If I were a horny teenager, I would have used this power to undress beautiful girls and enjoy their sexual bodies. But since at forty years old merely looking at naked bodies didn't particularly excite me, I had to recall my experience of 'subjugating' the symbiont to my will. This mode of using magic and psionics was well known to me but required considerable effort. Now, I began to concentrate my will on the shard, meditate on it, and take control of all its life functions.

First, I needed the shard's power to stop adhering to the limitations of the Manton Effect. Such 'enhancement' could happen to almost any cape due to a 'second trigger'. In my case, I could put my shard through this event without subjecting myself to any deprivations or trials. After all, the shard was a rather dumb creature and reacted to the world more through instincts. I didn't achieve significant success on the first try, but overall, there were changes, so I just needed to spend some time training.

The next morning, I visited Taylor again, who this time greeted me with a scrutinizing look, trying to find some deceit in me. Maybe she even suspected that someone had replaced her father. But proving this was impossible, so when I entered the room, I just smiled mockingly.

"So, what are your plans for your future actions?" - I inquired after all the greetings and tenderness were over.

"Well... I'll file a complaint against them. And next time, I'll try to be firmer."

"Pfft! What kind of plan is that?" - I expressed my opinion. - "A complaint? Are you trying to shift responsibility onto others again? Do you think this complaint will have any effect? And what does 'being firmer' mean? Being even more stubborn and enduring all the bullying with a sweet smile on your face?"

Her response was just angry silence. I didn't expect any different.

"Any other ideas?" - I inquired for the sake of formality.

"But the teachers are ought to maintain order!" - Taylor burst out in protest.

"To whom are they owe to? How much? And in what currency?" - I clarified. When there were no answers, I began to outline my plan of action. - "While you were unconscious, I conducted a little investigation. It turns out that Sophia Hess is Shadow Stalker. And the PRT specifically paid the school principal to cover for her and let her do whatever she wanted."

"What?" - Taylor's world just collapsed and shattered.

"Yes, that's the truth of life. So, all your complaints will at best be used in the nearest toilet. At worst, Hess will find out about them immediately, and she'll try even harder to get to you."

"But how can that be?" - Taylor whined pathetically.

"Why do you think heroes haven't been able to defeat villains all these years? Because they have other tasks. Alright, back to our business. I know that you've also become a cape now and gained a superpower."

"What?" - Taylor panicked. - "How do you know?"

"The doctors did a brain scan and found unusual activity in your Corona Pollentia." - I lied without batting an eye. - "Right now, only I and the doctor who conducted the examination know about this. So come on, spill it, what's your power?"

The girl hung her head, sat for a few seconds staring at the blanket, and then extended her hand, onto which a stray fly that had gotten into the hospital landed.

"I can control insects" - she revealed her terrible secret to me.

"Not bad" - I nodded.

"Sorry? That even my superpower is so useless" - Taylor snapped.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"With the right application, it can yield good results. And your first task will be to establish justice against this trio of tormentors. So, while you're in the hospital, I advise you to start practicing controlling bees, wasps, venomous spiders, and centipedes. When you're discharged, we'll discuss our next steps."

The following week I dedicated to honing control over my shard. I could already clearly perceive the surrounding space within a radius of fifty meters, plus the 'black fog' finally began to affect living beings. So far, these were rats in the sewer and stray dogs. It took me about ten seconds to 'kill' the target by destroying its brain, and then the living turned into the non-living, and the darkness devoured the corpse, leaving no trace of it. A very convenient superpower. I wouldn't have to think about where to hide the bodies. Of course, this ability was still impractical in combat, but for the secret elimination of targets, everything was already prepared. Moreover, I could control the fog within a range of up to ten meters.

Finally, Taylor was discharged, and my plan to bring good and justice moved to the execution stage. First, we visited the principal of Winslow High, who clearly told us that Taylor had locked herself in the locker and therefore had to pay a fine for damaging school property and attending school at night. She didn't know that I was recording all the conversations during this accusatory speech.

After gathering all the evidence, I handed it over to a reporter, and the next day a scathing article appeared in the newspaper and on its website about how the schools in Brockton Bay were incapable of maintaining order on their premises. Taylor's episode was just one of several in the article. Mainly, it focused on the fact that the school was full of bullies, drug addicts, and notorious maniacs, including the Bitch Trio, who were listed by name. The cherry on top was an audio recording on the newspaper's website, in which the principal could be heard accusing a student of beating herself up and locking herself in the locker from the outside.

In general, the article was scandalous but not particularly outstanding. Everyone already knew that such things happened in the city at every corner. But then the circus and masquerade began.

I made a video, the main character of which was a certain Bee – a new hero who decided to bring order to Brockton Bay. The Bee herself wasn't in the video, being replaced by a rather poorly drawn 'cartoon bee.' The voice of the new hero was mine. I just slightly edited it to make it sound like a girl.

Before posting this video on the PHO forum, I played it again to make sure of the quality of my 'production.'

"Good day, Brockton Bay. I am a new heroine, ready to bring justice and retribution to the masses in the name of the Moon. I don't like posing in front of the camera, so I decided to record this video. My name is Bee. I hope you all see my legs, antennae, eyes, and these lovely stripes on my belly. And most importantly, you see my stinger, filled with pure bee venom. I thought long and hard about where to start my heroic career, and today I came across an article in the Eastern Herald about how scum of all sorts oppresses representatives of the working class at Winslow High. I think I'll visit this school in the coming days and ensure that justice prevails. I will post the results of my visit in this thread on the forum. Stay tuned, your Bee!"

Making sure everything was in order, I started uploading the video to the forum, using a proxy server to prevent being 'traced by IP.'

"So, you're speaking on my behalf?" - Taylor grumbled, watching the video over my shoulder.

"This is because someone can't even say 'baa' or 'moo.' I offered you to read this text. But the result was a confession of guilt before ascending to the scaffold. Heroes don't behave like that! Heroes are always confident in their rightness and actively prove it, regardless of the consequences."

"Heroes always fight for good and justice!" - my 'typical heroine' argued with me.

"That's what I said" - I agreed. Taylor just rolled her eyes at this argument. - "Be sure, you just need to follow the plan, and everything will be fine. After this, Sophia won't be able to bully anyone and will spend the rest of her life in the Birdcage."

"The Birdcage is too much!" - Taylor made another attempt to prove I was wrong.

"That's not for us to decide. An honest and fair court will pass judgment on her. Or are you against resolving this matter legally?"

"No, but..." - At this point, as always, Taylor's arguments ran out, and emotions took over.

"That's what I'm talking about. Just follow the plan, and you'll be surprised at how easily this problem gets solved."

"Alright" - my ward gave up. After all, she herself wasn't averse to 'punishing' her tormentor a little, although she would never openly admit such desires.

The next day Taylor went to school, playing her role as a downtrodden mousy girl. She successfully hid from Sophia Hess and her cronies for the first two lessons, but the third lesson was PE. Here the entire 'Bitch Trio' and Taylor gathered, along with a good half of the school. The warm-up began, a light jog, and when the crowd gathered in one place to take turns jumping in the long jump test, our performance began.

I signaled Taylor by shaking off a specially planted bug. She then panicked and began to look around anxiously, quite naturally. Naturally, because that's exactly how she always behaved when she tried to find out if Sophia Hess was sneaking up on her. No one even paid attention to her behavior. A few seconds later, the panic attack passed, and Taylor finally began to implement my plan.