Emma was positively giddy, not that Sophia cared all that much. Hebert had been fun sport for a time, but it had become clear that she would never fight back. It wasn’t in her nature, which took all the fun out of it. Sophia had expected Emma’s interest in the girl to wane, but it had turned into an obsession, one that would only paint a bigger target on her own back.
Sophia was already on probation, and she didn’t need an investigation to dig up what she had done in her off hours. When Emma devised the locker, Sophia had played along in the loosest sense. She didn’t encourage it, she didn’t help plan it, and she didn’t even need to help stuff the rotting mess in there.
Somehow, Emma had found a key.
She still stood by and did nothing as Emma shoved Hebert into the locker, and left her there, pleading and begging in filth. It had been vicious, and was beyond anything Sophia would have imagined doing to all but the worst of her prey. Hebert didn’t qualify, she was weak, she just didn’t know her place, and she was tired of trying to put her there.
Somehow, nothing had happened after Hebert was found in the locker, even though she knew Armsmaster and Kid Win had visited her in the hospital after she woke up. Prime trigger event material, Kid had called it. Sophia herself had never been trusted on any of those visits, since she was still on probation and not the best sort to bring along.
Kid had also mentioned suffering a trigger blackout shortly after that meeting, but they never conclusively proved one way or another if Hebert was a parahuman. Armsmaster had instructed her to observe Hebert and report back, and so she would. Hebert was prey, and prey didn’t just become predators, but what Emma had done…
Well, everyone had a breaking point.
A murmur broke out down the hall and Sophia turned, it didn’t take her long to spot what was stirring up such a fuss. Hebert was coming down the hall, dragging a limp leg behind her as she used crutches to keep moving. Shit, she had heard that Hebert had been injured, but Kid had mentioned Panacea so she thought that it was all good. The only thing the resident bitch of New Wave couldn’t heal was brains.
Hebert had a brain injury.
Yet she had still come back to the place that had forever taken a part of her.
Well, that was certainly interesting. Maybe, Sophia pondered, Hebert could be strong after all.
Emma, however, darted forward before Sophia could voice those thoughts. Sophia wanted to curse the fool, but she couldn’t do anything about it without drawing attention to a power struggle between them which would be as good as blood in the water, especially with the Empire jackasses.
Sophia missed the first part of the exchange as she moved at an unhurried pace, but she didn’t miss the scowl that quickly overtook Hebert’s features. If Hebert did have powers, being confronted by the people that led to her trigger wouldn’t do anyone any favors. There was a reason Steven avoided her after all.
“The crutches are an improvement,” Emma said as Sophia finally got close enough to hear over the murmurs of the crowd. “They even match your glasses.”
Mocking disabilities wasn’t something Sophia was keen on, so she kept her silence for the moment, curious as to what Hebert would do. The girl didn’t look defeated, far from it, actually. There was a defiance in her eyes that hadn’t been there before and Sophia was curious to see where that would lead her.
“Emma, isn’t this beneath you?” Hebert asked. “You’ve taunted me for almost two years, you’ve had your attack dog beat me down, and your cutting remarks ensured I was alone and unapproachable. Yet you weren’t satisfied. You had my locker filled with pus covered and maggot infested pads, you shoved me in there and left me to die. Do you know what toxic shock syndrome is? I do. It’s why I have these crutches. Not even Panacea could fix the damage you did to me.”
That confirmed one rumor, but it didn’t answer her questions. Why was Hebert making such a show of things? She was baiting Emma, that much was clear, but what was her goal? Glancing about, Sophia saw some phones were out, but nobody would be stupid enough to upload anything, they never were.
“Oh boo hoo. So what if I did? You gonna cry about it for a week like last time?”
As soon as Emma spoke those words, Sophia felt the air still. Hebert’s entire expression shifted, rolling from shock, to sadness then settled into raw fury. Sophia saw the crutch lift up, but she didn’t move to stop Hebert’s swing as she hit Emma upside the head with it. Emma went down hard, and all Sophia could do was stare, but not in surprise.
No, Emma had taken things too far, and Hebert was done playing her games.
Emma rolled over, looking up with the strangest expression she had ever seen on her friend’s face. Her eyes had teared up, and her jaw was likely broken, but she seemed almost pleased. It was disturbing to witness, and Emma tried to speak but it became apparent that she couldn’t.
It didn’t take long for a teacher to push their way through the crowd after that. Gladly stopped, looking between Emma on the ground and Hebert standing over her. He then looked to the crowd, no doubt wanting a prompt on how they expected him to act because the man didn’t have a single ounce of volition in his body.
“Hebert hit Emma with her crutch,” Madison supplied.
Gladly focused on those words, nodding to himself. “Yes, that does seem to be the case. Taylor, with me, Madison, please see Emma to the nurse, if you would?”
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“Of course, Mr. G,” Madison said with that overly sweet pep she always had.
Sophia didn’t miss how Hebert didn’t speak up in her own favor, how she just accepted that this was how things would go. It was the way she had been before, but there was something there, in her eyes that told her it wasn’t the same. There wasn’t a trace of resignation or acceptance to be found, only defiance. There was fight in her eyes for the first time in the two years that Sophia had known her.
Needless to say, she was more than curious.
So, Sophia fell in step behind them, it didn’t take long for Hebert to notice, but she said nothing. When they reached the office itself, Gladly finally saw that she had tagged along and frowned. Rather than let him fill the blanks, Sophia spoke first.
“I saw the whole thing, figured a witness would help,” she said with a shrug.
“Good thinking, Sophia,” Gladly said with an affirming nod. “I’ll go speak with Blackwell if you both would just wait out here.”
Sophia shrugged again, flopping down into one of the uncomfortable chairs. Hebert watched Gladly walk off, heaving out a sigh as she gingerly took her own seat, which looked to be quite the chore without a working leg.
Once settled, Hebert shot her a withering glare that only ratcheted her opinion of the former victim up another notch.
“Why are you really here? Looking to get in another shot before Blackwell throws it all out and suspends me?”
“Nah,” Sophia said, leaning forward. “There’s no point in messing with you. For one, and no offense, but you’re crippled. Even I have standards. Emma’s a bitch, I’ll admit that upfront, and she jumped in before I could warn her off.”
Hebert frowned, but gestured for her to continue.
“See, coming back here after what she did? That takes a measure of guts I didn’t think you had in you. More so, when she started up her shit again, and I won’t pretend to know the context of that statement but I could tell it hurt and you put her down for it. You’ve proven yourself in my eyes, Hebert.”
“So what?” Taylor said, now visibly confused. “You wanted me to prove myself in some asinine way, and now that I have, you think everything between us is cool?”
Sophia waved her hand in dismissal. “Nah, you hate me, and I deserve it. I ain’t asking us to be friends or anything of the sort. I’m just saying, you won’t need to watch yourself around me. Not anymore.”
Hebert sat in silence for a moment, and Sophia almost thought that might be the end of it. By the time Gladly finished telling whatever bullshit story he would spin, then Sophia would be asked to confirm it, and finally, Hebert would be sent on her way when it didn’t match up. That was how it always seemed to go with them.
All because of Sophia, because she was Shadow Stalker.
It didn’t take a genius to figure that out, Emma’s dad might have been a lawyer, but even he didn’t have that kind of teeth. He wasn’t Carol Dallon.
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you,” Taylor eventually said. “Fortunately, I doubt we will have to deal with one another for much longer.”
That statement was ominous, and Hebert didn’t sound like she was bullshitting either.
“Why’s that?” she asked.
“Sophia?” Gladly said. “Blackwell would like to see you.”
As she stood, she noticed that Hebert was quietly chuckling to herself. When she raised an eyebrow, Hebert waved her off.
“You’ll see soon enough.”
Yeah, there was no way she didn’t have a plan for everything, which was suspicious in and of itself. Sophia recalled the phones that were out during the confrontation, had she hired someone to record things as insurance? It wouldn’t be surprising if she did finally wise up, but who would have done it?
Hebert wasn’t the type to go to the gangs, if she was, the Empire would have lynched Sophia a year ago. She was missing something, but it was best if she played this coming talk a bit differently than normal. Lying was too much of a risk if Hebert suddenly had a phone and produced a video someone took for her.
She entered the office and took a seat, glaring as she always did at the stern-faced principal. She didn’t like the woman, but she had to pretend to respect her since her fate as a Ward was linked to her opinion of Sophia.
She hated being on probation, but it beat Juvie. Not that she deserved either, because nailing a rapist to the wall, especially when she caught them in the act, shouldn’t have been something she got punished for. There were plenty of other crimes they could have chosen, like the four skinheads they didn’t know she offed, or the Merchant that tried to sell Sophia’s kid sister meth. That one had absolutely been justified.
But no, they picked that crime to make a big deal of, because she chose to call it in and sit with the victim instead of ditching. Fucking useless ass justice system, but she liked being able to stop being a cape and just go home. Terry was a decent enough older brother, and dammit if she didn’t adore Kylee.
“Mr. Gladly said you witnessed the altercation that is sending Emma to the ER for a possible broken jaw.” Sophia nodded, adding an affirmative grunt to sell the point. “Tell me what happened then.”
“Hebert was back, she and Emma had some words, they weren’t nice words and something Emma said about crying set her off, and she clubbed Emma across the jaw with one of her crutches.”
All true, but keeping the details sparse enough to avoid incriminating her or really making things look bad.
“Any more details or is that all you’re willing to share?”
Sophia shrugged. “Don’t want to bore you with teen drama. I’m sure Hebert will give you an essay’s worth of details when she gets in here, she seems pretty confident.”
“Lovely,” Blackwell said. “Very well, you’re free to return to class. Send Ms. Hebert in on your way out.”
“Sure thing,” Sophia said before stepping outside. “Your turn slugger, try to not knock this one on her ass.”
Sophia was quite aware that Blackwell could still hear her, she just didn’t care. Her wide grin and Hebert’s obvious confusion were well worth it. Just because she wasn’t going to be a bitch anymore didn’t mean she couldn’t have fun in other ways.
Hebert stood, a bit smoother than Sophia had expected. She could have sworn her bad leg took some of the weight there, but she could have just imagined it. Regardless, Hebert hobbled along, and as she passed, Sophia heard her mutter a single word under her breath.
“Showtime.”