Bubba's Idea Vault #8 The Deadcount Hero (Unedited) (Patreon)

Deadcount Hero

By: Bubbajack

Co-Authors/Editors: IcySnowSage, First Hassan

Obligatory First Chapter Disclaimer: We DO NOT own the following. Worm or the Nasuverse Franchise. They are owned by Wildbow and the Type Moon Doujin group respectively.

“What makes a hero? Is it their strength? Their Powers? Their morality? All play a part but the process of making a hero is complicated and long. A hero becomes who they are after many trials and tribulations. A hero’s journey is fraught with peril. The only Question is …. Will they survive?” - A broken hero.

Ch.1: The Call 1.1

(...)

Winslow High, Brockton Bay MA, USA

Earlier in the day, the girl he had a bit of an awkward crush on Taylor Hebert had been shoved into her own locker, and judging by the gag inducing putrid smell that wafted from it, whatever the Trio had put in there couldn’t be sanitary. His mother being a nurse at the local hospital he’d heard horror stories of what infections could do to people. So he pushed his way to the front of the laughing crowd and tried to force the locker open. He tried to jimmy the lock only to be forcibly turned around by the head bitch Hess herself.

“And just what the fuck do you think you’re doing Veder?” She asked a scowl on her face, not like that was anything new, she was always scowling. That or mocking someone else’s misfortune. Sophia was the type of person who wasn’t even pretty when she smiled.

“Getting her out! My mom’s a nurse Hess, if I’ve learned anything from the stories she’s told me after her shifts it's that if Taylor gets an infection she could go septic and die! This has gone well past your usual bullshit which is bad enough as it is. Her life is in legitimate danger this time. Now, let her out of the fucking locker before you finally catch a court case!”

Everyone fell silent. Even Sophia herself looked momentarily impressed by the fact ‘Creeper Veder’ as people often referred to him as behind his back had stood up to her. But he knew Sophia Hess better than most, and he knew she wouldn’t let someone she viewed as less than her stand up to her. That’s why he expected the blow to his gut she delivered and managed to take a breath, half warding off the pain even as he doubled over on her fist. She hit really hard for a girl.

“Didn’t know you had balls, Veder. But prey like you should know better than to snap back at their predators. My friends here will make sure that doesn’t happen again. Right boys?”

A trio of the bigger dumber jocks came over and hoisted him up into the air by his arms, grinning wickedly as they proceeded to drag him away. He got one final shot in though. Fixing Sophia with a glare as he looked her dead in the eye he said, “A Hero shouldn’t be acting like a two-bit bully.”

For just a moment, he saw a flicker of fear flash in her eyes. Not just her, but the other two members of the Trio, Madison Clemments and Emma Barnes also looked shocked. Fear turned to fury just as quickly as Sophia snapped, “Make sure he suffers boys! I don’t want to see his stupid face again for a long, long time, if ever!”

The jocks nodded as they hauled him away… He could still hear Taylor calling for help from the locker…

(...)

Fellas can’t we talk about this?” He asked, trying to break the tension.

“Nope,” The big blonde adonis, star quarterback of Winslow, and future Empire Eighty-Eight member, Adolf Kimmler replied, “I may hate the sub-human ape Hess as much as you but she for some reason is friends with Barnes and Clements. So if I can get on that things good side, I might just be able to tap that.”

“Great plan,” Greg drawled, “Except for the part where your allegiance to the neo-nazi party is obvious Adolf! You shave your head and have an E88 tattoo on either side of your skull man! You honestly think she isn’t playing you?”

The Jocks reply was  a hard punch to his right kidney. “Shut up!” the quarterback snapped. “Hess is just a dumb nigger, and a woman at that.

“Wow. Racist and sexist, that’s a new low, even for you Adolf.” It was when they left out the backdoors that he knew where they were taking him. Behind the football field bleachers. Jock home turf and also where the coach kept some of the gym equipment like the baseball bats.

“Awe guys you're taking me to the sex dungeon? I’m touched but I’m really not into BDSM.” Greg always did have a problem of running his mouth like an idiot when he was nervous. His remark earned him another kidney punch, and he tasted a bit of blood from where he’d bitten his tongue.

Under the shadow of the bleachers, the two goons held Greg up by his arms as Adolf picked up a bat and gave it a few test swings before he calmly approached, palming the business end of the bat up and down in his opposing hand as he said, “You know, we could still avoid all of this Greg. All you gotta do is join the Empire. You’ve obviously got pure Aryan blood. Then you skive off school for like a week, and then we can put this all behind us.”

Greg shook his head replying, “Nah, I hear the Eighty-Eight has a terrible benefits package, so I’ll have to pass.”

“I was afraid you’d say that. So, any last words?” Adolf asked as he hefted the bat with both hands.

“What’s the safe word?” Greg asked.

That’s when the beating started. Two full-powered swings hit him on either side of his face. He felt his nose break on the second hit, blood flowed down his face. Two blows hit him in the chest and he was pretty sure he felt a couple of ribs break, then he hit him in the gut. Adolf’s cronies dropped him then and got in on the action themselves, kicking and stomping on any part of him they could reach. Covering his head and neck, Greg tried to crawl away thinking ‘They’re actually trying to kill me!’ But he was too banged up to get very far. Plus the bat coming down on his hands might’ve broken something. He heard Adolf say something to the others but he couldn’t make it out due to the ringing in his ears. He soon figured it out though when the other two picked him up one by his arms and the other by his legs and started swinging him up and down while Adolf took a knee below him. It took him a minute to realize what they were trying to do. When he did, it was too late. ‘Are they about to fucking Bane me?!’

He was slammed down, spine first on Adolf’s knee and he felt something in his lower back snap, and his legs went numb. He tried to army crawl away. His legs now limp and useless. At the entrance to the bleachers he saw what he thought was a girl. He reached out towards her trying to get her to run away as everything in his vision started to go black. The last thing he heard was a girl's voice saying, “Punish them Berserker.”

(...)

“Hey hey kid. Wake up,” a childish voice spoke to Greg.

He muttered and tried to block out the voice. He just wanted the nightmare he went through to end.

“Hey kid. I need you to wake up. If you don’t I am going to smack you.”

Greg grumbled and turned away from the voice and muttered, “You can’t make me kid. I don’t wanna.”

“Gregory if you don’t get up I will make you the horse instead of the cowboy,” spoke a salacious voice that was dripping sex appeal.

Greg sat bolt upright and stood at attention, “Please No! I’m still a virgin!” He then turned and looked at some of the strangest women he had ever seen.

They both had curves in all the right places with one having dark hair done up in ojou ringlets wearing glasses and wearing the oddest combo of a cutout unitard, bikini top and platform shoes.

The other one was dressed just as weirdly. She was wearing a Japanese girls gym uniform consisting of a white t-shirt and bloomers and she had an average looking face framed by messy salmon pink hair and topaz eyes.

“This isn’t like my usual sexy dreams, they usually involve Taylor, whipped cream and a lot less clothes.”

“Bad parasite!” the salmon-haired girl said, slapping him with a paper fan she got from… somewhere. “Bad! You go to horny parasite jail!”

The other one just gave him a salacious grin, and pumped out her chest saying, “I’ll let you touch them for a hundred thousand yen.”

To be fair, Greg briefly considered it, “No thanks this feels way too surreal to be a dream so… I’ll bite what’s going on? Did some parahuman with an ability to invade my dreams jump into my head or something…” He paused before looking around nervously, “Am I getting Nightmare on Elm Street’d right now?”

The one that dressed like a stripper huffed at him, “No dummy! Though I suppose I can’t blame you for thinking that,” She paused to rub her temples before she continued, “No but what’s really going on right now does have to do with parahumans in a much larger scope.”

“What do you mean?”

“She means, we have a deal to make with you, even though you are but one of a multitude of fleas,” The girl in the bloomers stated bluntly.

“Ignoring the fact I just got called a flea, what kind of deal?” Greg inquired.

“Tanaka, let me handle this,” The girl with glasses requested naming the one in bloomers.

“Whatever you say TOHSAKA,” the now named Tanaka replied, crossing her arms under her boobs, which Greg admitted to himself did wonderful things to them. Catching him staring, Tanaka asked sweetly, “Do I need to send you to horny jail again, insect?”

“Eyes off her tits and on mine!” TOHSAKA snapped before she realized what she said and faltered, “That’s not what I meant to say! Anyway! Greg Veder, though we may look like it, we are not the normal sexy women you see in your dreams.”

Greg nodded, “That much is obvious,”

“What we are,” TOHSAKA continued her voice a bit strained in annoyance as she continued, “is physical manifestations of the Counter Force.”

“The what?” Greg asked.

“The collective human unconsciousness, and its will to survive,” She pointed at herself as she spoke, “And the sentience of the planet to not get killed off by humans,” she finished pointing at Tanaka who stuck her tongue out at him childishly in response.

“Oh… oh wow. Okay so humanity has a collective unconsciousness and so does that planet. That’s some Jungian shit right there…” A pause before, “But don’t you two technically hate each other?”

“It’s more like a sibling rivalry more than anything,” TOHSAKA spoke for the two of them.

“Speak for yourself,” Tanaka grumbled before she shouted out, “Humans are slowly making me go bald! You stupid hairless apes need my trees to breathe and what do you do? You cut them down to make paper to both write and wipe your collective asses with!”

“Does this happen a lot?” Greg stage-whispered to TOHSAKA.

Sighing she replied, “You have no idea,”

“And don’t even get me started on all the fucking landfils! Why is it so hard to clean up your damn trash?! Recycle you lazy fucks! Especially the darker skinned ones who run around with their pants around their ankles and gold in their teeth! Gold which is also mine by the way! You're the reason your communities are so shitty! Clean up after yourselves!”

“What does this have to do with parahumans?” Greg asked, doing his best to tune out Tanaka’s ranting.

Deciding not to beat around the bush, TOHSAKA replied, “Earth has been invaded by aliens,”

Looking left and right the teen asked, “Where are the gray men, the flying saucers, the random cow abductions, and the ray guns?”

“Wrong kind of aliens,” TOHSAKA said with a shake of her head, “Think Greg what could have possibly changed the world and be considered an invasion. Hell what really fucked over society?”

It struck him like a bolt of lightning, “Parahuman abilities. They’re of alien origin?”

Ugh! Don’t even get me started on the glass whales!” Tanaka began, “They break into little itty bitty pieces, infect people with powers, then once they test them on all realities of the planet they infect BOOM!”

“Boom?” Greg asked, looking at TOHSAKA. “Multiple realities, you mean like Earth Alph?”

“Yes, and by boom, that is their means of locomotion throughout the multiverse, it is to recollect the shards of their bodies that grant others powers and then proceed to blow up every variant of the planet they granted them to in the first place,” TOHSAKA  informed him.

“Uuh shit… what do you want me to do? I’m just a teen who got his ass kicked and pretty sure I got my back broken.”

“You Greg, have just gone through what qualifies for a trigger event, which could activate your own latent shard. We decided to take this moment to make you an offer. Join us, become a human empowered by the Counter Force, a Counter Guardian, to fight off this threat to not just humanity, but also the planet. All versions of the planet, and uncountable numbers of humanity are in danger. We need your help to turn the tide.”

“Nice pitch,” Greg complimented after a moment's pause.

“Thank you,” TOHSAKA replied, “Does that mean you’ll join us?”

“No, because you still haven’t told me what you’ll give me that’ll make me combat this threat.”

“Oh… whoops,” TOHSAKA replied, “That is the most important part isn’t it? To put it simply I shall grant you access to the Throne of Heroes. You shall be able to assume the form, skills and powers of heroes from myth. Think of the likes of Seigfried, Herakles, and Cu Chulainn of ireland. All those and more shall be at your disposal. They shall be far and away above the common man in terms of power.”

“Okay…” He then pointed at Tanaka. “What’re you bringing to the table?”

“Excuse me?” The bloomers wearing girl asked.

Greg continued, “You heard me, TOHSAKA is bringing what sounds like a sweet deal but you're in this too, so how’re you gonna sweeten the pot?”

“You are a greedy little bug!” Tanaka replied. “I don’t care if you parasites die! Why should I give you anything?”

“Cause if you don’t, it shows you don’t really care if these… Entities succeed or not. Meaning you don't care all that much about your own life,” Greg replied.

Tanaka puffed out her cheeks in annoyance before she blew out hot air. “Stupid bug,” She muttered, “Fine~! I guess I can grant you a minor blessing, it’ll make things easier for your monkey brain to understand, and should make it easier to find things.”

“Alright, then I guess I’m your man… provided you can fix my fucked up body, that is,” Greg said more to himself than them.

“The worst is already being taken care of,” TOHSAKA assured him. “You’ll have some… hurdles to overcome but… you should be just fine.”

Feeling their conversation was wrapping up, Greg asked one final question, “Will I be able to protect Taylor with this?”

Smiling, TOHSAKA smiled warmly as she replied, “Who knows? Maybe if you try hard enough. Both Tanaka and I look forward to seeing how you fair, Greggory Veder.”

“Try not to get swatted too soon, insect!” Tanaka said as she energetically waved goodbye to him.

Smiling Greg muttered to himself, “If this isn’t a weird dream brought on by a near death experience or a drug induced cocktail at the hospital, I am probably so fucked right now.”

(...)

Greg woke up with a groan hearing the sound of an EKG machine and smelling the antiseptically clean smell of what could only be a hospital room, he could even make out the dull thrum of fluorescent bulbs they always used in the lights even if the dimmer was turned on. The second thing he noticed was his entire body was in a dull ache and he was feeling a little fuzzy in the head. He glanced over and saw an IV in his arm. ‘Morphine drip.’ He guessed. Fiddling around with his hand with a sense of touch he could barely make out, he found the help button and pressed it before waiting for someone to arrive.

Feet came rushing down the hall, and his door slammed against the wall white light pierced his retina as the dimmer was flipped up to maximum causing him to swear. “Fuck! Warn a guy next time!”

“Sorry, Greg.” the lights dimmed again, and a voice he recognized stepped closer. It was his ‘uncle’. He was an old man bald on top of his head with a face like a frog. He was a refugee from Levithan’s attack on Kyushu years back and was an expert surgeon before that. His name was Tengoku Hanronsuru, and he often joked that as long as you made it on his operating table with a pulse, you wouldn’t die.

“Hey Gramps… where are my folks? Were they busy with work again? I mean shit, my mom works here.” Greg let out a sigh. His mom was a nurse and his dad was a Dockworker. Both worked long hours and Greg didn’t see either one of them all that much, but even he assumed they would show up if their only son ended up in the hospital.

“I had to send them both home for some rest. They and your other visitors haven’t slept properly in weeks.”

“Wait what?” Greg tried to sit up only to be forcibly pushed back down by the doctor. He could hardly feel the hand on his chest under his hospital gown. ‘Man these drugs are strong,’ Greg thought.

“You’ve been in a coma for three weeks Greg,” Tengo told him, “That beating you took was quite severe, especially with the damage to your spine. Speaking of, do you have any tingling or numbness anywhere?”

The teen nodded in the affirmative, “Everywhere, I assumed it was being caused by the morphine drip in the IV, why?”

“Well, that’s a good sign at least,” The Frog-Faced Doctor said with a hopeful sigh. He then continued, “That IV doesn’t have morphine in it Greg, it's a simple fluid bag.”

The blonde boy blinked, his voice rising in pitch a bit as he asked, “Then why is everything numb?”

“The beating, and I can’t stress this enough, the damage to your spine, has damaged your nerve endings. They’ve dulled your sense of touch it seems. Can you wiggle your toes for me?”

Greg wiggled his toes. He could feel them moving but the sensation felt numb.

“Well you still have all your motor functions which I was worried about. That’s a relief,”

The awkward boy was silent for a moment. “So, I was in a coma for three weeks, and the beating left me with damaged nerve endings?”

“Yes.”

“So basically I got Kick-Assed?” Greg asked for confirmation.

The doctor sighed, “Is that a comic book thing Greg?”

“Yes, and it's the origin story of a kid who tried to be a hero without becoming a parahuman. He got the shit beat out of him and got nerve damage from it…”

“Then yes, as you have,  so eloquently put it, have been ‘Kick-Assed’.”

“Okay… okay. I have another question.”

“Is it why Panacea hasn’t healed you long before this?”

“Yes.”

“She doesn’t like healing up ‘gang initiations’. Apparently according to her, if they bring it on themselves they deserve to suffer.”

“Gang… She thought I took an initiation beating to join the Empire?! Kinda stereotyping isn’t she? Hell, by that logic her sister should be their poster child.”

“We all tried to tell her, but her worldview is very black and white. Maybe now that you’ve woken up you can convince her to heal you up.”

“Fuck that, I don’t even want her help now,” Greg said stubbornly. He wasn’t exactly a fan of Panacea in the first place. For since they had her working at the hospital it undervalued people like his mother and made it hard for her to get her hours in. After all, why have people you pay a salary to pull forty hours a week when you have a girl who can fix what ails you in seconds and give your body a full tune up while she is at it? It practically made people in his mother’s profession practically obsolete. Thank God there was only one of her.

“I figured you’d say that,” Tengoku said with a small smile on his face. “But you shouldn’t let your anger and pride get in the way of your health.”

Waving his arms, Greg said, “Enough about that, what were you saying earlier about all these visitors I had?”

That caused the Frog Faced Doctor to grin, “Seems you're quite the ladies man Greg. Several women showed up at your hospital room and kept you company while you were out. They’re quite worried.”

Greg was lost. “Huh? Who? I don’t know any women?”

“Miss Einzbern and her daughter, along with a young Miss Utusmi and her Aunt? Do they ring any bells?”

The proverbial lightbulb went off over his head, “Oh they’re just my next door neighbors I help out from time to time. Didn’t think they’d care enough to show up at my hospital room.” he said honestly. “I’ll need to thank them next time I see them,” He paused, staring at his sheets for a moment before he asked, “Did they get Taylor out of the locker? Is she okay?”

“I can’t really talk about that Greg, Doctor-patient confidentiality. I can say she left here healthy a week ago however.”

‘So she had to stay here two weeks after being crammed in that thing. God, what the hell did the Trio do?’ He wondered.

The Doc threw him a bone, “She would visit your room on occasion, just sit in a chair quietly when no one else was around and hold your hand.”

“Really?” This made him perk up. He had a not so secret awkward crush on Taylor Hebert and was elated to hear she’d come to see him.

“Yes there was another young lady as well though I’ve never seen her before. Red hair, hazel eyes that looked almost amber, pale with asian features? She was the one who found you after the beating actually. Her and a friend of hers carried you to the hospital for treatment.”

“Seriously… I think I know someone like that at Winslow, a new girl. I owe her one. Her name is Rits… Ritsu something,” It was getting harder to think. What with all he has now to think about. It was making him tired to be honest.

Seeing his fatigue, the physician decided it was enough twenty questions. “You’ve just woken up. Rest, I’ll give your parents a call when you wake up again, and remember. I or a nurse is one button click away,” Tengou told him pointing at the help button before he left the room. He had numerous phone calls to make. Many people had left their contact numbers wanting to know immediately if Greg awoke. Well, for the good of his patient, they could wait a few hours.

(...)

Hebert Household

Danny Hebert had been having trouble controlling his temper as of late. Why? His daughter had been shut inside of her own school locker full of… excrement and used feminine products for over a day, and it took all of his considerable will not to burn the entire school down. Two things stopped him. The first was, as much as he despised that school, it was the only affordable place he could send his Little Owl to get some semblance of an education. Secondly, there was at least one person in that school with a sense of mortality. He checked in on Greg Veder when he’d take a walk from sitting too long in Taylor’s room. The boy was in bad shape. Yet he’d recently woken up from his beating induced coma. He knew the boy’s father Jared. A hard worker who turned down a shipping job at Medhall Corp to stay on with them at the Docks. Loyal Jerry certainly was. Not smart, but loyal. Seems that was a trait he passed down to his son.

‘Now I just need to tell my Little Owl he’s awake,’ He thought to himself. He knew she blamed herself for his condition. And he knew she’d been silently going through alot. He blamed himself for not paying more attention. He had just been so busy with work. ‘No that’s an excuse!’ He told himself, ‘You’ve been too busy grieving your wife to pay attention to your daughter, and it almost cost you her and someone else their son. This stops now,’ He looked at a picture of his wife that he kept on his nightstand by this bed. Picking it up, he spoke to it. “Annette, if you were here, you’d beat me senseless for being so blind. Don’t worry though I’m gonna fix this,” He tenderly kissed the picture of his wife before placing it back, “But in order to do that, I need to let you go. I’ll never stop loving you Annette, but for Taylor’s sake, I have to let you go, at least a little bit.”

He got up from where he was sitting on his bed, and went across the hall to his daughters room and knocked thrice on her door. “Little Owl? Taylor, I have news.”

A scratching came from the door, and moments later a black cat with white paws and yellow eyes poked its head out the door, peering up at him suspiciously.

“Hello Figaro, is your mistress up and about?” Danny asked.

“Meow!” The cat snapped at him before he darted inside the room.

“Remember who picked you up from the pound you furball,” Danny said to himself as he let himself into his daughter’s room. It was dark, a few strips of sunlight were coming through the gaps in her blinds. Making his way over Danny pulled them open saying, “C’mon Little Owl! Time to get up! I have good news!”

“Why? What happened dad? Did Wislow burn down with almost everyone in it?” Taylor asked tiredly, poking her head out from the mass of blankets that covered her only to wordlessly grumble as the light invaded her eyes.

“No, but I did just receive a call from Dr. Haronsuru, Greg is awake.”

Taylor sat bolt upright sending her new pet cat jumping off her bed. “He is?!”

“Yes, he woke up the first time a couple of hours ago before nodding back off, he’s more awake now and capable of receiving visitors.”

“I need to shower, do my hair, and find something to wear. Maybe a dress?” Taylor muttered to herself as she proceeded to get out of bed and proceed to rush around.

Danny laughed, “Calm down Little Owl, you're going to visit someone in the hospital, not getting ready for a date,” Seeing his daughter flush he said, “Someone has a crush huh?”

“Dad! Get out! She proceeded to shove him out of her room. “I have to do a lot before I can even think of leaving, cause I’m a girl! Go on go!”

“Figaro, make sure she doesn’t take too long okay?” Danny asked of the cat, who just yawned looking amused at his human’s antics.

(...)

‘Okay Taylor,’ The girl told herself as she stepped off the elevator, a small bag of cookies she made and a get well card attached, ‘You can do this, just say you're sorry he had to get hurt because of you, and pray to God that… crap. She’s already here,’ She thought morosely.

The she in question was a small girl of maybe twelve, She had albino features. Long white hair and ruby red eyes. She seemed to favor the color purple, and Taylor had yet to see her in an outfit that lacked it. Even today she was wearing a purple blouse and white skirt.

“Illyasviel,” She greeted.

“Hebert,” She said haughtily. Illya replied coldly.

“Now, now Illya, be nice,” Her mother, who looked like an older clone of hers, and of kinder disposition, said as she put her hands on her young daughter's shoulders. “How’re you doing Taylor? Are you feeling better?”

“Um, somewhat Miss Einzbern, thank you.” Taylor said quietly. She didn’t know how to feel about this exuberant woman.

“That’s wonderful dear! I was as worried about you as I was about Greg when I talked to your father about what was going on in the cafeteria whenever we’d bump into one another there on occasion.”

Taylor had half a mind to send her dad a glare, but figured he must’ve been worried sick about her while he was here, and needed someone to talk to. So she let it go. “Thank you Miss Einzbern, for worrying about me. Is Greg seeing someone at the moment?”

“His parents,” Irisviel replied perkily. “As you can imagine they’re thrilled he’s awake.”

Taylor nodded, guilt wriggling in her gut, “Right, of course,” ‘Of course if he hadn’t tried to help you he wouldn’t have ended up here in the first place.’ She thought to herself.

“We’re going to go see him once they’re done,” Illya said almost possessively.

“Actually Illya, mama thinks she’ll stay here for a bit and catch up with Mister Hebert So why don’t you and Taylor go ahead?” She told her daughter.

Illya looked confused, “B-But don’t you want to see him too Mama?”

Irisivel nodded, “I do, but I can wait. You and Taylor seem more eager. Your outfit looks nice Taylor.”

Taylor looked down at her outfit, it was a gray dress and matching gray and white criss crossing shawl she had thrown around her neck with her hair done up in a ponytail and a pair of her mothers dancing shoes that just so happened to fit her. Due to the slight chill she threw on a white jacket that matched the shawl. “Thank you miss Einzbern.”

“Just call me Irisviel dear,” The older woman told her gently. “Hearing you call me Miss Einzbern makes me feel old,” She giggled.

“Alright Irisviel,” Taylor replied. It sounded a bit weird to her yet it suited the bubbly woman more somehow.

The door suddenly opened and Lesley and Jared Veder exited the room. Jared was a burly man with blonde hair and green eyes, while his wife was a willowy woman that had blue eyes. They looked only slightly surprised to see everyone for a moment, and smiled. Jared moved to shake hands with Danny which he did, vigorously, “Boss, thanks again for everything.”

“Don’t thank me Jer, everyone pitched in when they heard Greg was hurt. We Dock workers gotta stick together, you proved that better than anyone.”

Jared nodded, “Right, well, I’ll be back to work as soon as I can,”

Danny held up a hand, “There’s no rush, I’m not exactly rushing back to work myself as you can imagine.” He nodded to his daughter who tried to disappear on the spot.

“Taylor,” Jared said walking up to her and gently putting a massive hand on her small shoulder, “Are you doing alright?”

“Yes sir… I’m sorry your son got hurt because of me,” She said in an almost whisper.

“Nonsense Taylor. Greg stood up for what he believed in. More people should do that without having to put on spandex outside of their underwear.” Jared said. “He may’ve taken a beating, but I’ve never been more proud of my son. He stood up and said, no enough is enough when no one else did. I know he didn’t help as much as he wanted, but I hope that means something.”

“That’s enough dear why don’t you go talk with Danny about what’s going on down at the Yard?” Leslie said.

“Right, c’mon bossman. Get me up to speed on all the shit I’m behind on.” The two men walked off, and Irisviel followed them but not before giving Taylor an encouraging wink.

“You’ll have to forgive my husband dear,” Leslie began, “He’s a big strong lug. Not the best with his words but he means well.”

Taylor nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

“You know Greg has always been obsessed with videogames. I think he used them as an escape from reality sometimes. His father and I aren’t around much due to our jobs causing Greggory to be quite self sufficient which is nice but it's also isolated him to an extent. We never heard about friends and never would’ve imagined he would’ve stuck his neck out like he did for you… I guess what I’m trying to say is, he must really care about you Taylor. Ah, excuse me. I’m rambling, I’m just giddy my son is awake despite everything else. You two should go see him,” She said motioning to Taylor and Illyasviel “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to sit down for a spell.” The woman collapsed into a chair and let out a shuddering sigh of relief before she let a few silent tears fall.

Taylor swallowed nervously before looking at Illya, “Ready?”

“Race you!” Illya replied as she proceeded to run inside yelling “GREG~G!”

‘Kids’ Taylor thought wryly as she shook her head before making her own way into the room.

(...)

Greg was suddenly bombarded by a white a purple missile, the only warning he received was the elongated calling of his own name. It wasn’t nearly enough warning. The air was forced out of his lungs as the small surface-to-Greg missile hit its mark before snuggling into his chest.

“Illya?” Greg asked breathlessly, glad that didn’t hurt at all like it used to when she did that. ‘Maybe this deadened nerve thing ain’t so bad?’ He thought to himself, ‘It’s already paying dividends.’

Sitting up on his lap, Illya beamed, “Greg!” She then frowned worriedly, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine Illya, I… feel like I just woke up from a long refreshing nap,” He consoled her.

“Dummy!” She said, pouting at him. “You were in a coma from getting beaten up!” She teared up as she continued, “I was so worried! Stop making light of it!”

“Right sorry Illya, but I’m basically fine, so don’t cry okay?” He beat his chest with one hand to prove his health and masculinity. “See, perfectly fine.”

“Promise me you won’t do it again!” She said seriously as she looked him in the eye while holding up a pinky finger. Whenever her mama promised her something they did this, so it was a big deal for her.

Yet Greg shook his head, “Can’t do that Illya,”

“Why not?!” She asked as she bounced up and down on his waist. “You could die next time this happens you know?!”

Greg shook his head, ‘She’s such an impetuous little princess,’ He thought. “That’s because I have someone I want to protect Illyasviel. I couldn’t call myself a man if I didn’t at least try to keep her out of serious danger.”

“Hey Illya,” Taylor decided to give them a moment but now felt like stepping in. “Can you give Greg and I the room for a moment please?”

The albino girl pouted, wrapping her arms around Greg’s chest, “Why should I?”

“Illyasviel,” Greg said, “Please?”

“Okay~y!” She said getting off the hospital bed, “But don’t go trying to get too far ahead!” She warned Taylor before she left the room.

“Well…” Greg said, slapping his hands on his knees to fill the silence, “This is awkward isn’t it?” He noticed she was wearing a dress and said, “You look nice… I mean pretty…I mean… Yeah.”

‘He thinks I look pretty? Me? Taylor Hebert?’ She asked herself. “Do you maybe need glasses more than I do Greg? Or maybe that beating damaged your eyes? I’m not exactly a looker.”

“Hey, stop that!” He said with a bit of heat. “Nobody gets to talk shit about the girl I like in front of me, not even the girl herself… Ah shit I said that out loud didn’t I?” His mouth worked before his brain again, ‘cause Taylor Hebert herself was sitting in front of him.

“Why?” She asked. “I need to ask because well, I just don’t see it.”

“Is that really you or the bullies talking?” He asked before he sighed, “Sorry for not stepping up before now by the way but… Sophia is dangerous.”

“Yeah I know, she controls the whole school pretty much.”

Greg shook his head, “No you don’t understand she’s…” He looked around furtively as if to make sure no one was listening before he said, “She’s a fucking cape.”

“What?!” Taylor paled upon hearing that, “Are you sure?”

“Saw her turn into fucking smoke once meeting up with the other two. They didn’t see me though. And I could be wrong, but I can only think of one person who has a Breaker power that lets them turn into smoke.”

Taylor wracked her brain for a moment before she came up with the answer. “Shadowstalker? A Ward? A fucking Hero is bullying me?!”

Greg grimaced and nodded, “Yeah that’s why I was being a little chickenshit. I didn’t want to randomly get an arrow in my back one day taking the trash out or something.”

“I… I don’t blame you, she didn’t even use her powers and look what happened to you,” She took a breath, this was gonna be hard after what she just heard but it needed to be done, “Greg, I don’t want you trying to protect me like that again ok? If you do that again, you might die next time.”

“Nope.”

“Greg! You were in a coma! Think about your health, your parents!”

“Nope!”

She crossed her arms, huffed and looked away, “Oh now you're just being childish.”

Grinning a bit he said again, “Nope.”

Despite herself, Taylor found herself grinning. Something she hadn’t done in a long time. “You're terrible. You know that?”

“Nope!”

Slapping him on the shoulder and laughing she said, “Stop that!” She then remembered he was in a hospital bed and why and gasped asking, “Are you alright? Do I need to call a nurse? Should I just leave?”

“Taylor, Taylor I’m fine. Didn’t even feel that. Side effect of the beating is, my sense of touch is kinda… gone? Everything is numb now. It's kinda a superpower right? Think I  can pass that off as a parahuman ability?”

Taylor reached out and squeezed his hand with one of hers, the other placed the treat and card she brought him on his bed. “You can’t feel now? All because of-”

He interrupted saying, “If you blame yourself I’m taking your glasses. You asked what I see in you earlier? You're strong. You could easily patsy someone else or take your anger out on other people but you don’t. You're pretty,” He held up a hand when she tried to object, “Maybe not in the Malibu dress up Barbie kinda way but in the distant, mysterious intellectual kinda way. It's like you come off as dark and mysterious, like, and forgive me for saying this, a sexy occult librarian.”

Taylor felt her cheeks flush. “Me?” She pointed at herself. “I give off the air of a…?”

“Naughty mysterious librarian yeah. I should probably apologize for my poor choice of words.” He thought aloud to himself.

N-N-No! It's fine I just never thought about myself like that… I’ve never been complimented like that before. Um, thank you Greg.”

“You're welcome, and Taylor? No matter how much you beg me, I’m gonna have your back from now on. I’ve had it with those assholes at Winslow, and I’m not gonna take their bullying anymore. Not of me, or you, or anyone else. Besides, even if they hit me I can’t feel it so…” he shrugged, “I can outlast them in a fight if it comes right down to it.”

“Let’s not do that okay Greg?” Taylor said, putting a hand on his arm. “You could end up back here even worse than before. You uh, don’t want to make me worry, do you?”

“Your feminine wiles need work,” Greg noted,

Taylor huffed and looked off to the side, arms crossed, “Gimme a break. It was my first time trying to even use them.”

“Practice makes perfect? Greg supplied. “But I promise you if they don’t start nothin’ there won’t be nothin’. That’s all I can promise you Taylor.”

“Better than nothing I suppose.” She acceded.

Greg cleared his throat awkwardly, “So… what does that make us after this talk?”

“Do you really wanna… ahem, date me?” Taylor asked timidly.

“Well yeah, I do. I really, really do, but I think we’ve both been through the ringer and it's a little soon for that right now so… friends and see where it goes?” He offered even though he wanted nothing more than to say yes he didn’t want Taylor to feel like she’s being forced into anything out of guilt or pity.

The smile she gave him let him know he’d made the right decision. “Sure, I’d like to get to know you more Greg and see where it goes from there.”

“Awesome! I’m just glad I didn’t screw this up by putting my foot in my mouth like I usually do when I try to talk to you.”

Him admitting that helped Taylor’s near nonexistent ego. “I make you nervous?”

“A gibbering wreck.” He admitted with a tired sigh.

“You sound like you could use some rest, so I’m going to go, oaky? She got up, hesitated a moment before she leaned over and kissed him chastely on his temple. “Thank you Greg, for showing me not everyone at Winslow was willing to standby and do nothing.”

He laid there dumbly as she left a hand on his left temple where her lips touched him. ‘That was awesome!’ he thought as he wondered to himself, ‘I wonder if I should’ve asked her about that thing I saw?’

Above her head were the words [Queen Administrator, 40% power unlocked,  Max Dominion Invertebrates]

(...)

Greg was getting used to his new reality. One that consisted of occasionally seeing things floating above people's heads, and physical therapy. The physical therapy was an attempt to bring back more feeling to his body… at first. During the first session he was told to lift some weights till he felt some kind of fatigue. The problem was he could bench press twice his body weight with one arm and feel no strain whatsoever. When that happened the doctors called in the professionals of the PRT. Some… nice-ish looking people in suits came by one of which was Miss Militia herself.

[Proto Weapon. 20% power unlocked.]

Ignoring the title as he observed the protoplasmic weaponshifter, he said, “Wow, the woman herself, should I feel honored they sent you or scared they felt the need?”

“I’m not here to hurt you, Greggory, I just wanted to have a talk,” She said smiling under her bandana. “The doctors here think your incident at Winslow might’ve caused a Trigger Event, and given what I’ve seen of your results I’m inclined to believe them.”

Sighing Greg said, “Look Miss Militia, as much as I like you, can we stow the crap? Can you get to your pitch for me to join the Wards ‘for the good of Brockton Bay’ so I can politely decline already?”

The career heroine blinked. She had never been spoken to like that by a teenager before. One that could so clearly see through the PRT and all its glitz, glamor, and her reasons for coming to see him today. As far as he was concerned it wasn’t if he triggered, or why, it was about him wanting to be left alone. By just the PRT was the question.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever been shot down before I can even make the pitch before. Did another group already make you an offer? One you couldn’t refuse perhaps?” She inquired.

“I’m not being threatened by anyone, I just don’t feel like I have a dog in this fight,” He leaned in close and whispered to her, “Especially when Sophia Hess, your own Shadow Stalker, is the reason I triggered in the first place.”

To her credit didn’t physically react to the revelation, “How do you know that?”

Greg gave a little laugh, “She likes to show off to her little groupie friends. I just so happen to notice her ‘smoking in’ one day. She’s also the biggest bully in my school. She sicked the jocks on me like her personal guard dogs, all because I tried to save a friend from being shoved in a locker full of...” he fell silent and shook his head, “Not my story to tell.”

Hanna watched Greg's body language as he spoke. He gave no indication he was lying. Nothing that he could hide like microtells or the like. She had no choice but to believe that Greg Veder was telling the truth. She never did particularly like that Shadow Stalkers sentence to juvie was suspended and she was granted probationary membership to the Wards. To her it felt like they were rewarding bad behavior. Add onto that the constant filed reports of her going off on her own on patrols, complaints by fellow Wards of her vitriolic if not outright hostile behavior, and Hannah had been looking for a good reason, any reason to get rid of the girl. And she had just been handed it by this young man.

“You say it's not your story to tell,” She began, “Whose is it to tell Greg? I need to know because if Sophia Hess is using her position as a Ward to practically instigate Trigger Events and the school is seemingly looking the other way, both she and they need to be stopped.”

Greg ran a hand down his face as he sighed, “If I tell, she’ll know and she’s gonna hate me for it. We just started the whole friends thing and this reeks of Macbethian betrayal.”

“You know Shakespeare?” Hannah asked, surprised.

“I like classics,” He replied, “Capes are cool too, but if a written work can be remembered long after you're dead, there has to be something to it right?”

The Protectorate member found herself grinning underneath her mask. Greg it seemed was more complex than one would first give him credit for. “Yes, I do, actually. Look Greg I understand that you think this could hurt your friendship before it could really begin, but if nothing gets done, this behavior of Sophia’s could escalate even further. Someone could die next time.”

“Well I guess if you really wanted to find out, someone smart like you would just have to look at the record. From what I was told a hazmat team had to be called to decontaminate her locker. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that counts as at least domestic terrorism but would also be easy for someone like Dragon or Armsmaster to find info on for you, if you said please?”

‘Clever boy,’ She thought, ‘He’s giving me the answer without giving me the name, forcing me to do it myself so he can at least claim ignorance.’ She nodded, “Oh yes that could easily be done,”

“Already on it,” Dragon replied in her earpiece. She didn’t expect but wasn’t surprised for her to be eavesdropping on her conversation. It was a bad habit she’d picked up from all the time she spent monitoring and playing Admin on PHO. Or so she thought.

“Found it… eww oh dear that poor child. Her name is Taylor Hebert. She had to stay at the Hospital for a week on antibiotics because of the sheer amount of filth in that locker.”

Holding up a finger to Greg she walked away for a moment and spoke into her earpiece, “Dragon, confirm. Did you say the girl's name was Taylor Hebert? H-E-B-E-R-T?”

“Yes, that is correct, why?” her fellow cape inquired.

Growling Hanna replied, “That girl is the daughter of an old acquaintance of mine. I promised her I’d look after her before she passed away some three years ago.”

“Should I sharpen the knife you're going to skin Shadow Stalker with?” Dragon offered.

Shifting her protoplasm into a straight razor Hannah replied, “No need, I brought my own,” forming it back into a shapeless blob before it disappeared, she made her way back to the young man and replied, “We have the information we need,” She pulled a card out of her pants pocket, “Here, its my personal number if you ever change your mind or just need a hand, call me whenever I’m always awake.”

“Thanks,” He replied, taking the card. As the Heroine turned to walk away he called, “Count of Monte Cristo,” causing her to turn, “Another favorite book of mine is the Count of Monte Cristo. If it taught me anything it's that revenge is something that needs to be done properly. Calculated, controlled, and perfectly executed. If it's solely driven by emotion it’ll fail. It’s a good read.”

‘Message received Mister Veder,’ Hannah nodded, “It is, I guess all either one of us can do now is wait and hope the investigation pans out.”

For the first time, he smiled at her a bit, “I could only wish to be a fly on the wall when the hammer comes down on Hess’ life.”

“That could be arranged, right Dragon?” Hannah asked, speaking into her earpiece as she walked away.

“Indeed.”

Greg meanwhile sighed hoping he didn’t tank his relationship with Taylor before he’d even left the hospital.

(...)

Taylor was walking to the hospital. Her breath was clouding the air in front of her everytime she exhaled but she ignored it. She had just come from a very strange conversation at her home with Miss Militia. The famous PRT Cape acted like she knew her dad which was weird enough, but she came looking for evidence on Sophia’s Hess’ bullying campaign. She had a small mountain of it of course, keeping a journal of all the abuse they’d done to her and a folder on her computer of all the insulting e-mails they’d sent her. Miss Militia asked for the journal while Dragon asked to download the contents of the folder. She agreed to both, on the condition that they nailed Sophia Hess to a wall, preferably in the Birdcage, and tell her how they learned about this.

“I was called in to do an assessment on a young man at the local hospital since he was showing signs of a Brute rating after a severe beating at your school. He didn’t drop your name but he did point me in the right direction on where to look,” She smiled under her bandana, “That person seemed to hold your opinion in high regard. Enough to protect your privacy as much as he could.”

“Are you sure he Triggered? He damaged his nerves and since Panacea,” she said the name with distaste, having gone sour on the resident New Wave healer since she learned about this, “Refused to heal him, he could be exerting more force than his body normally should.”

Miss Militia sighed, “I didn’t know that, Greg,” She had stopped beating around the bush, “Refused to share that tidbit of information. You’ll have to forgive Panacea, her worldview is very black and white. If she thinks you're evil, it's very hard to change her mind. Her whole family has shades of that mentality.”

“I liked New Wave,” Taylor said in disappointment. “So um… how do you know my Dad?”

Both Miss Militia and Danny shared a glance and laugh before Miss Militia explained, “Well it's not really your Dad, I know well Taylor.”

“Though we did have occasional run-ins with each other,” Danny commented, “Like that dust up in ‘83.”

Miss Militia beamed, “Oh yeah, you still have that wrench?”

Danny nodded, “I keep it under my desk just in case I need it.”

The Heroine shook her head, “That poor bastard, a person's leg isn’t supposed to bend that way,” She then looked back at Taylor,” but no, as I was saying, I know your mom quite well. Tried to catch her several times back in the day.”

“Mom? My mom?” She looked at her dad questioningly.

The leader of the DWU rubbed the back of his head, “Umm… how do I put this delicately?”

“Danny you kinda can’t put something like this delicately,” Miss Militia told him, “Just say it,”

“Alright, alright, your mother used to be in a gang, Taylor.”

“What… mom? The clarinet playing history teacher? Wait, which gang? It wasn’t the Empire was it?” she asked fretfully. She didn’t like them because they were the ones who beat Greg; she had a special dislike for them. Not as much as the Merchants, because drugs were bad, but still.

“Oh no the group she was a part of is now defunct. She was a part of Lustrum’s Gang back in college. Woman was a hardcore misandrist and her converts were going around attacking men when the public castrations started, she got out,” Danny explained with a small wince when he said public castrations.

“Yes that said the rest of the gang didn’t take too kindly to her leaving,” Miss Militia continued from where her father left off, “That’s when I went from trying to arrest her to protecting her from her former gang members, and she met your dad settled down and well had you. We kept in contact over the years. I promised her I’d look after you if anything happened to her,” She sent Danny a scathing glare, “Someone should’ve called me sooner,”

Danny hung his head, “I didn’t know,” He said ashamedly, “I was so busy dealing with my own grief that I didn’t even see what was going on. I hope you can forgive me Little Owl,”

Taylor hugged her dad. “You can start by not calling me Little Owl in front of company dad.”

“She’s at that rebellious stage, Annette, oh how I wish you were here.” Danny joked.

“Dad!” she said, slapping him on the arm, “Stop it!” Taylor then took a breath, “You two can stay here and catch up, I’m gonna head to the hospital. I need to talk with Greg.”

“I can drive you,” Her father offered, only for Taylor to shake her head.

“No, I’ve been meaning to start a new exercise regime, I’ll run,” She told her dad as she grabbed her coat. ‘This is going to take some getting used to,’ she thought breathlessly as she made her way through the hospital doors.

“Hello Taylor,” The nurse on duty at the front desk greeted, her tone was demure, but that didn’t take away from the brightness in her smile. “Here to see Greg?”

“Yes, Anne I am,” Taylor was always slightly nervous around Anne, not just because she was beauty incarnate with long flowing red hair that practically reached the floor, shining green eyes, and a figure that made the nurse uniform she was wearing look sinful, but also the fact that she was Emma’s older sister. Anne Barnes was a Sophomore in College and due to the program she was in, she spent half her time in the hospital to earn the necessary credits to graduate. She had no idea of what her sister had become and she intended to keep it that way. “I’ll be seeing you, I need to talk to him about something important.”

“Taylor,” She said, reaching out and grabbing her arm causing her to turn and face her, “When were you going to tell me about Emma?”

“How did you find out?” Taylor asked with a sigh.

“Emma left her phone unlocked on the couch the other day, I saw a text chain that talked about how funny they found their latest prank on you, and what could top this. How the flute was small potatoes compared to this. Taylor, are they talking about your mother’s flute?” Anne spoke calmly, but Taylor could sense an air of danger surrounding Anne as she spoke.

“Yes, They ruined it. I had no choice but to throw it away. I couldn’t repair it.”

Anne pursed her lips, obviously upset. “I see. I will be bringing this along with everything else I found, up with Mother and Father this evening.”

“Please don’t Anne,” Taylor begged, “It’ll just make everything worse.”

“Taylor, you and Emma were like sisters, her going behind your back and  betraying your secrets and you at your lowest moments like this is not okay,” Anne gently embraced the other girl, it was a gentle hug filled with warmth that Taylor hadn’t felt from another woman in a long long time. “Emma has changed, and I know it doesn’t make up for her behavior but I’m more than willing to take her place. If you ever need anything, at all, please don’t hesitate to call me from now on, okay?” Pulling away she said, “Here, I’ll give you my number, just a moment.”

“I um, thanks Anne, but I don’t have a cellphone… ever since mom… they haven’t been allowed in the house.”

Anne frowned a bit, “That’s ridiculous what happens if you get in trouble and can’t call for help?” She shook her head, “I’m going to have to have a talk with Uncle Dan it seems,”

“You talk like an airhead but when you set your mind to something, you're like a dog with a bone Anne…I said that out loud didn’t I? Sorry.” Taylor apologized, wincing at her own harsh words.

“And don’t you forget it,” Anne said with a smile not offended in the least. “Now, go see your boyfriend, and give him a kiss for me,”

“Anne!” She said, flushing. “Can’t you find a guy your age?”

“Guys my age are too busy getting drunk at frat parties, unfortunately,” Anne said with a sigh. “Now someone who’ll take a beating trying to rescue a girl from danger? That’s a real man,” Anne let out a sexy purr, “Momma like,”

Taylor didn’t know how to deal with this. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to at the moment. So she sidestepped the issue by saying, “Just try not to become shunned by your own family for my sake Anne, I’m going to go see Greg.”

“Remember to give prince charming a kiss for me,” she called in her airy tone as Taylor headed towards the elevator.

(...)

Greg was looking at the mirror in his bathroom just after a shower. For the first time, he had noticed something popup over his own head.

[Wearer of Many Masks, 1% power unlocked, Strength: E, Endurance: E, Agility: E, Mana: E, Luck: E, Noble Phantasm: ???]

‘What the hell does all that mean?’ He asked himself. ‘I mean, I know that those are stats but what does ‘E’ mean? I have no context,’ Greg thought to himself. ‘Also what’s a Noble Phantasm?’ In an experiment, he reached up at his reflection and flicked up on the name wondering if that would do anything.

It did, another screen took its place.

[Class Skills:

Masquerade: The ability to disguise one’s self as others, copying abilities, mannerisms and skills. Skill of the Pretender Class. (-)

Skilled Actor: The ability to mimic the Class Skills of other Servants effectively. Depending on the rank, there may be some degradation from the skills of the original. Skill of the Pretender Class. (-)

Personal Skills:

All Kinds of Specializations (Altered): is access to and the use of many professional skills. (A+): A total of 36 other Skills can be used with proficiency of Rank B or above. Due to the unique conditions afforded to him as a Pseudo-Counter Guardian this skills allows Greg to learn an inordinate amount of Servant Skills, in addition to the standard five, with this Skill taking one slot giving him a maximum of 40 Skills.

1. Presence Detection: Ability to detect things and discern the indiscernible. (A+): Called an ability of the highest class, a gift granted by the Terminal of the Planet Tanaka, Greg is capable of detecting anything via the Earth from other Servants, to water sources clear across Brockton Bay, covering more than ten kilometers. If used on things at close range, an equal or lower rank of Presence Concealment can be nullified. More accurately, this Skill is the ability to blend in entirely with the very world around them, thus allowing them to sense what does not belong.

Hero’s Folly: All heroes of legend have a weakness be it a curse, a fatal flaw, or their own ego., you shall accumulate that which brought their end here. (A): You have a 50% Chance to accumulate the curses and weaknesses of assumed heroes if applicable. Roll is performed against Luck Stat.

• Derisive Heart of Steel: is a Skill of the category of Mental Pollution, conferred as of the Servant's standing as an Alter. Differing from Mental Pollution, the Skill functions by the imposition of an invariable Concept, approximating to a mode of self-indoctrination. The pattern of reasoning imposed holds the defense of the Human Order as the utmost priority, and deems as acceptable the abdication of all else per the modus operandi of the Guardians. (A): If not conferred as of a Rank of A, the strength that this man can bring to bear in his capacity as an Alter cannot be expressed. A curse granted to Greg due to his ‘deal’ made with the Counter Force. He is tasked to take whatever unscrupulous means necessary to ensure the death of the Warrior Entity.
• Residual Sense of Pain: is the deathly pains that repeat themselves despite having been completely cured. (A): The physical manifestation of the injuries of Greg Veders trigger event, rendered as a curse. He was beaten so badly that his nerve endings are slightly damaged especially around his spine, meaning it takes longer for him to react to pain. He was, in his own words, “Kick-Assed”. His sense of touch has been greatly diluted.]

Greg slowly soaked in all this information. ‘Okay so I gain bonuses and demerits kinda like in a video game. Right now I have a detection skill and two demerits though that second one being a demerit is debatable. This is kinda cool!’ He thought to himself. Before he asked aloud. “How do I unlock more skills?”

Before he could even think about that, he heard a knock come from the door to his room. “Greg, it's Taylor, can I come in?”

“Umm just a minute! I just got out of the shower!” He called from the bathroom poking his head out the bathroom door.

“Sure! J-Just let me know when you're decent,” She called back.

“No peeking!” He said with a laugh.

“I-I wouldn’t do that!” Taylor replied clearly embarrassed.

As he quickly changed into clean clothes, he traded jabs with her. “Oh sure, you say that but your tone implies otherwise.”

“I-It d-does not!”

“You dig me, admit it,” he said as he made his way to the door.

“I…” She stammered as he opened the door to see her standing there red faced.

“Come in,”

“You like to pick on me,” She said, “You're almost as bad as the Trio.”

“Ouch, now hey! That was uncalled for!” Greg replied as she walked past him, hurt. “I was just teasing you a bit, there was nothing malicious about it.”

“I bet the Trio and everyone else at Winslow thinks the same thing. It's just Taylor, so it's fine right?” She said aloud. “She’s just the awkward girl in glasses who doesn’t talk to anyone and doesn’t have any friends so who cares right?!” She turned around ready to yell only to be pulled into a hug by the blonde boy.

“Sorry, I guess I went too far, that was my bad. Forgive me?” Greg asked. “I’m a bit new to being friends with a girl so cut me a bit of slack?”

Taylor found herself relaxing in his embrace. He was stronger than he looked. She nodded, “Okay… but I have questions for you and no lying.”

Letting her go, he motioned to a plush chair he got to keep around for guests as he flopped down on the bed, “Shoot Taylor, what’s on your mind?” He asked though he could guess.

“Did you talk to Miss Militia today about me?” Taylor asked.

“Indirectly yes. I told her if she looked up certain information about Winslow, specifically about a locker needing to be decontaminated by a hazmat team, she’d know the name of the student in question.”

‘Thus giving himself plausible deniability,’ Taylor reasoned,’ She nodded, “Nice save Veder,”

“Thanks Hebert… you know your trust means a lot to me right?”

Miss Militia’s words from earlier came back to her, ‘He tried to protect my privacy as much as he could’ She nodded again. “Yeah, and I appreciate that. I have one more question Greg?”

“Yes, I’ll totally go out with you,” He replied stone-faced.

“N-Not that idiot!” She flushed again. “No, what I want to know is, did you really Trigger during the attack at school?”

“Tit for Tat this time Tay,” Greg shot back, “Did you Trigger in the locker?”

Taylor scowled a bit, “I asked you first.”

“But, as a gentleman, I should allow the lady to go first, no?” He replied, attempting to smile suavely. It kinda failed due to the shaggy bowl cut he was sporting.

“Enough Greg,” Taylor replied seriously. She enjoyed his wittiness to a point, but only to a point.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?” He offered in trade.

Ignoring the obvious double entendre, Taylor reached out with her power and pulled. It took a moment but she could feel them starting to arrive. Spiders mainly crawled in from the air vents enmasse along with the occasional fly here and there. A hospital being as clean as it was, wasn’t the best place for her to show off her ability, but this should suffice.

“You can summon and control invertebrates… that explains some of what I’ve been seeing.”

“What do you mean?” Taylor asked as she banished the insects from whence they came with a thought.

“Well besides being superhumanly strong, fast and maybe even durable, I can see descriptions over peoples heads and they… kinda describe their power?”

“What? What does mine say?” Taylor asked.

“Queen Administrator, 40% power unlocked, Domination limit Invertebrates.” He supplied.

Taylor blinked as she slowly absorbed that information. “Domination limit… Meaning something is limiting me to invertebrates.”

“Yeah. And when I saw Miss Militia earlier she was called Proto-Weapon. So I can only assume it's a slightly vague description of a person’s Parahuman ability.”

“Seems like it,” Taylor agreed nodding along, “Your power has its uses like being able to tell if someones a cape even if they don’t use their power or are out of costume,” ‘Which is in and of itself a violation of the Unwritten Rules,’ She thought, “But as it is it sounds like you shouldn’t really be in combat. Like you're more of an information gatherer. Like something of a Thinker?”

“Maybe? Why do I have Brute stats though. Plus I still don’t know everything I can do yet,” He replied not wanting to mention his deal with the Counter Force or the Skills because he had no idea how they worked yet.

“True, for now we should both be careful,” Taylor advised. “Until we can both fully get a handle on our powers. Till then, we watch each other's backs.”

“Agreed. Though I’d do that anyway, usually as you're walking away.”

“Greg!” Taylor chastised even as she blushed.

“Sorry… wanna play Uno?” He offered it as an olive branch.

Recognizing it for what it was, Taylor acquiesced, “Sure,”

“Gregg proceeded to lose for the next three hours until visiting hours were over. He’d never enjoyed losing a game quite so much.

(...)

Word Count: 11,500   Number of Pages: 25   Date Completed: 3/17/2023

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AN: Welcome everyone to another Worm idea from me Bubbajack, your future ruler of the Apocalypse. No but seriously I hope you enjoyed it. I wrote this for two reasons. One, I’m sick and damn tired of all the lesbian shipping in Worm. Like seriously, stop. Taylor is straight damn it! Secondly, I wanted to take a character who got next to no screen time, and do something with him. I chose Greg Veder. The slightly awkward guy whose crush Taylor was oblivious to. So I’m like, “Yeah, he’ll do,” And here we are, I hope you all enjoyed and till