I'm back, I'm back. So sorry I kept people waiting. I just got caught in the spacebattles train. Round robins involving the fate series and real life have left me busy. But now I'm back. Time to get to work on writing. Hopefully this appeases you with how long I've been gone

Chapter 3: Odds and Ends

A moving shadow leapt down from a tall building, landed on the rooftop of another building and dashed forward. Two projectiles emerged from behind it and flew upwards. Broadhead bolts soared through the air before being struck down by a red, glowing lance. It's wielder suddenly appeared, fell down on the roof and landed with precision. The blue haired man didn't even look winded as he stared at the shadow with boredom. His lance hoisted over his shoulder.

"Kid, just surrender already." He called out to the shadow. "I'm only making sure you won't talk."

The shadow gathered itself into a humanoid shape. In its place a cloaked, black, armored figure appeared. The mask it wore under the hood concealed the wearer's face.

"Fuck you!" A rough female voice yelled at him from behind the mask. "I'm a survivor, a predator. I will not lose to someone with a long stick."

The man sighed as he put himself into a running stance. "I swear none of you parahuman types can't even think properly. That and I still have to silence you." He disappeared in a blur only to reappear right in front of the parahuman and swung the spear. Only by instinct, did the parahuman survive by changing herself back into a shadow and phased through the ground. She heard a momentary 'shit' as she fell.

She dropped through several floors before stopping at the ground floor. The room she found herself in was unoccupied. Thinking quickly, Shadow Stalker phased through a wall behind as she tried to escape the area. Exiting the building she heard the sounds of destruction on the upper floors. She ducked into an alley and held her breath. The Ward tapped her headset and called again.

"Console, I don't care if you respond. Spearman is trying to chase and kill me. I still don't know where the unknown cape is or what her powers are." She spoke into the device carefully watching the volume of her voice. "Track my phone and hurry, Spearman has a bullshit mover rating on his legs." She heard something crack which gave her enough to roll to the side. A few feet above her head was a gargantuan, thin spider limb as big as her with the end at least a foot under the concrete.

Shadow Stalker turned her head towards the source and saw a human figure with a plated armor bodysuit. The armor covered the chest, arms and legs. The figure's sides weren't protected by armor but covered in a black material that made up it's costume. The mask the figure wore covered it's whole face with the same black material with yellow lens covering the eyes. The long, curly hair was covered in bugs. What seems to be attached to her back was four spider legs as big as her.

The cape's costumed eyes stared unnervingly at her as it raised another spider leg and smashed the concrete underneath it. Shadow Stalker quickly backed up and attempted to run away from the creepy cape. The cape's two remaining limbs cracked as they bent opposite where their joints are. Suddenly, the legs moved and pinned her into the wall, the sharp tips holding her up by her costume.

The Ward tilted her head to the side and attempted to phase into a shadow and escape, only to pause at the sound of crackling electricity. Slowly facing the spider cape once more, she saw what she could call a tinkertech taser in the cape's real hands. "Can't run, can't hide." She said. Shadow Stalker grunted in anger and attempted to raise her hand with the crossbow and suddenly found it knocked off. She hissed as the avoided the disgusting limb that went near her.

"Lancer, I found her." The cape spoke out loud. A second later, Spearman dropped in from somewhere she couldn't see.

"Great job Caster." He said as he raised his spear over his shoulder. "Looks like you really qualified for the position." The man looked at the her with a curious look on his face. "Now, what are we going to do to you?" he said as he lifted the pointed end of his spear at her. Let it be said that Shadow Stalker was valiantly struggling against her captor's limbs, not in fear.

"Lancer." Caster growled as she raised a free spider leg and placed it just a bit from from Lancer

"Fine." Lancer scoffed. "I won't kill her, but we still need to silence her somehow." When he finished, Shadow Stalker began struggling.

"You're not gonna get away with this!" She yelled, hoping to dissuaded them. "The PRT doesn't like anyone hurting a Ward. You'll be hunted down to no end."

"What makes you think we're going to kill you." Caster spoke. "All we need to do is to silence you." She turned to Lancer. "Go ahead, not like I could really stop you."

~o~

Like every time she patrolled solo Shadow Stalker parkoured across the roofs. Sometimes, she goes and hides in the alleys as she searched for any potential crime. It didn't matter if they were affiliated with the gangs or not. They were criminals, enemies, prey. Plain and simple. This is how she sees the world.

Stopping on a tall building, she peered over the ledge and saw carnage. She whistled at bodies and blood scattered around the building. Empire goons recognizable by the shaved heads and visible tattoos of E88 on their bodies bled to death. The anti-hero watched as one survivor losing a good amount of blood attempt to crawl away. He didn't get far as she shot him with one of her lethal bolts.

'What the fuck happened here to cause this?' she thought as she pulled out her PRT phone. While she would just keep quiet about most cape fights, this one was more bloodier than the rest and more noticeable to not call about it. There was also the unmissable scent of blood in the air that anyone would smell.

"Sophia, you don't usually use the phone given to you to call us." Aegis said through the phone.

"Can it meathead." She grunted on her side of the phone. "Send this to Armsmaster, I found a cape fight. A bloody one." She took a picture of the area and sent it to him. She faintly heard the sound of someone throwing up on the other side as she waited for her superior.

"What happened?" Armsmaster spoke to her.

"End of a cape fight. Lots of Empire thugs either bleeding or dead. There's surprising amount of blood scattered around the building. Located at River Avenue and-" She stopped as she saw someone walk out of the shattered doors. A man in a blue tights stepped out into the street carrying a blood red spear in his hand. He was followed by a girl wearing a dog mask. "- Maines Street. I see an unknown cape holding a bloody, red spear and Hellhound." She rolled her eyes at the name. "They just entered exited the building. There's probably more bodies inside."

"Don't do anything to give yourself away. Stay put until Miss Militia and Dauntless arrive." she rolled her eyes at the suggestion.

"Thanks for helping with the dogs." Bitch spoke coherently for once.

"Not exactly a problem", the spearman spoke up. "Trust me, there are no capes nearby, I had my teammate check for th-" he cut himself from talking and seemed to space out. He lightly nodded before looking in my direction. "Take care of the dogs, we have a watcher."

Bitch grew one of her dogs to a monstrous size and began to ride it, carrying a number of dogs with her. With a whistle, the monster took off into the city. The trio of dogs behind Bitch's beast barked as they ran after the canine themed cape.

The spearman suddenly vanished which surprised her. A second later, she was kicked right at her torso. She rolled over the ground and quickly brought herself back up. Then she saw the man standing there casually with his red spear hung casually behind his head.

"Sorry miss, I was told to silence anyone who learned about me that might go against us." He swung his weapon away from his head and slammed the base into the floor. "Since you're with the government, you get it easy." He grabbed his spear with both hands and charged with inhuman speed.

~o~

"Trust me" the spearman said. "I'll make this quick. Berkano." As he said that his spear pulsed with a dim light. The weapon was raised and struck Sophia at her neck. The last sound she ever made was her screams. As blood bled out from her body, her vision was muddled with darkness as she blacked out.

"No!" Lancer heard the yell before getting kicked across the street. He spun in the air as he dug his spear into the ground. His feet once again met the ground with a controlled landing. Looking in front of him he saw a man with a spartan outfit and a woman wearing military fatigues. Both of them were looking at him and Caster in anger.

"For the record, she ain't dead. Just greatly wounded." this did not calm the parahumans when Miss Militia raised a grenade launcher at him, her eyes burning with fury as she fired. Brandishing his lance, he spun his weapon in such a way that it deflected the explosive projectiles causing quite a bit of collateral. He continued this for a few moments before charging ahead. To his side, he could see Caster sidestep a charge from Dauntless before slamming him to the ground with one of her appendages. She also kicked away the cape's weapon when it fell from his hands.

Lancer dashed forward with his spear extended outward. He leapt sideways as shotgun blasts flew past him. He span mid-air as swung his noble phantasm at Miss Militia. The Servant felt his weapon stop before blinking at the sight before him. The military-themed cape had a gladius in her hand as she seemingly held back a Noble Phantasm with just her strength.

"A perk of my weapons is that they're unbreakable as long as I reset them quickly." She slashed her gladius at Lancer and turned it into a Desert Eagle. Firing the weapon, it proved near useless as the Servant dodged and deflected the bullets.

"See if you can catch us heroes! Caster, let's go!" He yelled at them, then at his fellow Servant as they retreated. Behind them, the Protectorate capes were watching them in defeat. Miss Militia walked over to Dauntless' Arclance and grabbed it. She looked at the armored man with a resigned look.

"They outclassed us by a good margin." Dauntless said as he got up. Both of them approached Shadow Stalker's body and Miss Militia place her fingers on the wrist.

"She's still alive." The military themed hero said as she tapped to console. "Console, we need a medical ambulance ASAP. Shadow Stalker is bleeding out on us."

The two heroes watched vigilantly over their ward even when the ambulances from Brockton General came in with Panacea in tow. The healer quickly rushed over to the downed parahuman and looked at the Protectorate heroes. "Do I have permission to heal her?"

"You do have permission." Dauntless spoke up. "We saw an unknown parahuman stab her in the throat with a spear. It wasn't pretty." With that, Panacea removed on of Shadow Stalker's gloves and began healing her.

"Fractured limbs, one cracked rib, bruises on the legs and arms, a gash on her right side and her thr-" she spoke out all the wounds that the Ward received only to stop. Carefully, Panacea moved her hands to Shadow Stalker's neck and lightly grasped it. Her mouth opened in shock that the other heroes saw it.

"What's wrong?" Miss Militia asked the healer with worry on her face. "Something must be wrong that you made a face like that." She stated.

Panacea made a face. "Her vocal cords and throat." She said. "I can heal them but something is preventing me from healing her fully." The healer looked at the senior hero with a downcast face. "Shadow Stalker won't bleed out but she is now mute."

Lung liked to think that he was Dragon. Understandable since he could transform into one, but he didn't think he was a true Dragon. Not yet at least. The man felt that there was so much to do to even become one with the great legends of the world. His fight with Leviathan being one of them.

As he sat within his room on a chair made specifically for him, the man reflected the path he took to get where he is now. He single-handedly fought off the entire Protectorate the day he got here that several members had left, he alone unified the scattered Asian gangs, despite how fragile the connections are through their fear. But he felt that things were still missing.

The man pushed those thoughts away as he smelt something. His dragon senses, an ability that transferred to his human form, never failed him but this was something he never felt before. It was very different, ethereal, spiritual. He got up and walked out of his room and through the members of the ABB who made way for him out of fear.

Making his way out of the building, a casino that his gang owned, he walked over to the back of the of the structure and peered into one of the many alleys of the city. Within a dark alley in the back was a man leaning against the wall, holding a phone. He looked like he was talking to someone on the other end.

"I know what I'm doing is suicidal. Yes, I know what I'm getting into." He was silent for a moment. "Alright, I'll buy some takeout when I get back. Later." The device was turned off as the man turned to the side where Lung was.

"Who are you?" Lung simply asked. "What business do you have in my territory?"

The man walked forward into the light, revealing spiky, white hair that contradicts his age. "My name is Ruler," He said. "And I have a proposition to make."

"What kind of proposition?" the parahuman asked him as he started changing slowly. "I will know if you are lying to me."

Ruler was silent for a short moment before smiling. "A way to attack the Empire. I don't like nazis and I prefer working with the dragon despite your gang's… sins. The merchants can wait long enough."

Lung stayed quiet as he mulled over the information. Perhaps a stepping stone to become a true dragon is to beat the rival gangs and crown over the area. That would work, he would have authority over a large city. It was something a dragon has, any form of authority because of how strong they are.

"We shall discuss this inside." He said.

"As you say Lung-sama." Ruler responded as he followed the dragon into the building. The dragon in question felt a smile curl at the title.

Taylor exhaled as her dad's car pulled up near Winslow's entrance. The cold air of winter remained as she wore a plain red hoodie and black jeans. She didn't even know she had one until she found it buried in her closet. It was a little bit tight on the arms but she managed. Looking up, she saw a crowd of students entering the grounds.

"Are you sure you'll be fine Taylor?" Her dad asked from the driver's seat. "Your magic can't really stop the bullying."

"I don't really think they can hurt me anymore than the botched ritual dad." She told him. To be fair she experienced her entire body try to rip itself apart and show nothing for it on the outside. In reality, her muscles were reconstructed, renewed and her resistance to both physical and energy-based attacks increased. It felt much more painful than the verbal barbs Emma had thrown at her.

Her dad had a worried look on his face before it changed to acceptance. "I hope you're right Taylor." He unlocked the doors. "See you after school." Taylor herself got out of the car with her bag and shut the door. Within the vehicle, her dad nodded once and the car windows were raised as he drove off to work. Her face adopted a bland look as she walked into the school grounds, blending in to the crowd as she moved.

Just as she entered the halls she tapped her thigh, more specifically her pocket. Her magic circuits activated and pushed prana on the slip of paper inside. She then dropped the slip somewhere near the door and no one seemed to notice Taylor at all as she walked to class. The paper itself had a configuration of sigils to create a small Bounded Field big enough to occupy a room and the hall outside of it. It's main purpose was to make people forget she is there until she breaks the effect herself. It stops once she begins talking but as long as she is within range, people will forget about her actual presence and will not bother her.

Without anyone being able to disturb her, she now has free reign to do as she pleases without getting disrupted. Taylor began writing down notes on her notebook. Like a tinker planning their creations, she is drawing diagrams that do a variety of actions. From the simple ones like fireballs to complex actions like create a bounded field to dissuade parahumans from entering.

Soon enough, the bell rung signalling the next class. Taylor packed her filled notebooks into her bag and she was on her way. Outside of the room, she quickly picked up the slip of paper making sure no one noticed her, getting rid of her bounded field. She paced herself as she walked towards her next class.

On the way there, she unfortunately met up with Emma who was unsurprisingly looking for her. The red-head quickly saw Taylor and waved at her drawing the attention of her posse to their target.

"Hey Taylor, what's with the eyes? Didn't get enough sleep after crying all night?" Emma taunted her. Taylor herself somehow didn't feel anything. She knew the bite was still there but it didn't have the effect it did before. It was probably because of the ritual. Getting insulted by former friends didn't seem to compare with frying yourself with pain.

"God, she is such a slut." "The bitch should just kill herself." "Why are you still even here?" More insults come from Emma's posse but like Emma, their words didn't even feel harmful. Taylor just sighed and shook her head before quickly noticing something.

"Where's your guard dog Emma? She's usually not one to be absent." Taylor spoke her piece. The redhead quickly froze as her eyes darted around looking for her friend. Whether it's because Taylor seemed unfazed or her physical protection is gone it wouldn't be known. Emma snarled as she stepped up to Taylor.

"You'll break one day Taylor, and you'll be as strong as the rest of us." She said and she started walking away.

"If me not budging against your acts against me isn't strong," Taylor called out to her. "Then I wonder what broke you. Because it doesn't look like you could take anything that's being thrown at me." Emma seemingly tripped on something before walking away from her faster. Taylor turned to her the posse that's still there. "Why are you here again? To belittle and insult me?" The girls then started moving away from her and started going to their classes.

"They were annoying." Taylor spoke out loud as she began preparing for her next class with the books she brought. For the rest of the day, she continued her classes without getting disturbed by the trio or their proxies. All she did was write notes about her topic, browse PHO in computer class and practice the lighter aspects of her magecraft in secret.

Servant Caster

True Name: Unknown

Known Skills

Innocent Monster Rank C: Her appearance is distorted by inaccurate depictions of her legend despite being born in modern times. It gave her four spider legs three-fourths as tall as her on her back and beetle scales underneath her skin.

I had to retype this chapter from the ground up because things ended up inconsistent. Thankfully everything else is straighter which means I can exercise my mind to do this properly.

Speaking of fighting, the plot within the next few chapters will eventually send my combat addiction to the edge. It will be great to unleash havoc with Brockton Bay as the primary battleground. *Giggles madly wherever I'm typing.* Prepare the EB shelters Brockton, the story will soon begin.

Read, review, and follow if I'm lucky