Chapter Fifty-Eight

Taylor couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment where people with powers stopped scaring her. It was probably after one of those people had an accident on her bed that woke her up at 2AM and had to be comforted back to sleep.

As it was, her tolerance for parahuman bullshit had reached an all-time low. Her powers might have been horrifically unsuited to fighting in any way shape or form, but that didn’t mean that she would take anyone’s crap.

So she stared at the two heroines before her with eyes that weren’t even narrowed. After all, narrowed eyes were a sign that one was annoyed or angry and she was neither. “What do you want?” she asked.

Alice, who was by her side, looked up at her, then back to the two before them. Cheshire was standing a bit to the other side, arms crossed and fearsome (read: precocious) frown in place. Pop was... somewhere.

Miss Militia shifted and looked to her partner with eyes that pleaded to be rescued. Battery, the woman standing next to her, sighed but obliged. “We’re just here to make sure everything is in order,” she said.

“I see,” Taylor said. “Pop.”

Pop appeared next to Taylor, sword out and face set in a determined scowl as she looked at the two heroines. “Shall I kill them?”

“No,” Taylor said. “Can you go get Mister Anderson and tell him we need him over here, please?”

Pop slid her sword away with a twirl and bowed to Taylor. “Yes, Onee-sama.” She turned to ash a moment later.

“Her power is oddly similar to Oni Lee’s,” Battery said.

“A coincidence, I’m sure,” Taylor said drolly. She looked around at all the tourists and shoppers and gawkers gathering around. The only advantage to having the heroes around was the large circle of free space that had appeared around them. People were watching, some holding onto signature books and photos, but none daring to rush over when there was so much tension in the air. “No Wards today?” she asked to fill the silence.

She would have described it as an awkward silence, but frankly she was beyond that. She didn’t know if it was some maternal instinct (she hoped not) but something made her stand with her back straighter and her chest puffed out in the face of the two women before her.

“No Wards today,” Battery said.

“Maybe they needed to recharge their batteries,” Alice said.

“I think it’s more likely that they don’t want to cause a scene again,” Taylor said.

Alice tilted her head to the side. “Oh. I hope they didn’t lose their spark. It would be a shock to lose so many heroes.”

“Are you making electricity puns?” Battery asked.

“No?” Alice replied. “Why would I?”

“Her name’s Battery,” Taylor explained.

“Oh, that’s an electrifying name,” Alice said.

Battery sighed. “Please no. I have enough with Assault following after me all the time.” She eyed Alice. “You’re new?”

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“I’m fresh, yes,” Alice said.

“More of them,” Miss Militia muttered.

“Am I a problem?” Alice asked.

“You’re no such thing,” Taylor said as she placed a hand on Alice’s head. “The... good guys are sometimes a bit too... enthusiastic is all.”

Alice blinked at Miss Militia. “She doesn’t look all that gun-ho.”

Battery placed a hand over her visor. “Great, just great,” she said. “So, little comedian, do you have a name? And could you tell us what your powers are?”

Alice looked up to Taylor for permission and got a nod. If her plans panned out, which judging by the way Mister Anderson was hustling they would, then Alice’s secrets would be out soon enough.

“My powers take time to work,” Alice said. “Then when they’re done working with time they make whatever I’m focusing them on rewind. That’s my cape name, Rewind.” She smiled at the two heroes, bright and cheerful.

“You do what with time?” Battery asked.

“She can make things move backwards through time,” Taylor said.

“Do you want to be young again?” Alice asked. “I could turn you into someone that’s my age, then we could be like cousins! Only you wouldn’t remember anything anymore, which is really annoying.”

“Oh,” Battery said. She met eyes with Miss Militia. “That’s a... good power.”

“She’s going to use it to fix things,” Taylor said.

Taylor enjoyed the confused looks on the heroine’s faces until she heard the clack-clack of shoes on pavement running up behind her. She turned to find Mister Anderson moving up to them. “Ah, hello heroes,” he said as he caught his breath. “I heard my help was needed?”

“I don’t think so?” Battery said. “Who are you, exactly?”

“Your help would be appreciated,” Taylor said. “I need to get back to work and check on the others, could you convince these two that what we’re doing is perfectly legal?”

There was a gleam in the advertising agent’s eyes. “Of course. Right this way misses, we wouldn’t want the public to think this confrontation is... of a negative nature, would we. Let’s make ourselves comfortable, maybe give a few nice soundbites for the net.”

Taylor turned around and moved back, leaving the heroes to Mister Anderson. He seemed to have things well in hand. Her sisters, on the other hand, looked a little frazzled.

Crochet was smiling for the cameras with one hand while trying very hard to hold a conversation with a gaggle of teenagers. Tattletail was being very smug in her booth while a man in a business suit cried before her. There was a long line behind him and they seemed eager to be next. Remedy was wagging her finger in the face of a girl with an ‘I Love Panacea’ shirt and Taylor decided that that would probably handle itself.

Yep, everything was just fine.