well. The dockworkers union had been struggling for a long time. Not many companies felt safe shipping things overseas with the Leviathan prowling around. It was weird to think it used to be sailors telling tall tales about monsters in the sea and now, there was a actual monster in the sea. After the first attack the military had tried to destroy him, but the whole fleet was destroyed in minutes.


    After eating breakfast, that to her own shock consisted of a whole stale loaf of bread made into toast, yet it still left her feeling hungry. Taylor decided that some effort in figuring out what exactly she could now do was warranted.


    She already knew that she could heal. Her instincts telling her that it would work on others as well.


    A few simple tests to figure out how strong and fast she was proved that trying it in her house was a bad idea. One of the legs of her bed was now bent with a imprint of her hand in it. Lifting the bed from just one corner was easy enough. Not breaking it in the process was apparently not.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Some time spent awkwardly hopping around with even attempts at flapping, in hopes of having the ability to fly. No luck there, no flying powers making a sudden appearance today, though she did find she could jump high enough to smash her head in to the ceiling, while in the process discovering that her head was harder than the ceiling proved by the cracks in her bedroom ceiling and none on her head.


    After a bit more thinking and some grumbling over the fact that it would be so much easier if they could afford a computer and internet. She headed over to the library to get some ideas.


    After some searching and reading on the public computers and lots of clicking through the PHO forums, the ParaHuman Online being the main forum for all parahuman related topics, for things to try, although some of the suggestions were clearly done with malicious intent. Suggesting someone jumps off a building to see if they can fly, definitely not a suggestion given with anyones good health in mind.


    But some good ideas were indeed found. Some were amusing like a suggestion to try and summon a hammer from the sky. Just imagining that made her smile for a moment thinking how silly that would look until she suddenly found herself with a perfect understanding on how to summon a hammer and matching anvil out of light for making things.


    She even got some ideas on where to go to try things out.


    The docks were full of warehouses that had been abandoned as businesses had moved away or died.


    Finding one that looked completely abandoned in a area with others empty as well was easy enough. Though on the way she saw plenty of ones repurposed for use by the gangs in the town.


    Getting into the building also proved easier than expected, the door only had one rusted padlock holding it closed. And her strength was now more than enough to tear it apart with little effort.


    The earlier brainstorming had given her plenty of ideas on how to try things, a few tests for each of the categories that PRT, the official government Parahuman Response Team had for their ranking.


    Trying to run around as fast as she could was exhilarating feeling almost no strain from running back and forth in the warehouse. Rough estimation put her at being able to match and outpace an average car in city traffic with ease. Some less silly jumping proved Taylor able  to jump high enough to touch the ceiling of the warehouse with ease, and even the rusted car got included as a test weight to lift and with a bit of effort it came off the ground. However balancing and finding leverage to not just fall over turned out to be harder than actually lifting it.


    Running between the crates also brought some discoveries. Cool my powers come with built in parkour knowledge. Taylor greatly enjoyed the discovery that running from box to box and maneuvering up and down them at full speed was amazingly easy.


    The very random seeming hammer and anvil turned out to be amazing too at making things in ways that defied logic. A piece of rusty metal got turned into a shiny clean looking plate in minutes without any of the effort it should have needed. Guiding power into patterns that seemed ingrained into her very muscle memory and a few minutes later you have whatever you were trying to make.


    The list her power provided perfect blueprints for was long and detailed. And to her great annoyance mostly filled with plans that required materials that did not exist. For instance, Mithril a supernaturally strong metal that channeled mana easily, that apparently only existed in mana rich areas. What even were mana rich areas. She could not help but wonder. And was promptly aware that her world was completely manaless with near no magic and the only possible source of those materials were worlds she had never even heard of.


    She now had the ¡®how¡¯ part of making a costume, even if she had no clear idea of exactly what to make. Even carrying it around and hiding it was going to be easy as she could make a tiny bag that could hold 16 individual items regardless of size as long as she could pick it up. Even if the arbitrary limit of only ever being able to have one of those without having a skilled crafter making her actual bags of holding. Her one bag that could be crafted with a small amount of cloth and to defiance of logic her hammer and anvil. The bag itself was apparently not even the important part for holding as just remaking it would instantly give her access to the same contents as the old bag had.


    ¡°A bag tied to my very soul that apparently is taught as basic exercise in mana usage for children.¡± Taylor could not help but say out loud as it seemed so hilarious while being so fantastical.


    So if I focus on wanting to use magic powers to do something I''ll remember how to do it if it''s possible. That''s so amazingly useful, I wonder if I can use it for schoolwork. Some attempts at prompting her power showed that she could access skills and knowledge the mysterious woman had.


    Focusing on knowledge of technology proved that the woman apparently knew quite little of technology, there was knowledge of a teleporter but it was magic not technology and required a huge list of materials the whole world lacked.


    Focusing on math and physics showed a lot of real world knowledge but the theoretical knowledge was less than Taylor herself knew as no new revelations of understanding made themselves known.


    Ranged attack ideas provided her with a magical shield throw that would throw a disk of light that bounces up to five times onto things she wanted it to hit. It did come with a unusual limiter that she needed to have and use a shield to start it. Though apparently the definition of shield was quite flexible.


    The door off the rusted car counted. And made a door shaped imprint in concrete. Some planks tied together with cloth had far less of a damaging impact giving some ideas of trying to make a shield with a soft covering that could be taken off for a non lethal option.


    Scarily enough most of the uses for her new excessively shiny magical abilities were also excessively lethal, forcing her to figure out ways to make them less lethal.


    She wanted to be a hero not a killer.


    The evening at home was quiet, her dad seemed unsure of what to say to her so it was more awkward silences than talking, though there was some wonderment at the amount of food she ate, until Taylor retreated to her room to read and draw.


    And draw she did! Spending most of the night drawing different combinations of armors she now knew how to make. The best she could make while only really having materials for a small section of the huge blueprint library that now resided in her head.


    The next day as always her dad headed off to work. Taylor on the other hand went back to the warehouse after grabbing some materials she knew she would need. A few older clothes for cloth her dads old leather jacket from a box in the basement, and a few other items from the house that she knew her dad would not notice was missing.


    The base material of the armor ended up being the rusty car, that her new logic defying blacksmithing allowed to transform into high quality pieces of armor, while leaving piles of rust on the ground.


    The evening passed slowly with some smalltalk between her and her dad and a pizza as dinner. Waiting for her dad to fall asleep so she could go out to patrol, stop crime and be a hero.


    Finally after confirming that her dad was asleep Taylor used her own tiny bag of holding attached to her belt to equip her full set of armor and headed out the window into the town.


    Not knowing what the night would have in store for her.

 Chapter 2

    For Taylor the small hop down from her window, a jump that would have brought the risk of broken bones was now done effortlessly. Her movement silent, swift and filled with almost giddy happiness over having a chance to prove herself.


    Her armor gleamed faintly from the streetlights. A suit of armor that should have been made of fantastical magic metals, was instead made of reworked steel with some ash added in to dull the shininess, as being highly reflective would have been impressive, it would have also removed any chance of stealth. The steel armor was padded on the inside and felt far more comfortable than any heavy metal armor had the right to be. Instead of clanking and noisy like you would expect, the inhuman workmanship had provided joints that moved so smoothly no noise was made. Only her accidentally hitting herself would have given her away, yet skills she was not even fully aware of made her movement smooth, fast and silent.


    The helmet itself covered her whole head, with not even a strand of hair peeking out. A visor made of what used to be aluminum covered the top front half of her helmet and was far stronger than it had any right to be. Fully transparent in only one direction, from the outside the light passed freely allowing her to see with no obstructions, while in the other direction the only thing showing through was the glow of her eyes that seemed to penetrate it easily.


    Taylor considered her appearance as heroic as a knight in shining armor. Wholly unaware that her tastes combined with a more functional mindset had made an armor that was dark gray and menacing, with a look meant more for intimidation and stealth. The black shield and the sword on her back not helping that image. A baton was added as an afterthought, attached to the side of her leg. Her equipment was designed for war, something Taylor failed to fully realize.


    Options had been considered to make herself look more heroic but the runes meant for this armor that were designed to ease and amplify the light were out of her reach and made improperly they would just hinder her. Though in time that could change, improvised methods for changing metals from something mundane to something magical existed but were time consuming, requiring far more than she was willing to spend in preparation, for her new future was beckoning.


    A few quick hops from ground to a lamppost and from there onto the nearest roof, she commenced her patrol.


    Despite Brockton Bay being a cesspool of a town filled with crime. The first few hours went quietly with her just traveling around from rooftop to rooftop with leaps no one in heavy armor should have been capable of making.


    Finally she heard something out of the ordinary. ¡°Don''t do this! Please just let me go!¡± someone was calling for help. In a few moments Taylor was standing on the edge of the roof looking down at two men dragging a young girl away.


    Both of the men were well muscled despite the occasional twitches from drug overuse. Both of them bald and covered in tattoos, neither of them seemed to be bothered by the girls pleading in the least, continuing on as if this was just another regular day.


    With not a moment of hesitation Taylor jumped down from the fourth floor roof slamming into the ground with a dull thump, Leaving imprints of her boots in the asphalt.


    ¡°Release her!¡± She barked as an order once she had landed. The steel in her voice leaving the implication of ¡®or else¡¯ clear.


    ¡°Fuck its a cape! Boss help!¡± one of the thugs yelled and turned to run. The other one instantly let go of the girl and went to grab his gun.


    Taylors reaction was quick. In one smooth motion the baton got pulled and used on the thug that tried to flee.


    A quick blow to the side of the head and he was on his way to the ground unconscious. The other one found his hand grabbed before he could even finish getting his gun out. A swift slam to the face by a very solid helmet left him with a broken nose before joining his friend on the ground unconscious.


    That was a lot easier than expected. Mused Taylor before looking over at the girl who after a closer look already had several bruises forming on her face. She was struggling to get up. Most likely a concussion. Diagnosed Taylor while offering her hand to help the girl up. ¡°You ok?¡± Taylor asked.


    ¡°Thank you, Thank you. I was sure they were going to kill me for not being able to pay for tonight''s hit.¡± Came the reply from the girl. Who was struggling more from withdrawal than concussion as Taylor had initially thought, and clearly not quite there at the moment.


    I need to help her. Was Taylors thought. ¡°You really should stop with the drugs, here let me help.¡± and without even waiting for a reply Taylors hand reached out, with a golden soothing glow emanating from her hand. In mere moments the young woman''s eyes cleared up and the bruises faded. Taylor did not yet truly understand that saying for someone to stop doing something and getting rid of the physical effects was unlikely to change much, but maybe there was hope.


    ¡°I need to go.¡± squeaked the girl, who upon being clear headed decided the best course of action was to turn and run. The action leaving Taylor baffled, as instead of gratitude and happiness upon being healed, was met with an unexpected departure. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Finally remembering the two unconscious thugs. Taylor used a quick burst of healing on both making sure that she had done no permanent damage to either. I need to get something to restrain them for once they wake up... and probably a phone. Were thoughts brought on by her lack of methods to restrain either of them or for calling the police to come and pick them up.


    But before she could get to work dragging the two towards the nearest phone booth. The background noise that this far had hidden the sounds of something large moving closer to her, was broken by a unexpected noise, a blow from behind, throwing her clear across the alley onto the street itself where after a momentary roll, during which she managed to twist herself around, pulling out her sword and shield and getting up before skidding to a stop, facing the new threat.


    The shield in her hand was covered with a black layer of rubber salvaged and reworked from old tires, attached by metal threaded around the edges hiding any details about the real surface of the shield. And a sword far too thick and solid to be comfortably lifted by humans.


    With huge stomping footsteps a giant humanoid creature made of trash came running after her out of the alley.


    Momentary uncertainty flowed through Taylor has her instincts told her to use her sword yet her upbringing and morals screamed at her to swap to the baton. With the pace that the monster made of trash was approaching, sheathing the sword would have been too slow, so Taylor just slammed it into the asphalt driving it half way into the ground using it as an anchor for the incoming blow, and lifted her shield in the way of the oncoming fist. The impact thudded across the street as a giant fist met a small girl with a shield.


    The blow had been massive, driving her towards the ground while her whole body compressed downwards absorbing the impact, in a moment the force of the blow was spent and Taylor forced her shield upwards throwing the arm away from her.


    Being weaponless she improvised and used her shield as one. A blow from the padded shield met a body made of trash, and despite the massive difference in weight between the two combatants the monster went flying.


    Before the monster could recover Taylor took the initiative and moved in to attack. The blows from the moving mass of trash were easily avoided or skillfully deflected with a shield, yet the blows from Taylor did little else besides throw the monster around.


    The battle was at a stalemate. Any trash that was blown off the monster was quickly absorbed back.


    As the fight dragged on Taylor found herself unsure of what to do as her instincts guided her to retreat back to her sword to rearm herself and cleave the entity apart, or to use the offensive spells and have holy fire cleanse the world of this monster. Not having the time to consider in depth how to defeat the enemy without killing it, she was at a loss. She outclassed him by far yet had no way to defeat him that would be acceptable for her.


    The endless battle was interrupted by a third person joining in. A young woman with platinum blonde hair and a white dress with a golden tiara.


    The woman in question was was Victoria Dallon also known as Glory Girl. Someone whos powerset fully fit under the flying brick category, invulnerability, flying and super strength with the only aspect outside of that category being her emotional aura making people either fear her or be in awe of her, depending on her emotions.


    And Glory Girl joined the battle in the most unexpected of ways. Flying at full tilt past Taylor and smashing fists first into the monster. While she flew past Taylor, with her sensitive hearing could pick up grumbling from Glory Girl ¡°Ugh, I''m going to need two showers after this.¡±


    The impact smashed a massive amount of trash loose sending an almost human sized shape flying into the distance.


    Once the monster was for the moment out of the melee. Glory Girl quickly floated over to Taylor. ¡°Hi, are you a hero or do I need to smash you as well?¡± came the perky and happy sounding question from Glory Girl.


    The question baffled Taylor for a moment. She sounds like she really wants to get a chance to fight more. Thought Taylor before she responded. ¡°Hero, or at least trying to be, and I think it just escaped into the sewers¡±


    ¡°Dammit¡± came from Glory Girl as she quickly flew down the street to the open manhole cover that the monster had vanished into. After a momentary cursing session she seemed to remember Taylor.


    ¡°Did he manage to hurt you? As I can¡¯t tell through all that armor. I can call Amy to come and help if your hurt.¡°  asked Glory Girl now looking all worried.


    Taylor on the other hand was wishing she could pull off as heroic of an appearance as Glory Girl, who was just floating there with her long blond hair gently flowing in the wind and looking suitably majestic and heroic, at least as far as Taylor was concerned. And Taylor on the other hand was covered in all kind of unmentionable liquids that had gone flying from the trash each time she punched the creature. Once Glory Girls question reached her conscious mind she replied. ¡°I''m fine nothing he could do could actually hurt me. I was just unsure how to actually take him out.¡±


    ¡°It''s cool to have another female hero in the town, we have waaay to few.¡± continued Glory Girl and after a few moments adding ¡°Even if your a tinkerer, with scary looking power armor.¡±


    ¡°It''s just armor.¡± was Taylor''s reply, not for even a moment considering what kind of advantage she would gain if everyone thought her powers were tinkerer equipment not abilities.


    ¡°Cool, Im Glory Girl what''s your name?¡± was Glory Girls further on questions. A question that Taylor had no good answer to, as thinking of a name for her hero persona had not even occurred to her in her rush to fight crime.


    ¡°I''m Ta...¡± Taylor managed to only get the first letters of her name out before she realized what she almost did. ¡°I have not had time to really think of a name yet.¡± she confessed a moment later.


    ¡°You really need to figure out a name yourself otherwise the public will stick you with one and you won''t ever get rid of it.¡± came the admonishment from Glory Girl. Followed by more questions.


    ¡°Have you called in cops to come pick those two up yet?¡± asked Glory Girl pointing at the two unconscious thugs in the alley.


    ¡°I don''t actually have a phone.¡± confessed Taylor. Gaining some more comments from Glory Girl about having to be prepared especially as a tinkerer. Glory Girl spent the next twenty minutes telling Taylor all the tips she could think of while waiting for the cops. Also pointing out that, as the victim had run away, all the cops would be able to do was lock them up for the night, mark them up as gang members and if there were no prior crimes on the list probably free them by morning.


    Though the worry about criminals quickly being let free was soothed by the fact that there were a lot of escaped prisoners in Brockton Bay due to police being unable to stop Villains from breaking their henchmen out of prison. At least that was true for the ones that spent too long in the local police prison.


    Seeing the sun rising over the horizon prompted Taylor to start rushing home putting Glory Girls phone number in a little storage compartment on her armor, and promising to be more prepared next time.


    Despite the embarrassment from finding herself unprepared despite all her preparations. Overall Taylor felt exhilarated from the activities of this night.


    Getting to meet Glory Girl was cool, and she promised that I could call her for advice and help once I have a phone. Were the final thoughts from Taylor as she laid down for a quick nap. To prepare herself for another day in the hell that was her school, Winslow High.

 Chapter 3

    A few hours later her nap was over, Taylor got to say bye to her father as he headed off to work. Once again she emptied anything remaining in the fridge for her breakfast. Still feeling constant hunger and eating far more than she would ever have eaten before. Taylor got ready for school and headed off.


    Walking past her locker she saw that someone must have noticed the state of it. As it had been cleaned even if still smelled quite foul, the door on the other hand had not been replaced and even if it had been fixed, she had no intention of ever using it again.


    First few classes went unusually quietly with the trio constantly staring at her seemingly baffled over the fact that she was back in school as if nothing had happened.


    At noon during the lunch break Taylor was told by one of the teachers that she was needed in principal Blackwell¡¯s office.


    Arriving at the office the secretary seemed annoyed at having to deal with yet another student but after a quick check with the principal, she sent her in.


    Principal Blackwell was sitting behind her desk looking unhappy. She was dressed in a all black dress, with dark blond hair and a frown that looked so natural it made you wonder if she had ever smiled.


    ¡°Have a seat.¡± She directed with a curt order pointing at the chair opposite her on the other side of the desk.


    ¡°Once again you are making trouble. You really need to get a grip on yourself, no person in their sane mine would have tried to store their used feminine products in their locker.¡±  The unexpected verbal attack shocked Taylor for a moment.


    ¡°Emma, Sophia and Madison filled my locker with all of that, and then shoved me in there!¡± Taylor responded growing more and more angry at the nonsensical accusations.


    Blackwell¡¯s response only made her anger grow ¡°You really need to stop throwing around wild accusations and made up stories.¡± For a moment Taylor considered attacking her, it would be so easy. Yet the realization of what she was considering hit her like a cold shower. Cooling her rising temper down. Im better than it, a better person than her. Went through Taylors mind as she forced her anger down.


    She did manage to see a brief pause and a look of guilt on Blackwells face before Blackwell resolved back to just an annoyed look as she continued her tirade ¡°You keep throwing wild accusations at those three yet their schoolwork is flawless, and there has never been any evidence of Sophia doing anything like what you are saying. While there''s plenty of proof of you making up wild stories. Dear girl if you make another incident like the giant mess with the locker, one that I have to say the janitor was very unhappy to find, you will be looking at being suspended from school, or even expelled. I will not allow your personal problems to cause issues in this school.¡±


    After the wholly undeserved tirade Taylor was dismissed. The anger at the outright insane level of unfairness of the situation was smouldering, yet she knew that she could not really do anything about it.


    When she stopped outside the room to take a deep breath to try and calm herself back down she heard the principal''s voice, too quiet for someone without her now inhuman senses to hear, ¡°The school can''t afford to lose the funding, one student is not too big of a price. I just need to get her to tone it down.¡± It sounded like Blackwell was trying to justify the unfairness to herself, and made it even clearer that she was defending someone. It has to be sophia, she even specifically mentioned that I don''t have evidence against Sophia in specific. Why is she protecting her? These questions kept going through Taylors head, but for now she would have no clear answer. But she did resolve to try and figure it out, the knowledge might be the key to getting the teachers to do their job or atleast get the trio to back off. She only needed to figure out why having Sophia in school would be so important to Blackwell.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    On the way to the next class Emma and her cronies were once again waiting in the hallway.


    ¡°I can''t believe she dares to show her face in school. If I was as ugly as her I would not dare to show my face outside.¡± the insults from Emma to Taylors surprise hurt a lot less than they usually did.


    How have I never noticed it before, her insults they are so petty, and while she was my friend at one point, the her from back then would not have even given a moment of attention to the pathetic existence she is now.  Leaving Taylor wondering on why they had ever hurt her so much in the first place.


    The complete dismissal as Taylor barely spared the trio a glance was noticed by Sophia. Something has changed, she should be near tears, especially after I told Blackwell to simply pretend it was Taylor''s own doing. Sophia thought.


    As was the case quite regularly her seat was once more was covered in juice. Atleast its not glue this time. Thought Taylor as she decided to ignore her assigned seat and simply sat at another seat, there were plenty empty with a lot of people barely bothering to show up for many classes. Mr Gladly looked for a moment as if he was about to ask Taylor about why she was not in her normal seat before stopping himself deciding it''s better to not know.


    The young teacher was probably the one Taylor disliked the most. Many of the other teachers had at one point tried to intervene before giving up, but Mr Gladly was so focused on being cool and friendly to everyone. However his attempts to help were half hearted and never followed through. Making him an incredibly fake person as far as Taylor was concerned.


    Over the course of the school day a few more attempts were made at making Taylors life miserable. But with her new outlook on the situation most of them failed for the simple fact that she did not care anymore about anything the trio said. Attempt to trip her was met by Taylor stepping over the foot without even noticing. Something that made Sophia more and more suspicious. Nothing Taylor did was unusual for a student. Yet it was very much unusual compared to Taylors past behaviour.


    ¡°Guys we need to lay off for a bit, something is wrong.¡± was what Sophia told her friends towards the end of the day.


    ¡°Lay off? She has somehow still not learned her place at the bottom.¡± Was the indignant reply from Emma. ¡°She just ignored me today, I even made sure to mention her crying herself to sleep after her mother''s death and nothing. Its as if she thinks she is better than us.¡±


    Sophia who usually would have encouraged her friend instead insisted she leave it for a bit that she needs to figure out what is going on first.


    With school finally over Taylor could get to what she wanted to do.


    Once again the public library was her saviour, giving her access to computers to do research on. And the information she was looking for was far easier to find than she expected. The PHO forums had an actual Brockton Bay section for known heroes and villains.


    The list of villains was extensive but Taylor resolved to memorize as much as she could, and to think of ways of actually stopping them. As the battle against Mush if you could even call it that, was very humiliating.


    While doing her research Taylor was wholly unaware of the fact that another young woman was keeping a very close eye on what she was doing.


    By the time Taylor left the library it was almost dark but she was far better informed now about the realities of being a parahuman. She even found a solution for her worry over how to afford buying a mobile phone, and better raw materials. As apparently while technically illegal, in reality most heroes would happily take funds off criminals and the police would just ignore it. And if there was one thing that Brockton Bay was not low on, it was gang members.


    But for now she would control herself and not go out before she had some planning and preparations done.


    Though she was reminded of the fact that with the rate she was spending her pocket money on food she would not have much left soon.


    Since gaining her powers she was constantly hungry. And even though she was not aware of it any excess body fat was vanishing at a rate any weight loss enthusiast would be envious of, though not that she had that much extra weight in the first place.


    In another part of the town, deep underground, a man wearing a black bodysuit with a white snake motif curling around it was staring at the letter he found on his keyboard, in his base, in his PRIVATE room, one that no one else should have access to.


    After a brief check to make sure nothing else had been touched he carefully read the letter, making sure to never actually touch it. ¡°So this would make my whole debt be considered completed. I can work with these rules once I find out the person it applies to. As Long as I don''t break any of the rules, they even promised me several vials.¡± after musing to himself over the letter he grabbed his phone, ¡°Tattletale I have a job for you. I need you to find someone for me. The details will arrive on your email in a few minutes. Don''t disappoint me.¡±


    ¡°Ok boss.¡± was the tired sounding reply from the other end of the phone call.

 Chapter 4

    Taylor went to sleep, but this time things were far from normal. She found herself in a outlandish looking classroom.


    The walls were made of what looked like blue stone and had diagrams with explanations spread all over it. The class was filled with teenagers chatting while waiting for a class to start. To Taylors own surprise it took several seconds before she realized that none of the people in the class were human. Few attempts at trying to speak to the people there and an attempt to touch one of them proved she was just a ghost in the dream.


    Soon she recognized the woman that had granted her, her powers. She looked a lot younger being shorter than Taylor instead of looming above her. She seemed to be having a discussion with another one of her kind, one Taylor assumed was male considering he was nearly twice as wide as she was and seemed to be made mostly of muscles with a start of what could one day be a beard. Taylor focused on doing the only thing that she could, she listened and paid attention to what was going on in the class.


    ¡°Bohot, have you not read any of the materials, again!? You can''t keep doing this, you need to read it. There''s so many important things you are missing¡± the girl was telling him looking frustrated.


    ¡°I don''t see the point I won''t be able to cast any of the basic spells anyway.  I am way too close to being attuned to the warrior class.¡± was his reply looking unconcerned with the unimpressed look she was giving him.


    ¡°The basic spells you keep dismissing might save your life someday, is being able to start a campfire or knowing how to charge a hearthstone if your in a area with mana too tainted really a skill you can afford to skip, just cause you need to take the extra effort of converting small amounts of a warriors primal life force back into mana.¡± Before she could continue her tirade with more examples he interrupted her.


    ¡°Fine fine Efla you don''t need to get so riled up over it. I''ll read the book later, you won''t drop it before I do anyway¡± he replied.


    ¡°Anyway onto more important topics, have you decided about the dance?¡± he asked after a moment of consideration she replied with a sly look ¡°If you manage to not fail in any class this month then yes, and that does include the history of light.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± was the cheerful exclamation from him as Taylor amusedly could see that apparently the aliens could and did blush considering the color Efla turned into. Apparently embarrassed by Bohot¡¯s cheering.


    I  finally know her name and apparently she was a regular teenager at some point, though I guess your not born as a warrior of the light, a Paladin. Thought Taylor and realized she now had an idea for her name as a superhero. Being called the Paladin sounds quite nice actually. Mused Taylor before her attention was brought back to the class. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    The teacher entered the room, though the man in question would have looked very out of place in any classroom Taylor had ever been in. Being a giant of a man covered in muscles carrying a hammer on his back. He looked like he was prepared for war. Despite the environment being a classroom he was still wearing full armor, the hammer in particular stood out with the head of it being a jagged, semi see-through purple crystal that on closer inspection proved to be bigger than Taylors torso.


    ¡°Quiet children, I hope at least some of you have read the materials you were supposed to.¡±


    Came from the teacher proving he had a lot kinder and gentler voice than could be expected from his appearance.


    ¡°All of you are in my classroom due to standing out when being younger, and should by now be familiar with how having a larger mana capacity makes you stronger, faster and generally different from those with less talent. Today you will learn why attuning your very essence to a specific type of mana can help you focus your talents helping you become a capable champion of the light. And why some of you have already started the conversion, due to having a natural affinity to one type or another. And after having tried all the basic skills, at least the ones that have been tried and tested to be worth the price that attuning to them demands.¡±


    Despite the topic being outlandish Taylor found it very interesting to listen in on the class and it was explaining many things Taylor might never have thought to wonder about on her own, about mana and magic in general.


    As the class ended and people started moving from the room the vision slowly faded to be replaced by another.


    From the quiet of the classroom, Taylor unexpectedly found herself in a village on fire. Her attention was grabbed by the giant monster battling a small group of people. Taylor despite the armor recognized Efla and Bohot. Efla covered in gleaming armor with a shield glowing brightly, Bohot who had grown into a mountain of a man wielding a sword that was as tall as he was. In the background there were a pair of identical looking women with streams of glowing projectiles flying from them onto the house sized monster.


    The monster itself was horrifying. Towering over the small group that was impeding his assault on what remained of the village. A giant horn covered by a black helmet that left most of its head still uncovered, gray skin that was clearly visible as it only had armor on one of its arms and covering its legs, armor that at a closer glance proved to be more welded onto the flesh than worn on top of it. It wielded a giant glaive several times bigger than the people it was fighting with its face twisted into a hateful snarl.


    Earth thudded with each of the monsters steps. With blasts of air throwing things around each time the titanic weapon was swung, yet despite the difference in size each blow was blasted back. Each time the sword was swung its target either dodged or the shield would meet the weapon with an almighty clang and a flash of light blasting the glaive away from its target. The very ground underneath the warrior of light known as Efla was covered by glowing golden lines that seemed to burn the monster.


    The sounds of the battle was echoing through the battlefield. The monster was covered in small wounds but appeared to not be slowing down at all. Each time it tried to go for easier targets Efla was there forcing its attention back to herself, while weathering the assault so the rest of the group could focus on killing the monster, whittling its life away bit by bit. Despite what looked like flawless defence there were gashes in the armor worn by Efla with bloodstains all over it.


    It looked like this battles winner wound not be decided anytime soon but Taylor could not see the battle to its conclusion as the house behind her exploded apart as another similar looking monstrosity moved in to attack. In the process it stepped straight though Taylor! The fright of the moment startling her awake from the dream.


    The visions left her worried, Earth Bet really did not need more giant monsters.

 Chapter 5

    The docks were infested with the gang Azn Bad Boys, the asians only group run by the supervillain Lung, the only parahuman having fought the monster Leviathan to a draw.


    They would be the targets Taylor would go after tonight. Powerful strides brought her roof after roof closer to the slums that the docks area had become.


    A few weeks had passed, she had split her time between preparation and research to be a better and more prepared hero. Every waking moment was spent either in school or preparing with the constant urge to do something, anything, hounding her every waking moment.


    She barely managed to get into the area before running into her first crime of the night. A couple of gang members robbing someone.


    This time she forced herself to stop for a moment and planned out the best way to go about stopping them without putting their unfortunate victim at harm''s way.


    She descended rapidly, her decent not noticed till it was too late and she was between the thugs and their victim. The thugs quickly took a few steps back in surprise at her sudden appearance.


    ¡°We can do it the easy way and you all surrender, or we can do it the hard way.¡± was the threat Taylor used, made even more menacing by her sinister looking armor and eyes glowing in the dark of the alleyway.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± was the defeated sounding phrase coming from one of the thugs as the man just sat down. ¡°I''m not dumb enough to fight a cape.¡± the other two were less bright, a few bruises later they joined their friend on the ground with Taylor snapping the knife one of them had into little metal shards. Once all three were tied up she turned her attention to the last person in the alley.


    ¡°You ok?¡± asked Taylor from the would be victim. The middle aged man looked very relieved.


    ¡°Thank you, I was just going out to grab some takeaway when they jumped me.¡± was the still shaken sounding response. Moments later he added ¡°Yea im fine they just threatened me.¡±


    Seeing that the situation was now under control Taylor got out her cheap, but new phone and called the PRT hotline number, one she had made sure to memorize..


    ¡°Hi, im calling to report some gang members that I stopped mid robbery.¡±


    ¡°Is anyone injured or in need of medical aid?¡± was the question from the other end of the line. After confirming that no one was injured she gave them the address where they were.


    ¡°I assume you are a parahuman. Could I ask for the name you use and would you be willing to wait for a Protectorate member to arrive. Its customary to have someone come and talk to you if you are a new hero. Was the follow up question, one that Taylor had expected thanks to Glory Girl.


    ¡°Yes that is fine, I''ll wait. And you can call me Paladin¡± Finally Taylor had a chance to introduce her new name, one that for her was more of a title than name, but one that felt so very fitting.


    The next while was spent waiting till the PRT agents arrived and got the criminals onto their van. They were very polite to Taylor but it was visible in their body language that they were wary of her. Just after they finished getting the statements about the crime from both her and the victim, a person on a motorbike arrived.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Taylor had no issue recognizing the hero on it. Miss Militia wearing form fitting military fatigues with an iconic American flag themed sash and scarf, a scarf she used to conceal the lower half of her face hiding her identity. Her power was the dream of any gun enthusiast in America, a glowing energy field that could shape itself into any weapon with just a thought. At the moment the field was in the shape of a small knife in the sheath of her belt.


    ¡°Hello, and thank you for waiting, Im Miss Militia.¡± she introduced herself with her smile clear in her voice.


    ¡°Hi.¡± was all Taylor could initially get out.


    ¡°I was told you go by the name Paladin, a heroic name, good choice¡± Miss Militia said as she continued to talk to Taylor. ¡°Have you given any thought to joining the Protectorate? Most heroes don''t last long solo¡±


    ¡°I''m not really interested in joining up. Plus it would have to be Wards as i''m not old enough for Protectorate and for now I think i''m happier by myself¡± Taylor really did not want to have to deal with more people having power over her, people that had potential to be as unreliable as the people in her school had been. And Wards the junior superheroes just made her think of the fact that she would be surrounded by teenagers, and her experiences at school left her very much wanting to avoid any more of that.


    ¡°You really should at least think about it. You would get to meet others in the same situation as yourself. And would have people there to help you learn how to use your powers better and it''s a lot safer.¡± Said Miss Militia trying to sway Taylors opinion. After a bit more effort trying to explain how dangerous being alone was especially for a teen, and talking about how much better it was, she eventually saw that nothing she could say would really sway Taylor, for now at least.


    ¡°You should at least consider power testing, there''s only so much you can figure out yourself. And we would at least know your limits in case you need help.¡± Miss Militia tried to atleast get Taylor to come to them for some help so that maybe in time she might change her mind.


    ¡°I will think on that.¡± Promised Taylor as being on good terms with other local heroes was a good idea. And she had no intention of becoming their enemy so them knowing a bit more would do no harm.


    ¡°Good, I promise it will be worth it. And maybe we can schedule some patrols with some of the wards so you can get to know them a bit.¡± Was Miss Militias final statement on that topic. After a bit more friendly casual chatting Taylor said bye and headed off to continue her patrol.


    The night ended up being fruitful with her managing to find another mugging in process and a drug dealer selling on the street corner. With some guilt Taylor also relieved the drug dealer from his ill gained fortune. Overall the night left her feeling successful as if she was making a difference. And getting some more funds for equipment and all the ideas she had on how to overall equip herself better did a lot to soothe her worries about money.


    While Taylor was out on her patrol, in another part of town Tattletale was giving her report to her boss. Her whole body language screamed that she wished that she could be anywhere else than where she was, standing in front of Coils desk about to give him info that would probably help him ruin someone else''s life.


    ¡°I found the person you were looking for, it was easy they spent most of the week in a public library researching heroes and what to do as a new hero.¡± Tattletale said not able to hide the smugness in her voice despite being unhappy about her boss.


    ¡°Any chance she is recruitable.¡± Asked Coil getting straight to the point that he cared most about.


    ¡°Don''t think so, she is very very determined to be a hero.¡± responded Tattletale


    ¡°What about her personality, behaviour?¡± Coil continued asking for more details to work his plans around.


    ¡°Very focused and will probably not give way to threats, though I was having serious trouble figuring her out, her body language keeps changing randomly. I think her power may be messing with her head. She goes from unsure and shy to suddenly moving around displaying perfect confidence. And constant twitchiness as if she is checking if she is able to move. Nothing overt but constant small movements.¡±


    Only after a very thorough interrogation on everything Tattletale had discovered, was she allowed to leave.


    Leaving Coils base she really wished she did not have to go back there ever again, one of the mercenaries had kept leering at her and what her power told her about him made her even more creeped out. Leave it to Coil to make sure his mercenaries are total scum that he has blackmail on. She thought once she was back out on the street. Coil is really interested in the new hero, I hope she does not get fucked over too hard. No one deserves to be in Coils sights.


    On the way to her current home she kept worrying about what the info she had given would be used for. But it was not like she had much choice, Coil always seemed to know if she left anything out.


    Once she was back home, Regent, as always was playing video games, Grue was out somewhere and Bitch was napping next to her dogs. She needed to plan out the next heist, ideally something discreet and something that would give them more funds but keep them out of limelight. She was sure she had figured out a few safe houses from the gangs in town that held lots of cash.

 Chapter 6

    Taylor was out on a patrol again rapidly moving around the town. The night had not been that fruitful, as she had not managed to find any crime to stop. But all that changed in a moment as she leapt onto a roof of a building and heard loud cheering from the inside. Deciding to investigate she slowly moved around till she could find a window to look in from. The sight on the inside was sickening, a large crowd was surrounding a metal fighting ring, there were several dead or dying dogs on one side just thrown into a pile after losing a fight.


    A dog fighting ring, disgusting. Thought Taylor as she started planning how to capture all of them. There has to be at least 40, maybe 50 people in there, I don''t want any of them to escape. As she was thinking and scouting the place she got to see another pair of dogs forced to fight, a sight that made her even more determined to stop the sickos enjoying this depravity.


    After a few more minutes she determined that there were only two ways in and out. A few minutes sneaking and a quick attack and the two guards at one set of doors were quietly knocked out and tied up. A large trash can was used to block the entrance. Once the only other escape route was blocked she headed around the building towards the only remaining entrance. As she rounded the corner she heard a large noise sounding as if someone had just smashed the other doors. She sped up running fast till she was able to see the remaining door. A giant monstrous dog, covered in bone plates instead of fur with spikes all over its body and size to match its monstrous appearance, the dog if it even was one had its head higher than Taylors making its size more akin to a large horse than a dog. And the creature in question was making its way in through what remained of the door. As Taylor rushes to the door she hears a shouted command ¡°Brutus HURT!¡±


    Once she can actually see inside, machine gun fire joins the noises. There is a person wearing a plastic dog mask sheltering behind one of the monstrosities as several of the the people inside are shooting at her, the other two dogs are fighting a giant wolf made of blades, hooks and metal shards. The metal monstrosity is Hookwolf one of the villains of Empire Eighty-Eight, one of their heavy hitters as its hard to stop a monster made of metal.


    Taylor charges in to join the battle, considering the girl sheltering behind the monster dog is probably not bulletproof. She leaves Hookwolf to the tender mercies of the dogs and heads to the few gang members that have guns. Charging straight past the girl with the dog mask Taylors shield glows brighter before a disk of light is hurled off it at the armed enemies, the disk of light smashes into the first enemy sending him flying back before bouncing on towards more targets, sending several of them flying backwards. Seconds later she reaches them and considers it convenient that all the mooks decided to stay together rather than spread out. A few blows with the shield knocks several more of them out, none of their shots leaving as much as a scratch on her armor. Taylors sword has targets she considers acceptable as she, with incredible precision cleaves through the guns making sure that even if they regained consciousness they could not rejoin the fight.


    The armed minions dealt with, Taylor turns her attention back at the battle going on between Hookwolf and the dogs. All three dogs are covered in deep gashes with the wounds to her surprise not bleeding at all, yet despite their monstrous size their enemy was equally monstrous and they were slowly losing. When she charges towards the melee Taylor hears a whistle followed by quick commands to the dogs, and the dogs move aside to let her pass. Hookwolf on seeing her, meets her charge, both collide with Taylors shield stopping Hookwolfs momentum before her sword flashes past cleaving smoothly through Hookwolfs metal paw, the mass of metal shards falling apart into individual bits as soon as the limb falls to the ground.


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    Based on what was written online he can''t be hurt in this form. So I can go all out without worrying. Thought Taylor before daring to use another one of the spells she had inherited. I know just the spell to turn this fight against him. As her foot stomped onto the ground golden flames spread out from her foot, leaving behind glowing and shifting lines of light that seemed to pulsate.


    ¡°You can''t win, surrender now!¡± Shouted Taylor. Hookwolf said nothing, moving back in to attack, his action an answer in itself. Hookwolf was visibly slowed as golden fire crawled up his legs, restricting his movements. He charged rapidly changing his direction at the last moment flowing underneath Taylors shield bypassing her defence to attack. Taylor twisted to the side to avoid having the metal jaws wrapped around her head. She might as well not bothered as one of the monstrous dogs charged in tearing into Hookwolf and physically throwing him away from Taylor.


    ¡°Thanks¡± Taylor quickly shouted to the master of the dogs before resuming her offensive. Golden flames from her consecrating the ground slowed Hookwolfs movements but seemed to be doing no harm, but the effect on the hounds was opposite as their wounds slowly but visibly started closing.


    The combination of Taylors might and the hounds meant Hookwolf had no chance each time he attacked large chunks of metal went flying with his size shrinking by the minute. And as the minutes went by his attacks got more and more frantic and desperate.


    Once more Taylor met Hookwolfs charge, Her shields black rubber surface covered in gashes that showed the metal underneath. Once more sparks went flying as Hookwolf tried to get a grip on the shield and failed, once his inertia was spent he got thrown backwards with a sword dashing out from behind cover to cleave more of him away, yet this time unlike all the previous clashes Taylor had to desperately stop her blade as the metal that made up Hookwolf flowed inwards to be replaced by flesh once more. Within moments Hookwolf is once more in the shape of a man. And he collapses onto the ground barely alive, with horrific burns covering most of his body.


    No no no this was not what I wanted! Went the frantic thoughts through Taylors head as she quickly stopped the power sustaining the consecration of the ground. The attack that had infused the ground with light, healed the dogs helping her, and slowed her enemy had made no distinction between the fleshy core hiding the real Hookwolf, and the metal that made up the rest of him. The flesh was far more fragile than the metal as light slowly tried to cleanse both out of existence.


    Quickly Taylor moved in and started healing him. The burns covering his body vanishing as if they had never been there. Once Taylor was sure he would not be dying, while still a bit shaken over the unintended consequences of her attack, she turned to her unexpected ally.


    ¡°Hi, Im Paladin, and I can heal the wound you have¡± Taylor introduced herself staring at the bulletwound on the arm of her ally.


    ¡°Bitch, ok.¡± Taylor was a bit taken aback by the other person''s response but seeing as she was offering her arm for healing puzzled out that the other person must have meant that her name was Bitch. A few seconds later the wound finished closing with the bullet falling onto the ground.


    Most of the remaining people there were staying in one corner of the building as far from the monstrous dog that was growling at them as they could. Even if a few of them had managed to use the distraction of the battle to escape.


    ¡°Il call PRT to come pick them all up. You mind keeping the rest of them over there till PRT gets here?¡± Asked Taylor with the only response being a nod and a quick whistle putting a second dog to guard the group of dog fighting fans in the corner.


    While Taylor called PRT and got them to send some people over, Bitch went around freeing the few remaining dogs from the cages. Minutes later she was back next to Taylor carrying a heavily bleeding puppy.


    ¡°Heal.¡± came the request as she reached Taylor and offered the puppy towards her. Taylor quickly healed the puppy and several of the other dogs as Bitch one by one helped them free, checked them over and got them to follow her.


    Once she was done with all the dogs Bitch just stood there staring at Taylor. Once hearing cars approaching Bitch quickly whistled to her dogs, jumped up on the back of one of them and left with all the rescued dogs in tow. With only a ¡°Bye¡± as a parting word. Leaving Taylor quite confused at the unusual interactions with Bitch. But for now she had more important things to focus on as she gave PRT members that arrived to arrest Hookwolf and the large group of other people there, a rundown on what had happened.