Possible future fic? (Sophia Hess: Agent of Cauldron) (Patreon)

When Orb Weaver is finished (not for a while yet, don't panic and/or sigh in relief), I'm trying for some non-Taylor centric fics. This was a snippet from my slush pile, so what do people think?

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I push Taylor down. The girl looks up at me as I press my foot onto her head.

"C'mon Hebert! You look better down on the ground."

Emma laughs. I smile at her.

It's what the Path demands.

Just like it demanded I wait 30 seconds in the alley.

When I'd tracked down the people selling powers, I'd wanted to be strong. To show my Mom's boyfriends who was boss, to make them afraid to make Mom be something other than a doormat for every man who came through the front door.

I'd guzzled it… And then the world exploded.

Most people were just… people to me. But the drunk on the street? A power was looking at him, considering…and I saw how it could be influenced, not just to connect with him, but what kind of connection. And I saw how important it could be.

And all the steps needed to make that come true.

And not five seconds after I saw that, a woman with a fedora walked out of a door floating in the air.

Sophia Hess, 13, member of Cauldron.

But not a hero. I saw a tinker who could invent tools to help decontaminate the results of Behemoth's rampages. All it took was delaying a doctor long enough so his daughter died, unable to get the treatment from a cancer caused by Behemoth.

He wasn't the only one. "Sophia" was actually one of Cauldron's changers, keeping up appearances while I want to every place on Earth Bet and beyond. Not the silver bullet Cauldron hoped for, but a way to make superpowered beings—better yet, a way to influence their powers, to see how useful they would be…and how important they'd be to the future.

I thought it would be Emma, at first. But I used my tinkeretech tools to play Shadow Stalker and arrive in that alley…

But no. It wasn't Emma. It was Taylor. 5,000 steps. Cutting her off from friends, arranging that her dad was too busy to speak to her, taking just the right actions to cut her off from her teachers. Blackwell wasn't normally as bad as this, beaten down, yeah, but she didn't ignore bullying not like this… but arranging so Taylor came to her demanding she do something right after her Niece had been put into the hospital by a drunk driver…

As easy as anything Contessa did.

But it's coming to a conclusion. After this, there will be one more meeting with Blackwell, and then…

"Emma, you know what?" I said.

"What?" she asked.

"I've got an idea that is gonna put her in her place once and for all!"

"What is it?"

"First, we gotta start getting all the used tampons…" A couple of nudges, and what few scruples Emma had are gone. After all, it was part of the Path to create a power.

And I've never felt such a big power. Something old, powerful, something that may change the world…

I wonder if Taylor will thank me for it? I wonder what Emma would think if she knew that everything she'd gone through was just part of the process?

I don't know. I have a few other steps to handle. Then I'll be done.

And then I can go home and stare at the wall, waiting for the next call to destroy someone's life.

I really should have read some of the old stories about why getting your wish can be a bad thing, before I'd guzzled that damned potion.