Taylor rubbed her knees together and clasped her hands over her stomach. Her eyes were focused somewhere on the floor between her and the two ladies and her mind was running laps around a giant panic button.

“So, we should start by introducing ourselves, I think,” one of them said. Of the two she was the nicer-looking, with a gentle smile and softer features. She was leaning forwards a little on the chair they had brought in from the kitchen. “I’m Lady Photon, or Sarah Pelham. I’m the leader of New Wave. This is my sister, Carol Dallon, or Brandish.”

“I’m a senior partner at Dallon and Wright,” Carol said. She had narrow, searching eyes that raked Taylor up and down as if looking for any signs of wrongdoing. “I usually represent and advise New Wave in any legal matters. Which is why your... case is so interesting. I can think of at least three cases that could be made against you. And that’s discounting the assault by a parahuman power that could be laid at your feet.”

“What?” Taylor squeaked.

Missus Pelham reached over and pressed a hand onto Carol’s knee. “None of that, Carol, Taylor here has been nothing but polite and helpful so far.”

“If that’s the case, then she should have reported to the PRT by now,” Carol said.

“I-I thought about it,” Taylor admitted. She wanted to regain some footing in the conversation and appease Carol. Worse, all of her little sisters were squeezed together on the couch next to hers. Four sets of eyes were looking at her expectantly, all of them sure that their Big Sis was up to the task of dealing with the two veteran heroines before her.

She swallowed.

“Thinking about it is nice,” Carol said in a tone that suggested otherwise. “But it doesn’t change much, does it?”

“Well, no, but there’s a lot to consider,” Taylor replied. “The problem is that I don’t know what they would do to my sisters and I’m afraid that they would be hurt. Then there’s the attack by Oni Lee, and that kidnapping attempt.” She reached out and arm and placed it on the shoulder of the nearest sister. Pop blinked at her innocently. “They deserve to be treated well, and I’m not sure the PRT can do that.”

The two superheroines looked at each other, then Missus Pelham scooted forwards on her chair. “I think I understand. It’s a big commitment, and while you should trust the PRT, it doesn’t mean that you have to. You just want the best for your girls, right?”

Taylor nodded, a bit of a smile coming up as the coils around her chest loosened. “Exactly. I... I love my little sisters. They’ve made my life so much better. They’re annoying sometimes, and loud and rude and a bit expensive, but they make up for it in so, so many ways.”

She heard a sniffle and turned to see four distinct reactions from her sisters. Pop was unconcerned, Cheshire had her arms crossed as was looking away from her even as a blush crossed her features and her tail whipped around behind her. Remedy was staring at her lap, lower lip trembling and fingers twiddling. And Crochet was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Do you really love us, Big Sis?” Crochet asked. She lowered her tissue to reveal huge brown eyes lined with unshed tears

Pop sniffed. “Of course Onee-sama loves us. We are her imouto.”

Taylor smiled at them, then at the two heroines. “I don’t know what I would do if they got hurt. That’s why I made a sister from Amy. Remedy can help keep her siblings nice and healthy.”

“That’s a deep rabbit hole,” Missus Dallon said. “Next you’ll be copying Lung or Kaiser to have a creature to keep the others just as safe.”

“What? No!” Taylor said. She shook her head and waved her arms in denial. “I wouldn’t do something like that. Crochet was hurt, she needed the help. That’s why I touched Amy. I swear that’s all.”

Misses Pelham waved her arms down in a soothing gesture. “It’s okay, Taylor, it’s okay. We aren’t accusing you of anything, right Carol?”

“Not yet.”

“What my sister means,” Missus Pelham said. “Is that... well, to put it simply, you have a lot of power now, and a lot of responsibility. It’s pretty clear from what Victoria has already told us that even if you wanted to be left alone life isn’t going to work out that way. You have a lot of power, which means you’ll be a target from people on both sides of the heroic spectrum. You should really consider what you want to do from here.”

“Are you- are you trying to recruit me?” Taylor asked. She felt a warmth in her core that fluttered at the idea. One the one hand, being a hero of any sort was... a dream. On the other, it might mean putting her sisters in danger and that was unacceptable. But if they were going to be in danger anyway, then maybe having backup wouldn’t be bad.

“We’re not recruiting you just yet,” Missus Pelham said with an easy laugh. “No, that would be a big decision. We’re merely offering you our support if you plan on doing the right thing.”

“Sarah,” Missus Dallon said. “That would make us accomplices in whatever they do.”

“And what they’re trying to do might not be a bad thing,” Misses Pelhem replied. “We could help, and we should. The PRT’s paperwork alone would drown them. They’re far too young to be tossed into the deep end of things, but you know how things are in Brockton Bay.”

Missus Dallon seemed ready to argue, but paused when Glory Girl flew into the room, eyes wide, mouth open, ears sticking out and tail ramrod straight behind her. “Amy fainted!”

Remedy was the first to move, jumping off the couch with a ‘hup’ and brushing off her robes. “I, for one, think that we had a wonderful conversation here and that we should go home now.”

And then the screaming started.