Yeah I know I have a habit of using info dumps, but I'm improving. Here's the next chapter, enjoy and tell me in the reviews what you think. Also, I already knew this but was hard to get it out of my head, it still is and I still go with my original thoughts on the last name's pronunciation in fanfiction unless the writer corrects it. READ ENJOY REVIEW!

I don't own worm!

Ten minutes had passed and I was bored of eating boxed raisins. Crap, getting bored of food was something I knew would happen, but I didn't think it would be this fast. I mean I added variety, but I didn't account that I could actually eat and not stop eating. Also, the taste did not leave my mouth, so I needed to get water or something next time I do this. Whelp. I guess I'll learn self-restraint later…if it's possible.

And right now, I was bored.

Jesus how long does it take to get someone in the room to talk to me? TAYLOR I MEAN! Jesus, I hate this individuality crap…I think I might actually start referring myself in the third person. Well whatever. It might be that they are letting me stew or something.

Right now, I was bored and the Simurgh had not taken her eyes off me. I took out a spam sandwich I had made earlier, pulled the wrapper off and began to eat it as I studied her. Hey cheap is cheap and spam wasn't too bad so long as you cook it properly in thin slices and don't make it your main diet. Thankfully I didn't need a microwave because the stuff I brought with me were still in the same condition I cloned it. So the cheese, the temperature and the crispiness of the spam was just right and the buns weren't soggy or soft but perfectly crunchy. I honestly don't remember how many times I have eaten it. Damn, maybe next time I should clone a portable stove with ingredients, test meals and recipes out.

After I licked my lips I reached into the bag and pulled out the same sandwich I ate. I walked to the window, the Simurgh still keeping a neutral expression as I approached. I don't know why I did it, boredom maybe? I turned the sandwich to it edge and pushed it against the glass and pushed it through.

"SHIT!" I yelled as I held on to the sandwich for my dear life as I pulled backward. The Sigmurgh just tried to pull me into the world she inhabited through my sandwich…Jesus what an opportunist! Thankfully I had cut in half before I cloned it. Though I guess it is my fault for messing with an Endbringer…I supposed I could have let go, it's just a sandwich after all.

And now it had half of my sandwich. She looked at it curiously as it floated in front of her. Well I did hear that she was telekinetic…She looked at me again. Different this time. Almost asking what to do.

I didn't know how to answer, I just got my half my sandwich and bit into it. The Simurgh brought its right hand up, grabbed the half, and mimicked my motions. She began to eat the sandwich. Despite its tall frame, it took small elegant bites, almost as if it was nervous or afraid to eat. And that's how it went, we ate the sandwiches as we stared at each other….

Look at me sharing a sandwich with the Simurgh, aren't I a badass? Better not tell anyone though, pretty sure this would get me the death penalty for feeding an Endbringer…actually if I need to prove I'm a good liar I could just say that…what was the statue of limitations for feeding an Endbringer anyway?

After we were done, we both licked our fingers as I reached for another sandwich…I ended up pulling out only half of it with the full wrapping. I looked and sure enough, the Simurgh had the other half in front of her, almost taunting me with it…the Simurgh stole half of my sandwich…Name one fricken person this happens to!

"Eye's up Taylor," I heard as both the Simurgh and I turned to face our worlds. Taylor's head looked up to see a white obese woman with blond hair that was clearly bleached that was further acerbated by the bob cut she wore her hair in. Her eyes were as grey and cold as the Simurgh, thankfully Taylor didn't know. "I am director Emily Piggot," she introduced herself as she sat down and put a folder in front of her, ignoring eye contact. "I manage the Protectorate, the PRT, and the Wards in Brockton Bay ENE. This is Kid Win and Vista, as you no doubt know," Kid Win with a new visor and Vista walked in behind her. She made eye contact with Taylor I could feel it.

[connect?]

I answered as I'm sure Taylor did.

[(Decline unless instigated)]

[acknowledged]

"Oh nice to-" Taylor began putting her hand out.

"SIT down Miss Herbert," Director Piggot said loudly that quite frankly made Taylor fall down on her seat.

"I-it-its pronounced Hee-bert, maim," Taylor said, but Director Piggot paid no mind and just read the file in front of her.

"Taylor Hee-bert," she began, "Currently on your last semester of freshman year in Winslow. Soon to be 16 in a few months on June 19th. Father, Daniel Hebert, goes by the nickname "Danny," head of hiring and spokesperson of the Dockworkers Association. Mother, Annette Hebert, English Professor and known accomplice of Lustrum," yeah, mom was part of the gang before it became violent, "deceased. My condolences," she quickly skimmed. "We have gone over the camera recordings, the front desk statement, statements from the tourist, cosplayers and the PRT troopers who came in contact with you. We even contacted your dad and he confirmed your story. Everything points that you are not a villain and have, in fact, came to join the wards."

"Yes, th-"

"We even confirmed that you got permission to use your "powers" in the proving grounds. That it was all misunderstanding." Taylor didn't dare say something of fear of Director Piggot interrupted her again, or so I assume.

"From what I understand, you are tinker, specialty: volukenesis emulation," volukenesis, is that an actual word? "in short, you manipulate bugs," but isn't voles instead of bugs?

"Well…" Taylor cut in, that earned her a glare, making her reply grow meek "pretty much bugs, spiders, worms…nails…. Crabs too…."

"Right…" Piggot said, obviously sounding annoyed. "Anything else? Can you control cats, dogs, birds, lizards…humans?"

"No maim," Taylor quickly shook, "tiny critters seem to be the limit."

"Can you mutate them?"

"I…I've been trying, but I haven't really had much luck. You know, selective breeding."

"I see," she said, "do you think that is wise, Miss Hebert" she asked, almost as if she was accusing me of something.

"A-a little, so long as they are on a tight leash, I guess."

"You say that…yet the second we removed you from the proving ground, the bugs went out of control. Care to explain that?"

"I tried to tell the troopers that it would happen," Taylor began, "my gloves have a max range two and a half meters."

"Not much of range, considering what you can do," Piggot observed.

"Well by itself sure. But if you use the control towers than my control extends."

"Control towers," Piggot question with a bit of surprise, lifting an eyebrow.

"The box, it has two of them. One is capable of covering a half a city block, all directions."

"So…a radius of a quarter block then?"

"Yes maim."

"What does the control towers run on," she asked as she stared at the objects in the box, they just looked like metal triangular cell towers with crude wiring.

"Rechargeable batteries, Double A, and can be plugged into a socket. It doesn't drain too much and on battery alone it can keep broadcasting a signal for six hours on full charge."

"What does it broadcast?"

"I… I don't know. I have no idea how I control them, only that I can. I thought it was sound or radio waves but I don't think it's either for those."

"I see, would you mind if I have Kid Win take apart the gloves and the camera to verify that you are tinker?"

"…No maim, I can make another one. Also…my phone can also control bugs, same range as the gloves but I think I can extend it if I tried."

"I see, Kid Win," she motions him to do his thing. He nodded with a tight smile and moved to the table. He still wore the same costume with the additions of red metallic gloves gold streaks.

"Sorry," he offers. We both nodded. I didn't like that my devices are taken apart but hey, it's their house and the quicker I get this over with the quicker I can join. He quickly got to work, from his gloves came white light that shaped around his fingers. Huh, he got the multi-tool to work on his fingers.

"So, Miss Hebert," Piggot continued catching both our attentions, "why should we accept you into the Wards? Having a parahuman who control bugs, spiders, and the likes with a look of villain isn't exactly something that does wonders for us."

"I," she began, wow I know, that was as cold as it was truthful. "I know that my skills are not in demand, but I was hoping that I could improve in the wards, polish my talents and eventually join the Pro-"

"You misunderstood Miss Hee-bert," She swiftly cut me off. "I asked why should we want you, not what we could do for you. This is a job, Miss Hebert, not an educational facility." She pointed at the paper while keeping eye contact with Taylor, "This, by all means, is a job interview, treat it as such." I saw her stiffen. Right, Gallant isn't here, but he could be behind the one-way mirror, but luckily Taylor can see me if I'm in her world. If I can hear through the glass, even if its muffled a bit, then hopefully she can hear me. Let see if I can earn my existence, my job is to make her not feel alone.

"TAYLOR," I shouted, she twitched a bit, okay too loud, "if you can hear me," I continued loudly, "take a deep breath. Our good points. You know them," She took a deep breath. Good.

"I'm dedicated, I'm a quick study, I'm still playing around with what my powers can do but I hope I can follow along the footsteps of my hero."

"Dragon I presume."

"Shock her!" I said loudly with a smile as Taylor shook her head.

"It used to be Alexandria, it still is Alexandria, but since I'm a tinker I needed a tinker to look up to. After thinking and looking around I decided that my tinker hero is Sphere." I swear I saw Piggot twitch her eyes, obviously trying to contain her surprise but both the Wards ruined it. Kid Win stopped pulling apart my tech to look at Taylor while Vista let her mouth fall open. Hell, I glanced at Simurgh's window and noted that the PRT trooper looked at Taylor too. It wasn't supposed to be a shock tactic, that was the honest truth.

"Mannequin," she asked with a bit of disbelief but for the most part kept herself composed.

"No maim," Taylor politely replied, "Sphere."

"You know they're the same person," Vista asked with a bit of shock, I could see Piggot bit her bottom lip a bit and by the subtle twitch I'm guessing that Vista sensed her frustration and took a few steps back.

"I know, but I'm referring to Sphere before he went psychotic. If you look at what he did, what he planned, what he could do. That's what I think of when I think "tinker." I mean think about all of their specialties. How they could improve everyone's life if it had no restriction. Even my specialty, you could clearly tell that it would work better improving life rather than fighting. Our tech could do so much more, and yet we can't because its tinker-tech. And when I think of tinkers who fight, well, I think of Mannequin. He is the spitting image of what tinkers can do, regardless of whether they are heroes or villains. I mean, mannequin took what I think is a food processer and turned it into a weapon. Isn't that what tinkers do?"

"…I see," Piggot said, "if that's the case, then why do you want to became a hero, something you consider Mannequin to the best representation of?"

"Because I want to fight. Despite how weak my power is, I want to be a hero and try to see if I can do what Sphere once tried to do. I want to use my powers to help people!" Everyone looked at me. Kid Win shook his head a bit and went back to taking my stuff apart. I wonder, did our belief offend him? "That's why I want to join the wards. I want to fight crime, and improve my abilities beyond "bug repellant." I've already read articles where the critters I control can help people."

"Like making bullet resistant clothing," Piggot noted, it sounded like she was asking a question but it was more of a statement.

"There's that but mostly farming them for materials. It might actually be possible to reduce the amount of e-waste people produce and replace the toxic material we use with something bio-degradable. There could also be improvements. An Orb Weaver's silk could be spun exactly how we want it and we could coat it with gold particles, iodine, and nanotubes to make very flexible conductors or sensitive sensors." Kid Win stopped and looked at me.

"Holy crap, I think Armsmaster would love that," then he looked at Piggot who looked at him with a leveled glare. Kid Win slowly went back to tinkering as me muttered "sorry."

"You put a lot of thought into your powers, how to squeeze the most out of what little you can do."

"No maim, I'm still squeezing," Taylor corrected her. "I'm still thinking. It's all I can do right now."

"I see," Piggot said but she honestly didn't seem to care. "You told us why you want to join, you briefly listed a few reasons why we should want you to join, sadly it was not convincing enough," she critiqued. Fuck. "But luckily for you, we make it a policy to recruit tinkers." THEN WHAT THE FUCK WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS? "Are you done," she asked Kid Win.

"Yea…yeah," he finished as he finished taking apart my phone. "and I am confused."

"Not surprising," Piggot said, "a tinker that control bug would have obscured constructs."

"Huh? Oh, actually it's the opposite, we could actually replicate this without any trouble, at least not legally."

"What?" Piggot asked with an actual shocked expression.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"WHAT?" I asked with surprise.

"Sorry, my bad," Kid Win said, "it's just that none of the hardware is tinker-tech. I see how it works how its wireless and what not. As far as I can tell, she just re-arranged the components to suit her. And the phone, it looks just like a phone with nothing special added to it. At least nothing that suggest controlling bugs. Any chance I can look at the software?"

"Um, may I?" She pointed to the laptop, Piggot just nodded to it. She booted it up and opened the windows. "Okay here's my main program that I used to control bugs with my laptop, to be honest I have more fine control over a swarm with my laptop then I do with my gloves. The other windows are for the gloves, Neural Impulse Actuator, camera and phone."

"Wait, a NIA? The gaming thing? Where," Kid Win asked, Taylor simply pointed to the band attached to the mask. "Oh, right."

"The software," Piggot inquired.

"Um…" Kid Win looked at it, "yeah that's tinker-tech. By the looks of it, she hardcodes her stuff without comments."

"Sorry," Taylor said confused. Hardcode? Comments?

"Oh, I was like that too. When you code, you're supposed to add comments before each function so you know what it does and you can copy-n-paste it instead of typing it from scratch. It's basically impossible for tinkers but we try to do it anyway."

"Mmm but I do copy and paste and I know what the functions do," Kid Win snorted a bit.

"Alright," he turned the computer to face me, "What does this function do?"

"It's not function, that just a part of it…the function…it…it…" yeah it…what? "what the?" I knew what it does, I've used it thousands of times already. But why couldn't I explain it?

"You know what it does, but you don't know how to explain or describe it. That's how it is for tinkers. It gets better the more you actually study the subject, but even then, it's hard to put into words."

"Huh, not even in and I'm already learning," Taylor commented as I nodded while taking bite out of half my sandwich.

"Speaking of which," Piggot said as she took a sheet of paper and pulled out a pen. She pushed both of them in front of Taylor. "In order to join the Wards, you need to sign this. This is nothing serious, it's just to assure that we know who you are and that you have every intention to join. I'll have someone iron out the details of the full contract with your father for official membership at later date that is more convenient for him. That will include, rights and royalties of your technology, going over your duties as a ward, the eventual talk regarding endbringer fights, your trust fund and salary, and benefits. Alright?" So…in other words, sign to join, at least in name.

"Yes," she motioned the paper and Taylor signed it.

"We have done a background check, as I'm sure you noticed, Miss Hebert," Piggot said standing up, "I'll remind you once more. This is job, not clubhouse. We have strict rules and procedures that we expect both you and your coworkers to abide by. I can see that your grades and attendance have been improving recently…we fully expect you to maintain a 90% grade-point-average and to conduct yourself properly in both your civilian identity and cape persona. Also, that extends to how you treat your peers, for better or for worse, your all in this together, if you a have problem with each other, I fully expect you to work it out for the sake of the job. Is that clear?" In other words…play nice with fucking Sophia, there's no avoiding it, both Taylor and I were angry.

"What a bitch," I said as I stared a Piggot, she knew our situation, she knew Sophia was more or less responsible for our powers and she fully expects us to work together like nothing happened.

"Yes," Taylor replied while nodding. Well if Gallant saw it we can always change what we are angry about.

"Good," she replied, "You may reassemble your tech in the Wards HQ, keep in mind that you are not allowed to use them in the building and will have to submit them for review to pass a safety evaluation, or in this case, your software. After that, it's yours to use unless you decide to sell it to us. Your costume will be returned to you in the Wards HQ, but we will make an appointment with you about what you will wear in public and test the full extent of your combat abilities. If you have any question regarding tinkers in this organization, I'm sure Kid Win would be happy to help," and with that she left the PRT troopers following behind her. Yay the Simurgh is gone!

"Oh, one sec," Kid Win said as he went to the door, crouched and pick up a few containers and brought them to the table. "Figured we'd need these," he explained.

"I'll help," Vista offered.

"Thanks," Taylor said as she stood up, quickly they put everything in separate containers to make reassembly easier, after that Taylor collected our stuff, grabbed a container with the phone, Kid Win has the gloves, and Vista has the camera. Taylor collected the stuff and put them in the backpack, except the gun, she had to carry that.

"Oh mask, on," Kid win said, and the paintball mask came on.

Soon we were out on the hallway where Gallant was waiting next to the door with his arms crossed. I guess Taylor and I were surprised a bit but that was natural. He probably would have found both of us warry of him, if we didn't have two months to prepare for our encounter. After some mental training, I've come the conclusion that even if I knew about the emotion seeing power I didn't care. Gallant was more or less polite with the emotions he saw and just used it to maneuver around people and create a good impression.

"Do you need any help with that," Gallant asked politely.

"I'm fine," I said. "You're Gallant, the other tinker, right?"

"That's," he began, "i-it's complicated…and you already suspect I'm not."

"Sorry, the post by Earworm and all, it kind of…."

"I understand," he said, I could see that everyone mood was upset and I'm sure Taylor noticed it too, "well let's go to the clubhouse," he said, almost too eagerly.

"Well some ones in a good mood," Taylor observed.

"Oh, he's happy," Vista said, she sounded nonchalant but knowing her and Gallant…. "The hover bike Kid Win built has been approved. Armsmaster doing the final tests before he brings it over."

"Wait you actually took his advice and built a hovercraft," Taylor said as she looked at Kid Win.

"Well…its complicated," Kid Win said rubbing the back of his head, the whole "Earworm Scandal" has still not died down. Jeez I didn't think the PHO post would get that big of a response. You have people debating who Earworm is. Before the director made a statement regarding the post, people thought it was rogue or something working with the Wards. The statement is that Earworm is in fact a Stranger-rogue that the PRT are, at the moment, trying to track down.

When I checked the post under a different account and there were tons of comments. I was not dumb enough to use that account again unless I wanted to make a statement or something. Pretty sure the PRT could track me down and not to mention thinkers…fricken thinkers. I don't know who but someone actually figured out that I was checking my account through another dummy account and messaged me about it, that was "AllSeeingEye." Whoever the person was, I didn't give him or her the chance and just logged out.

"So, is what the person said true, your specialty?"

"…So far," he said with a shrug. "It's a little weird ya know, someone else knowing your specialty before you do. Also, what do they owe me for? That-that's the part that kind of freaks me out. I'm…even if I'm just a Ward I still have access to Protectorate stuff so..."

"Like what?"

"Its…you'll see."

"I hate that guy," Vista said, with a small off, I would be offended if I didn't know she had a crush. Still I was curious and Taylor was too, so we had to feign ignorance by asking.

"What did he do? Was it serious?"

"A little, I was…we have something called a Master/Stranger protocols, um do you know all the classifications?

"Yeah, there's blasters who shoot stuff, right? Then there's tinker like me who make things beyond modern science. Thinkers who out think everyone. Next, brutes are capes with enhance strengths and take a lot of damage, tanks pretty much. Movers are people with powers that help them get around pretty fast. Shakers, cape with powers that effect a large area, like you. Strangers are people with powers that allows them to sneak around or have powers that you can't exactly see. There's master who can make minions or control other people. And lastly trumps, people who effect powers."

"Yep, and the protocol helps reduce any damage they might do if someone here gets mastered or if a cape with stranger powers sneaks in," she informed as if Taylor was a new kid and she was the senior…granted that was the situation but it was odd hearing the explanation from a kid younger than me, especially considering that Taylor was a Master/Stranger. "If they suspect that you are being "mastered," then they put you in quarantine for observation. They'll let you out after they know you are yourself. After that post went up, all the wards we put in isolation for a whole day, the whole 24 hours! And not only that, Kid Win wasn't even allowed to go into his lab for two weeks."

"OH WOW," Taylor said, crap I didn't think that would happen. "I'm so sorry to hear that,"

"Meh it was months ago," Kid Win said with a shrug.

"Yeah, and it's not like Kid Win couldn't brain storm. If anything, he was able to go straight to building the second he was allowed back into his lab," Gallant said with a bit of mirth.

"I'm just happy we got another girl in the Wards!" Vista said loudly, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Oh right, it's only two girls in the Ward," Taylor said…Sophia…. "What's Shadow Stalker like?"

"Oh! Um…she…has a strong personality," Vista replied awkwardly.

"Out of everyone she's the only one here against her will," Kid Win replied.

"Because of that she sort-of builds a wall against everyone, so we don't really get along well."

"Oh… Do you think… you guys don't think that she'll…you know, be mean to me."

"Oh-Um, yeah, no we don't, um…."

"Well…. She recently had a…well…." both Kid Win and Gallant seem to fumble around the subject. No doubt remembering my name from a few months ago when they busted Sophia.

"Wow. That bad," Taylor replied.

"It's worse," Vista said shaking, did she know?

"Well as long as she's not Sophia Hess I'm fine," Taylor said making everyone jump slightly. "You guys alright?"

"Oh yeah, it's just the comms, umm our communication system just had a loud feedback," Gallant quickly made up and no one corrected him.

"Oh, that sucks," I said.

"Sooooo…" Vista said, "Sophia Hess?"

"She's an old bully from Winslow. She… She made my life difficult, she even took my best friend away from me and she even uses the secrets I told my best friend against me…she even destroyed my mother flute. I still don't know how she took it from my locker." Even through the glass wall I could hear Vista and Kid Win griping their containers tighter. Gallant wasn't looking.

Whelp not much I can do anymore.

"Oh…I see," Vista said. "Sorry to-"

"Its fine," Taylor said.

"Hey should I join with you now or do you want me around longer." I asked, then realized she couldn't reply, "um two nods for yes." Taylor nodded two times. It's been a while so she probably didn't want the headache to be too bad. "Okay, and don't be alarmed, but I accidentlyfedtheSimurgh."

"Wait what?"

xxxx

"What what?" Vista asked I shook my head.

"Sorry just headache," I replied, Jesus what's with my clones! I wouldn't describe myself as a risk taker yet they go and take risk. Was this my power at work?

"We have med kit in the HQ, if it doesn't go away I'll get you an aspiring," Gallant said.

"Thanks," Gallant nodded.

"So…about the hover bike, is it just Gallant or do we all get to use it?"

"Oh soso," Kid Win said, "Clockblocker and Miss Militia more or less rides with Gallant when they go together, but it's mostly Gallant. Out of everyone on the team, Clockblocker is the only one without a mover rating because his power's don't really go well with vehicles. Wait, can you-"

"I can only control bugs," I quickly said, "I could probably make it so that a car or PRT van can control bugs but…"

"You don't have a license," Gallant guess.

"No I don't," I confirmed. "Wait, can't you build another one for Clockblocker," I asked Kid Win.

"That…the thing about tinkers is that we're the ones who have to maintain the stuff we build. So if we build the whole team armor, weapons, and vehicles, we have to maintain them ourselves because we are the only ones who understand it. So if I make more I make more work for myself. Also, the cost to make my hover board, just the battery costed around a thousand dollars to make, now imagine the battery for the hover bike and then all the components, how much would that cost?"

"…do I want to know?"

"You don't, Gallant managed to pay for a quarter of it so he has part ownership on the condition that he uses it only when he's on duty."

"Holy crap, how much did you have saved up," I asked him.

"That…its…I'll tell you later," Gallant said. "Normally we reveal our identities to teammates but that's after its official."

"Oh okay, so how does things work for tinkers," I asked as we came in front of an elevator.

"One sec," Kid Win said as he walked forward took off his visor, obviously not facing me, and did what I think was a retinal scan. After that we were inside the elevator. "Like Piggot said, it's a job," Kid Win began, "for tinkers, besides fighting crime we make stuff. We have complete freedom to make whatever we want with the budget provided by the PRT. Naturally because they are funding our projects they have rights to whatever we make while we get credited for it. Sort of like the scientist and researchers working for corporations." the elevator opened.

"Welcome to wards HQ," Vista said raising her hands up as she presented the room. I walked in and looked around. I had already been here as a clone in Sophia's view of the world. But actually seeing it in person… I couldn't help it, "I'm going to be a hero," I said out loud looking around.

"Heh Heh Heh," a boy near the console chuckled. "well then hero, welcome to the wards, I'm Clockblocker," he introduced himself wearing his helmet this time, no he didn't remove it. "You seriously thought a bunch of cosplayers were capes?"

"The lady at the front told me to go there and everyone acted like it was normal," I quickly explained, thankful my mask was on.

"It's still hilarious," he laughed. "But still, the fact that you got a bunch of roaches together and scared the crap out of everyone was even better!"

"I was given permission!"

"I knooooooow," he laughed, "that's what so great about it! Aw man, you should have seen Piggots face when it got out that we had a roach problem, hahaha" he kept laughing.

"Her face?"

"Yeah, she was pissed," he said. Oh shit.

"Relax," Gallant said tapping my shoulder with a little weight. "don't take it personally, she dislikes capes in general. The bug problem just exacerbated it." THEN WHY IS SHE CHARGE OF US!

"Huhuuu," Vista shivered, "don't remind me, I practically live here," she said.

"Same," Kid Win said.

"You guys do know I can fix that right," I asked, "just set up bucket or dumpster somewhere with pesticide or poison and I can have the bugs kill themselves that way."

"I thought you were a bug girl," Clockblocker said.

"I lean more towards spiders," I answered.

"Speaking of which, did you seriously make this," pulled up my silk shirt from the table next to him.

"Partly, I had a bunch black widows make it for me in the basement."

"…you mean…You have an army of spiders in your basement," Vista asked.

"Yep, right now I have them making me a spare shirt," I answered. They were all silent as they stared at me.

"Fucking tinkers," Clockblocker muttered putting my shirt down while shaking his heads. "Oh, I can see it now," He put his arms, dramatically framing the room with it, "an army of spiders just dangling on top of our heads with silk everywhere as decoration."

"…Please don't say that," Vista quickly begged.

"Yeah, if anything I'll keep them under the beds," for the second time everyone was silent while Vista turned and gave me a horrified look, well her eyes were hidden but her mouth spoke volumes. "Kidding! But seriously, what's going to happen to me?"

"Did you sign already?"

"Yeah, that first sheet that confirmed my intentions."

"Well, then, let me be the first to say, "Welcome to Hell," newbie" Clockblocker said. "it's a month of prep work. Basic medical training, CPR and crap, basic self-defense, by-the-book procedures, memorizing Brockton Bays map all over again. And then, on top of all that, you get taught manners, you go through the PRT handbook on what to tell the press, how you dress, what not to do in public, blah blah blah. Its hell. There's a week of testing your powers to the fullest extent with us a team and then another week working with the PRT about the procedures they do and how not to mess them up, it's a different kind of hell."

"…Why did I sign the paper," I said shaking my head.

"We all made that mistake," Gallant laughed out causing everyone to laugh, myself included.

"So where do I set up?"

"The table, give me a sec," Kid Win quickly put the container with the gloves on the table and left in the direction of his lab.

"Okay," I said as set my container on the table and my bag on the floor and then looked up to see the container vista was holding on the table. "So…what do you guys do when you're not out on patrol?"

"We take turns babysitting this piece of junk," Clockblocker said tapping the console he was on, "it's basically a string phone we use to monitor whoever is on patrol and maybe tell the troopers stuff."

"It also monitors police broadband and emergency lines for parahuman activity for us to respond to," Vista explained from where she sat on the couch.

"But we got people paid to do that, this is just glorified babysitting for no reason," he whined.

"Other than that," Gallant continued, "we have homework, studying, and training in the gym."

"There's also a small kitchen, we each have our own room for sleeping and two bathrooms" Kid Win said loudly as he walked back into the room, "and a TV with the phantom tinker console for when we want to play games. We still have the buy the games though."

"Phantom tinker console?"

"You know, the phantom console, only its tinker made," he explained carrying a small tool box "I mean with your programming you probably have a few console processors together to make a super computer, right?"

"…I should probably mention I'm not a gamer."

"Wha-really," Kid win asked with a surprised look despite the visor. "but you have a power glove, the Nintendo, and NIA of all things."

"OH! This is all stuff my dad got for free when a worker he knew committed murder-suicide when someone made fun of his favorite cape."

"…Jesus," Vista said.

"Yeah, people take their capes seriously."

"Wait which cape," Clockblocker asked.

"Really?" Gallant asked him.

"Hey I'm curious."

"Photon Mom," I replied.

"HAH!" he laughed, before he froze a cushion that was thrown at him. "EY!"

"Oh well, I brought this," he said lifting the box. "I'd let you borrow my multi-tool but it takes time to learn how to use it."

"Thanks, its fine," I smiled underneath my mask. "Um you mind doing the phone?"

"Is that fine?"

"Well it's not tinker tech, surprisingly, and you did say it was like a normal phone so it shouldn't matter."

"Wait, she's not a tinker," Clockblocker asked.

"Not a hardware one, she's leans more towards software," Kid Win replied. "But if the towers are anything to go buy, the possibility is still there."

"Huh, wait, what do you call people who tinker with biology, just curious."

"Wetware tinker, that's pretty much covers tinkers who mostly deal with organics and chemicals," He replied "there's a few, but they mostly moved to the other side of the world, away from Bonesaw."

"Ugh don't remind me," I said, "I still have nightmares thinking about her being interested in my tech."

"...Fuck that would actually be scary," Clockblocker said.

"No kidding, and she already has mechanical spiders," Vista followed up.

"I read the reports on the ones they managed to capture in Aurora," Kid Win said shaking his head, "its biomechanical and its more of homunculus instead of spider. It's made with all sorts of tissues, some animal, mostly human, and they think the memory, or whatever she calls it, uses human brain tissue."

"…like I said, nightmares," I replied as I got to work putting back together the camera while Kid Win worked on my phone. "That's pretty cool."

"Thanks," he smiled. He was pretty fast.

"What do you plan on doing," Vista asked, I glanced at her, she had a text book in her hands and some notes…wait where…oh right space manipulation. "On the team, I mean?"

"I'm hoping to support you guys, maybe scout a head with my bugs, run interference, and snipe from the roof times with a whatever the PRT gives me and then wing it from there. My powers aren't really that good in close combat at least not with gloves I have."

"Oh, you might want to think about what kind of gun you want to use," Vista said, "the PRT might just give you a bow and arrow if you're not careful. Maybe a stun baton."

"Seriously?"

"The Youth Guard takes this very seriously. Also, if we have someone going out with a gun that might just inspire other capes to go with guns. Can you imagine what someone like Crusader can do with guns?" Crusader, a guy in E88 who could make ghost clones of himself, his weapon of choice is a very long iron spear.

"Wait, why doesn't he?"

"Because he could kill tons of people pretty easily, especially if he doesn't have to worry about return fire. Quickest way to a kill order." Vista answered. "But the point is, if you bring a gun, they bring a gun. You bring a grenade, they bring a grenade."

"If one side escalates, the other sides does too," I realized out loud.

"Yep. Its why our local flying brick goes out in skintight suit."

"Couldn't he just go with a shield or something?"

"He tried," Clockblocker said, "but it kept being used against him, messes him up when he flies and since he's a brick, a lot of people just tend to cut off his hands. He says it's annoying."

"Oh wow," I grimaced at the thought, I was-

"Done," Kid Win said as he turned on my phone.

"Wow that was quick," I commented.

"Thatswhatshesaid-BOOM!" Clockblocker yelled standing up. "I've been waiting forever for a setup like that," he cheered, forcing him to dodge more cushions.

"Grow up," Gallant said as Kid Win shook his head, Clockblocker laughing the entire time, and as soon as I got what he implied I blushed, thankful I still had my mask on.

"Sorry he's always like that," Vista said but I could see her trying to hide a smile.

"Figured. Done," I said holding my camera. "now the gloves."

"Can I help on this one or…"

"It should be fine with the iPod glove, I'll do the power glove," I said collecting the necessary things.

"Cool."

"Look at you two bonding," Clockblocker said, "next thing you know, we'll never get them out the lab, if you know wha-hey!" He yelled as he dodged a book.

"Wait, do I get my own lab," I asked.

"Probably," Kid Win said with slight blush, "privacy and all that, but what I'm a bit worried about is whether we'll share the budget for tinkers or not."

"Oh."

"You jerk," Vista said.

"Huh?" he let out in confusion, before he realized what he said, "OH I DIDN'T-," he quickly began but I put a hand up.

"It's fine, I know what you mean, but if that's the case then I know how to work on a shoestring budget," I said.

"I noticed," Clockblocker said tapping one of my fiberglass plates.

"Right, and besides, all I do is control bugs. At the moment my best idea is hooking up a remote-controlled helicopter with a camera and a way to control my swarm."

"Why not just make your own drone," Vista asked.

"My specialty is controlling bugs, building stuff to control them and keep pace with the bugs is a challenge. But if the PRT buys me a drone I can modify it. And done," I said. I held up the power gloves.

"Same," Kid Win said holding up the other glove.

"So," Clockblocker began "do you want to suit up and go with us on patrol?"

"Wait, can I, but I thought-"

"The paper was for intent," Vista said, "until the official papers are signed with consent from both you and your dad, you are known as a rogue. Some rogues work with us, and we just go on patrol. We're mostly on our own in safe routes, but in different areas, like E88 or ABB we have one or two Protectorate heroes supervise us."

"Also, you don't have to submit your tech just yet," Kid Win explained, "think of it as a sample."

"Cool, can I suit up?"

"Can I join you?" Clockblocker asked, obviously joking.

"Sure," I answered, "Just let me get a few spiders and cockroaches on you and try out a new attack pattern that is supposed to obscure your vision."

"…On one hand I really want to risk that, on the other…I have feeling I'll get nightmares," he replied.

"I'll take you to the girl's bathroom," Vista volunteered.

"Thanks."

"You honestly do look like a professional cosplayer," Clockblocker said as I walked back to the main room.

"Great," I muttered as I walked to the table and picked up my gun. "Will the paintball gun be a problem?"

"Can it kill someone," Gallant asked.

"Maybe if I aim for the throat at point blank," I said.
"Well…" he let out not expecting that as my answer, "maybe not do that?"

"I'll try my best," I answered with soft chuckle, "by the way, what happened to my neck guard?"

"Snapped, they thought it was some sort of tinker metal or something and when they tested it, the thing snapped it," Clockblocker answered. So they tested my stuff…meh it was annoying anyway.

"They'll pay for it, don't worry," Gallant said, "well, up to the roof we go," he said happily as Vista walked to the elevator.

"Oh wait, are we flying?"

"Yeah, you guys are," Kid Win said, "I finished my patrol early to confirm you're a tinker. So I got console duty next," he said taking Clockblocker's spot.

"Since you're not going out, can I-"

"No, you can't borrow my board," Kid Win quickly said.

"Damn!" he coursed as he joined the duo, "Everyone can move but me and now I have to give Gallant big ol' bear hug if I want to get anywhere or bribe Vista with sweets."

"Have fun," he said.

"Oh, where do we-" I began but….

"Elevator," Vista quickly said, right, "or if you want the stairs I can just shorten the distance."

"OOOOW! I'll take the stairs then! I always wanted to see what that was like," I quickly answered.

"Huh! Oh Um, you sure? I mean it takes a while with my powers and the elevator is a lot faster-"

"Alright what's up? You guys have been acting really weird after asked about Shadow Stalker," I knew they were worried about how I would react, so I might as well get it over with.

"Well…promise you won't get mad," She asked.

"…what?"

"Sup, bitches," I heard the all too familiar voice that I was glad not to hear for the past two months. I turned to see Shadow Stalker walking in from a door that I can only assume leads to the stairs or something. I saw her, still dressed in armor with a small cloak, crossbows not on her person, ballistic mask with a stern expression. I was mad at her and this would be the first time I found out, time to sell it. "You the new tinker?" She directed at me. Like I said, I was angry that she of all people still seemed carefree, a fucking traitor to her team, and was still hero.

"…You're Shadow Stalker," I accused loudly.

"Wait…I know this voice."

"How are you a hero, Sophia!"

"…HEBERT? You're the new tinker," she questioned. I couldn't see her face, she kept her mask on; she snorted, "heh, small world," she seemed to laugh.

"You guys let her be a hero," I hissed at everyone else, they were all quiet for the third time.

"Oh, get over it, Hebert," She said walking to the couch.

"You're probably the reason I have powers!"

"Probably," she admitted with a shrug, "but hey I did you a favor, what's your specialty anyway?"

"A FAVOR? You bullied me! You poured shit on me! YOU DESTROYED MY MOM'S FLUTE!"

"…and? What's your point?" She asked as she lied on the couch.

"…" I was expecting her to be…more aggressive or something, give me a way to justify using force on her, but she was really calm for some odd reason, and it was pissing me off and I had my dad's temper. I was already mad at her so it was easy to get pass faking it to it being real. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?"

"Taylor," Gallant began, probably trying to calm me down.

"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU GUYS DEAL WITH HER?"

"Honestly? We don't," Clockblocker said, "She's pain in the ass to deal with."

"Look who's talking, out of everyone on the team, you still can't move your fat ass," Sophia responded, as she took her mask off and pulled out her phone and from inside the couch's spine, she pulled out an unopened bag of chips while hissing.

"Hey I'm ripped!"

"Sure you are," she replied nonchalantly as she shook her hand and opened the bag.

"But I am," he whined.

"Uh huh," she said not caring at all, "so what's your specialty, loser?"

"BUGS, you fucking happy!"

"What," she said as she looked at me with neutral expression.

"I control bugs!"

"…Wait, just that," she asked with a confused expression.

"Yeah what of it?"

She stared at me for a few seconds before her face contorted and she started laughing. Okay what the fuck is going on?

"Wha-what's so funny?"

"You, hahaha, out of all the things you could have gotten, you got a tinker specialty for controlling bugs, that's the dumbest thing I ever heard! It's funny as hell! But you know…its suits a spineless worm like you."

"Hey-!"

"One sec," she said lifting her index fingers while texting, "I gotta tell Emma about this."

"WHAT!"

"Sophia-" Gallant along with everyone else about to pitch in.

"Jeez it's just a joke," Sophia said with her eyes rolling, "Piggy already has me on a collar," she lifted her hand to reveal a bracelet, one that doesn't mess with her costume but if I had to guess I'd say it was a shock bracelet or something. "She made it very clear I was on thin ice."

"You're a horrible bitch," I said with glare, regretting I had my mask on.

"I know~" she replied with smirk before she began eating her chips. I was angry.

"Can I please just sic a swarm on her," She snickered.

"Go ahead," she dared me, "the second you try it, I'll get off this couch and beat you within an inch of your life," she causally threatened me…. I know she would do it. But still…

"She gave me permission," I said, turning on my gloves, then I felt a very heavy hand on my shoulder.

"Let it go," Gallant said, "She's not worth it."

"Says the guy made of daddy's money," Sophia said in between crunches. I could feel him slightly wince at that, I felt it through his fingers.

"C'mon," he said, brushing the comment off.

"Friggin' bi-"

"VISTA," Gallant said loudly, "language."

"I'm old enough to cuss!"

"Sure you are brat," She did a quick turn at Sophia who continued texting and eating chips while shaking her trembling fist.

"Let's go," Gallant repeated shaking his as the Elevator let out a few beeps and opened to reveal Aegis. He looked at the group, mostly Vista's face, then gave a good over, then at Sophia who was casually texting and eating chips.

"Ah…" he said, I'm guessing figuring out the situation. "For what it's worth," he directed at me, "no one likes her."

"Meh," Sophia let out with a shrug as she ate another chip, "everyone here is a loser."

"Let's go," Gallant practically guiding me into the elevator, yet oddly enough I was fine with it, my rage just-ah…his power….

I shoved his hand off and turned to walk in the direction Sophia was in.

"Whoa-hey-" Aegis began, pretty sure noticing how I was walking with a purpose, but Gallant stopped him. Sophia looked at me as approached. She kept looking at me, I couldn't tell what she was going for but she clearly wasn't intimidated. She got another chip and bit it in half, simply enjoying the CRUNCH it made. I picked up my backpack and calmly walked back to the group; there's no way in hell I'm leaving my stuff in the same room with Sophia. We got in the elevator, minus Aegis, and before the door's closed, Sophia had this to say.

"Welcome to hell, loser," she shouted out. When Clockblocker said it, I knew he was joking, but when Sophia say's it, I can't help but feel that she really means it.

For the first time…I think I'm actually starting to regret my decision to join the Wards.

"Is she always like this, here I mean?"

"She has good days and she has bitch days, this is the good day. I swear it's like she kills someone or something," Clockblocker said…Shiiiiit, is this how I'll know she killed someone with her real arrows? Because she's in some sort of post-murder afterglow?

"C'mon that's not funny," Vista said, I nodded in agreement.

"Hey Gallant, what did you do to me," I asked, it was pretty weird how I suddenly calmed down without feeling it.

"My power. Firing lasers that change people's emotions, that's still my thing, and I can control how much of a "punch" it packs. I can give people low dosages, like "pinch" worth and compile it over time. Its only harmful if I up the "punch" or force a person to experience various emotions in a short amount of time. Also…I can see and, sort-of, sense people's emotions." Sense? That's new.

"Sort of?"

"It…to me it feels as if someone's watching you, and you don't know who or what exact emotion it is until you see it."

"An empath set, I can see why you wouldn't want people to know, hence the tinker thing…is that how Sophia's still alive?"

"Partly," he admitted. "I know your angry, sorry I can't turn my power off," he quickly apologized, "but it's not that bad. I know… I know things happened between you two but, that's only her. She can be…well,"

"A queen bitch," Clockblocker offered.

"Mmhmm," Vista agreed.

"But she can pull her weight when she has to." Gallant continued "Also, there's us; we don't expect you to get along with her, or even be at the point we are with her, but just know, you're not alone. We don't allow bullying here."

"And, you know," Vista beamed in, "we're here for you."

"…thanks," I said.

"Your welcome!" Vista beamed with a smile.

"Yep, we all have to deal with how insufferable Sophia is. Oh yeah, don't tell anyone. PRT takes identities very seriously."

"I just hope she doesn't tell anyone about me," I said.

"Again, we take that very seriously," Gallant said, "we will not excuse her is she does that."

"Speaking of which, what's your cape name," Vista asked.

"Haven't decided, I was thinking Skitter, but I'm not mover. Plus, I think single vowel name would be better, a lot easier to say in a pinch."

"Then Skitter it is! Don't worry about the mover part," Clockblocker said, as there was ding.

"I've waited too long for this," Gallant said as the door parted to reveal the roof. Outside was a Armsmaster with his halberd on his back, holding a pad of some sort in front of him.

"Wow," I said as I walked forward with the group, Armsmater turning, giving us a nod of acknowledgement before he turned back to do whatever it is he was doing.

When I heard hover bike, when I suggested it, I was expecting a bike with a propeller on the front and on the back or something like that. But what was in front of me was still pretty cool, it was jet-ski like vehicle on top of what looks like a metal frame. It was wide, it had a spot to sit, also a had space for people to stand it seems, it almost looks like a cross between jet ski and those floating boat things from Star Wars where the jedi escapes the sandpit, only like a quarter of the size and had a nose of a Zamboni. It was well detail were really well made. Did Kid Win really do this?

"This is awesome," I marveled at the vehicle, imagining it floating. From the front to the back, it looked a bit like a Zamboni front while the back was unmistakably like a jet ski, the jet ski seat seemed a little lower with walls on the sides, despite that it seemed like it had space to stand, it had two tanks attached to the back underneath the seats, easy access I think, I wonder what they were for. As for as I know Kid Win's board doesn't have tanks, so both his creation use anti-gravity for sure, maybe some form of propulsion? As I walked around admiring the paint job of a horse with wings!

"You like it," Gallant asked with mirth in his voice

"It looks awesome. Not a bike but it's awesome."

"See, it's not just me," Clockblocker said, "the thing looks like an overcomplicated jet ski! Hell, if it wasn't for the seat I'd say it was modeled after the kiddy trains they use at the mall."

"True I guess, it's not a real bike, but its mine," he said, "my steed, Pegasus."

"Did Kid Win really make this? Painting and all," I asked as I kept inspecting it, what? My tinker senses were flaring, or rather highlighting the controls.

"Nah he was against the horse with wings painting, so we had the job outsourced under close scrutiny," Gallant answered.

"You have to admit, its pretty girly," Clockblocker said.

"I think it's cute," Vista said.

"See," Clockblocker pointed at vista.

"But if you put in a regular horse, it wouldn't make too much sense," Vista argued.

"Enough," Armsmaster said, apparently having had enough of their squabble. "Gallant last test before I officially hand you the key," he said putting the pad in front of Gallant, who accepted it, but Armsmaster didn't let go. Gallant up to meet Armsmaster's visor. "This is a huge responsibility and, as of yet, has no safety features. Do not make me regret this," he said sternly.

"Yes sir," He said. Satisfied, Armsmater nodded and let go, then he turned to me, won't lie, I flinched bit as he approached.

"You're Taylor Hebert, the new tinker, right?" He asked sizing me up.

"Yes," I answered.

"I saw the interview and I had them do a test on your suit, I apologize for that, and I'll personally pay you back the neck guard," he said.

"Um thanks," was all I could say, he nodded.

"From what I can tell, you seem to be able to modify objects in order to use them to control your…sorry I can't think of word that fits bugs, spiders, worms, snails and crabs in the same criteria."

"I-I usually just use bugs and critters."

"I see," he said, not smiling or anything, "you got a name?"

"She says Skitter for now," Clockblocker answered for me as Gallant seem to be turning his body a bit with the pad in front of him while vista stared at him with her arms crossed slightly shaking her head.

"Skitter," he began crossing his arms, "I'm sure I don't have to tell you how dangerous your bugs are, considering you are carrying around an Epipen," I shook my head.

"I know, an allergic reaction isn't really something I can avoid, but I can at least prepare for it. I also have attack patterns that the critters are programed to follow in order to avoid attacking the arteries, eyes, cavities, and bugs with venom are to withhold their venom and I've seen them do that."

"That includes bee?"

"Yes, they can sting without injecting their venom and some even survive," I replied.

"Is that all?"

"Well, if I take the safety off, then the critters with nonlethal venom will attack, some will try to block the cavities and they attack the, um, the neither regions that they are programed to avoid when the safeties are on."

"…that's not what I meant. You are aware of where bugs are usually found?"

"Yep, you won't believe the places you can find them," I said, then I realized something, "Oh crap, speaking of which," I quickly turn my gloves off, I had forgotten to do it, "they drain the batteries," I explained.

"Figured," he said, "but you do know where bugs are found right? They are full of germs and bacteria. The bugs alone are already a biological weapon, add the bacteria and germs and lets even add viruses for the fun it, that makes it worse. While we are not law enforcement we are given permission to assist in the duties of an officer, this includes apprehending criminals and protecting civilians, but that also means we are held accountable for our actions. Excessive force is something capes have been dealing with even before the Protectorate was formed. People like heroes, but they don't like it when a fight smashes their window.

"Gallant has been to court three times when he accidently put too much force into his shots or simply shot a criminal at on undesirable condition where the criminal sustained crippling injuries. Clockblocker, two times when he forgot that he left frozen paper in public spaces, one of those resulting in a civilian totaling a car and breaking his arm in the process. Vista has been to court five times, two on account of excessive force when she accidently dropped the criminals from a high enough elevation, one more when she accidently trapped a criminal in a dome without any way to receive air, suffocating him to death, he was dead for a minute and three seconds. The rest are from property damage when she manipulated space without a thought as to where the objects on the space would go. Imagine how getting an allergic reaction or a disease or a virus from your bugs will be treated as? Can you imagine what kind of lawsuit that would be?"

"I…I didn't think of that," I replied earnestly to his cold words. I honestly didn't think of that, I could spread bacteria or sleeping powder or something with my bugs or simply have mosquito or bees swallow sleeping agents or something and regurgitate it on people. Heck I could use itching powder and it would be just as effective as having bugs on them. Why didn't I think of this!

Armsmaster let breath of air out of his nose and then he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"This is why the Wards exist. You made the right choice joining. We will help you realize your potential but we do it in a manner that is safe for everyone. Granted there are cases that warrant "force" and you will learn what they are. It takes time and patience, and thinking on your feet. When you go on patrol, I want you to think about how to use your powers in a fight and avoid "excessive force." If you can't avoid it then try to limit it. Understood?" I nodded, "Alright. Next time, when we have more time, I'd like to talk to you about spider silk, I'll admit, I am intrigued by the idea using silk as a semiconductor and a sensor. On that note, expect a video call from Dragon later on."

"Wait, Dragon, as in the best tinker in the world Dragon, will call me?"

"She takes interest in tinkers with specialties revolving around software. Thanks to her specialty, she is actually one of the view people on earthwho can understand the work of other tinkers and expand on it. From what I understand, the degree of understanding varies from tech to tech; software seems to be something that increases her odds of understanding the tech."

"I see," was all I said, Dragon was going to talk to me…oh wait, "Um, are you and Dragon mad about me liking Sphere?" He shrugged.

"Sphere was a good man, had the endbringer not attacked he could have done amazing things. And like you pointed out, he is good example of a tinker's potential, even his current persona represents what we do. Those blades? From what Dragon found, going over his submitted designs, those blades would have actually been used to maintain the flora in the eco system in his dome blue prints."

"So…basically its sharp Weed Wacker or a lawnmower?" He nodded, "Jeez, what were the designs for the food processing plant?"

"You don't want to know," Armsmaster said shaking his head.

"Oh that's encouraging," I said, just imagining what sort of contraption Mannequin would use to process humans.

"It is what it is," he said, then he turned "Gallant, you passed it yet?"

"Yes sir," Gallant said handing the pad back. Armsmaster skimmed it, then nodded. He took something from a compartment in his suit I think and handed it to Gallant. It looked like an electronic key, Gallant grabbed it, but Armsmaster didn't let go, "I won't make you regret this."

"Be sure you don't," and he let go. "I made sure the calibrations were correct, everything is working in perfect order, and the energy consumption is as efficient as possible. Should you find anything that seems out of place or simply isn't supposed to happen, you let console know right away."

"Yes sir," he said. Armsmaster just nodded.

"Then get to work," and with that he turned and moved to the elevator.

Nobody said anything until he was inside.

"…Now what," I asked.

"Now we get to work," Clockblocker said clapping his hands together and rubbing them, he looked at me. "Gallant and I would offer you a ride on the hover bike, but you either have to be able to fly or get trained to even ride it. We're in the sky, not the sea, nothing personal," he quickly said. "Let's go," he said walking up the small steps of the metal frame and getting on the vehicle. "Gallant, the fly-knight, lets go!" He repeated slapping the cushy-looking chair.

"…About that…" Gallant began. "Yyyyyyyou're not the one ridding with me today."

"What?" Clocblocker scuffed, "we talked about…" he paused, "…You sonnavabitch…you told her."

"Not my fault…we're on again."

"GOD DAMNIT GALLANT!" He yelled getting off the bike while throwing his hands up. "I was waiting for this too!"

"It's out of my hands," he said with a shrug.

"I know your whipped but c'mon dude! Maximum effort, man!"

"I'm not whipped," he calmly responded.

"You're the very definition of whipped!"

"I'm not," he defended with a shrug.

"Heeyyy~" a girl called out, I turned to the direction of what I'm sure was the direction the hospital was in, why? Because landing next to us it was Alexandria Jr herself, Glory Girl and according to the cape paparazzi's she fairies her sister, Panacea, everywhere. Glory girl is a white girl with just the right amount of tan and wore a white one-piece dress that reached down to the center of her thighs, she wore white shorts too, and white over the shoulder cape, and topped it off with a gold tiara with spikes on it, almost like the statue of liberty, nothing that hid her identity. "How's my knight in shining armor?"

"I'm-"

"Yeah, Idon'tcare, show me this cool new thing! How does it work?" She quickly floated to the hover bike. "C'mon, tell me what it does!" I was surprised at how easily she brushed Gallant off. I knew Clockblocker said that she had him whipped but… wow. Gallant walked up the frame next to his floating girlfriend.

"It's a state of the art hover bike, it has a top speed-"

"It's looks like a mall train," she interrupted.

"…it has a top speed of eighty miles an hour," he continued as if he wasn't interrupted, "it can pull my weight and," he walked over to the control, put in the key and turned, the vehicle purred to life. "Wait for it," he pressed a glowing button, the walls on the sides of the seat folded down to its respective side, "in addition to passengers I can airlift injured civilians to a hospital." He pressed the button again and the walls came up. "It has two tanks of containment foam," he pointed behind the seat, "plus a spare."

"Containment foam, what for?"

"for containment," he answered with a shrug. "There's two exit points, a movable nozzle at the front and," he walked behind the seat and pulled a handle I didn't notice; on closer inspection looks like a gun-mist-jet for a hose, attached to an extendable metal cable (a hose), "this, for the passenger to aim while I'm driving. With this I can carpet bomb or dog fight with my passenger."

"Where's the extra tank?"

"Oh here," he lifted the chair up, and it opened with a soft his, "we can store a bunch of stuff here: med kits, lunch, spare foam tank, and it has compartments so nothing will get crushed. There's also some space upfront."

"Oh cool," she said as she smiled at the insides of the chair.

"Yeah, Kid Win is still working on putting something on the bike's handles so I can focus my laser-"

"Sh sh sh," Glory Girl shushed him, "the story's over now," she said.

"Wha…why?"

"You just told the best part," she said with a smile. "Can you imagine how many shopping bags I can fit in here? I mean you're like giant purse now, one that can fly over traffic!"

"Oh, I can't-"

"No no, purses don't talk," she said as she kept staring at it, no doubt imagining what she would put in there. Yikes.

"Hey Gallant, can I store my backpack in there," I asked.

"Yeah, go-"

"Sorry what," Glory Girl cut in loudly. I know what she wanted and, oddly enough, I couldn't refuse her for some reason.

"I-can I store my backpack in your purse while we're on patrol?"

"Mmm," she thought about it, "Yeah, sure, go ahead." I saw Gallant's armored shoulders sag. I felt for him now. I never would have thought that she was like this, I mean in public she's like New Wave's star child! I never would have imagined her like this, plus, it's like she has this aura or something around her that makes it hard to wrong her…mostly because she's Alexandria Jr, someone who can scrape me against the floor anytime she wants! Gallant, my sympathies.

"Ahrem! Ahem!" Clockblocker coughed, "-WH-hem! WHHH-EMP! WHIPPED! Ugh! I think I'm coming down whi-IPPED," he faked sneezed. Gallant let out a sigh.

"By the way which Ward are you again," Glory Girl asked me with a confused look, "OH, I know! Shadow Stalker, right?"

"…"

I won't lie, it was a bummer not to ride the hover bike, but traveling via-Vistas-power was still pretty cool! We didn't have to run or jump, we kept walking around while her power shortens the distance between one building's edge to another so that it only takes a single step. There was no creaking sounds or anything, no weird elongation noises you hear on cartoons. Sure, you'd hear how a strong breeze or a bird reacts to it, but that was it.

After Vista was done "pulling" it she would let go and the thing would stretch back into place.

"Holy crap, have you ever thought about giving Jack Slash a run for his money," I asked while looking behind me. For a second I thought I blinked when I saw the thing snap back, but I didn't, it just happened instantly at a speed I couldn't really process.

"I thought about it," she beamed with a smile, "but I distort space, not exactly the objects themselves." She explained. "I guess if I got the first "shot" I could beat him. But even then, after I "shoot" he can just "shoot" me faster and then, you know, my powers don't really work on people. Manton Effect. I probably wouldn't be able to cut him directly. OH! BUT, if I had the time I could definitely give a hard push, ya know?"

"I understand," I already knew about her crush with Gallant, not that they knew. I knew she was really upset that Gallant didn't need to rely on her powers anymore and not only that, right now he was keeping pace with us (going slow or hovering around us) on his hover bike while his girlfriend rode with him. I don't know how it is for guys but I guess being taken on a hover bike would be pretty exciting if it was with your results? She was feeling down because she didn't feel needed anymore and because she was jealous of Gallant's girlfriend and seemed to be enjoying himself. What was I, "the rookie who didn't know anything," to do? Well, Vista still seemed to be insecure about her age and how she is viewed by everyone. I appealed to that, I looked up to her…I guess I became her bitch a bit…better not act that way around Shadow Stalker. "Wait, what if you made surfaces slippery?"

"I little hard but if you give me time I could do it, everything I do with my powers takes time, plus the Manton Effects limits what I can do."

"Sigh," Clockblocker said out loud, "the girls with me talking about how flexible their powers are, traitor in the sky celebrating with his girlfriend, I'm all lonely."

"Your powers are pretty cool," I said getting the hint, "honestly I wish I had your powers." Not a lie.

"Yeah well…crap I don't know if I'd trade you," he said, "but I would trade it for Vista's any day."

"But it's cool, you can freeze things in time!"

"Yeah, but its touch base," he said, "does me no good when I have to fight villains who don't have to get close. Plus, I have no idea how long it last. When I tag things, it stays frozen anywhere between thirty seconds to ten minutes, and no consistency. The only good thing is that I can choose what to freeze."

"Can't you, I don't know, freeze the space vista manipulates in place or use So-Shadow Stalker to shoot a net connected to a string at a person."

"Already do for the first, its why we usually patrol together. For the second, Shadow Stalker says off her aim, also that would require her being next to me the whole time. We…uh… we don't have the best relationship and she really doesn't like being tied down, if you know what I mean." He joked, "but in all seriousness, she likes to move a lot. In fact, despite the crossbow, she likes to go in headfirst melee, which makes me question why she doesn't just go in with a baton but whatever, every sadist to their own right? And, we already tried it, villains actually take advantage of it because it means, Shadow Stalker and I are in one place," he explained. "Also, if we leave a long string or something like that lying around it could be used against us," he put his right arm in front of me and with his left hand pulled a sheet of paper off his armor. So that's where he keeps it "It's why I stick with these, it fits my scheme and it's easy to spot, you know, if you don't run at it from the sides. With Vista's help, it becomes bigger and she can sort of wrap it around people."

"Can you freeze things, like, I don't know if a bird was tied to a string could you freeze it by grabbing the string?"

"Depends, probably could tag it…if my powers worked at "peak efficiency," but days like that are rare."

"What do you mean," if powers worked at peak efficiency? This was new to me.

"Oh right," he said slapping the paper back on to his armor, it just looked like armor, as if the paper was never there. "I guess you wouldn't know. Vista want to take over," either he's lazy or he caught on.

"YEP! You see, capes," we just crossed another building, "have a trigger event, it's an event that gave us our power."

"Usually a crappy day," Clockblocker said, "a very crappy day," he expanded.

"The closer we are to whatever feelings or situation we were in that gave us our power, the better our powers work," Vista continued. "For me, the boost would be my powers working faster in an area I'm in even if people are around."

"For me, it's that my powers work a smidge faster when I tag someone and the power has a higher chance of being five minutes or longer. Also, you know, my power has a better shot at effecting interconnected things."

"Huh… what about tinkers?" And master/strangers.

"You tinker faster I guess or get better ideas," Clockblocker offered. "I honestly don't know and neither does Kid Win. Its different for everyone." They both stopped moving and talking while they grabbed their ear. Then they stood there.

"Guys," I asked.

"OH! Right," Vista pulled out something from a pocket in her armor/dress, an earpiece in a tiny bag. "Guys wait," she said, "Skitter doesn't have one," she ripped the bag, did something, I think turned it on, and handed it to me.

"Um testing?"

"Testing clear, this is console," I heard Kid Win say, "we got reports of dark smoke coming off an area near the warehouses, probable cape-" there was a shuffle and suddenly I had to resist the urge to throw the ear piece away.

"ITS FUKING GRUE! I KNOW IT," it was Sophia shouting. Another shuffle, and Kid Win was back.

"Yeah, it's probably the undersiders, you guys are the closes. I already gave directions to Gallant just follow him. Careful of the dogs and call us if you need backup."

"Undersiders," I asked, I already looked them up but besides one guy generating darkness and girl named Tattle I was still pretty clueless as to who they were.

"They're small time villains, a master that controls mutated dogs, a shaker who can generate darkness, another master who gives the body involuntary twitches or spasms, and a girl who goes by tattletale, power unknown but has a silver tongue, probably thinker," Kid Win explained.

"Wait, the bay has mutant dogs?"

"We got a walking acid trip too," Clockblocker said.

"Alright," Gallant's voice was in my ear, I turned to look at him to see Glory Girl already flying, "I can actually see it from up here, Ward Patrol group, along with New Wave's Glory girl and rogue Skitter pursuing, over."

"Copy that," Kid Win said.

"alright, time for some actions," I heard Clockblocker cheer from both being in front of me and my earpiece.

"You ready," Vista asked.

"I think so," I said with a nod, my first engagement.

"It's your first time out in costume, right," Gallant asked, "also there's a switch for the ear piece, it's thick so you should feel it, it doubles for volume control and shut off, when the volume hits zero it shuts off. We each have a few to work with rogues."

"Yeah, it's my first time out in costume," not my first time using my powers on capes. Jeez I was hoping for muggers or something, I didn't want my first physical fight to be against parahumans with dark clouds and mutant dogs. Either way it was time to turn the gloves on.

"Then let's pop that cherry!" Clockblocker cheered making me want to smack him upside the head. "Don't worry Skitter, we'll slowly ease you in!"

"Thank you for volunteering for console duty on the weekend," another person's voice cut in, a man I didn't know, "Clockblocker. Deputy Director Renick out."

"…fuck."

Fuck.

"Stay close" Vista yelled as both she and Clockblocker ran together, I was behind them…fuck I should have done more than just power walking!

Vista didn't have time to bring both ends of the buildings together, so what she was doing is bring the rooftop of the building we were on as close as possible to the other building and we just jumped. She didn't seem to need to look at me so I guess she had some sort of tracker aspect to her powers, maybe? She said people affect her power because of the Manton Effect so maybe a side effect of that?

I didn't matter, I had my gloves turned on and my backpack on me, Gallant had given it to me before we started the chase, gallant has one radio tower and my laptop with him, I have my backpack with another one inside a box. Right not I was gathering as many bugs as I can, I guess collecting my gun and give me options. Half a block wasn't much but it was better than nothing.

"I got them!" Gallant said in the ear piece, "its seems like we guessed right, Grue's tactic is cover everything but the dogs' head when running away, I think Tattletale is with him. OH! He spotted Glory Girl and me, he's moving the dark smoke to obstruct our vision."

"Do you know what they are running from," Kid Win asked.

"Can't tell," he replied, "I don't see any other capes."

"I think I saw rune or someone flying, they turned tail when they saw us though," Glory girl answered.

"Crap! He's making the smoke split in two directions! Vista and Skitter go left, Glory Girl go right, and I'll double back with Clockblocker in case they did." He said already coming to pick clockblocker up.

"ABOUT TIME!" Clockblocker shouted.

"C'mon lets go," Vista said, and I nodded as I followed her. We ran rooftop to rooftop catching up with the smoke. The smoke was very dark, practically darkness itself, and it covered a huge area! I couldn't see what was inside, hell it could be a dud for all I know.

After chasing it I realized it was moving fast and the only reason we were catching up was because of Vista.

"Glory girl here, the smoke stopped."

"This is Vista, we're still chasing the darkness."

"This is Gallant, the smoke disappeared on our end, we're heading to you."

"What do you think they will do next, split into three smokes and double back," Clockblocker asked.

"Wha-what is that smoke anyway?" I huffed.

"Its fucking bullshit is what it is," I heard Shadow Stalker say.

"Shadow Stalker is the only ward who's been in it. Its blinding, muffles sound, blocks cameras and radio waves, according to Shadow Stalker it messes her powers and it sort of feels like being in water when she's not in her breaker form," Kid Win replied. "Armsmaster is working on something to create images with whatever vibration does pass through the smoke, but it's still in the works."

"IT FUCKING SHIT!"

"Radio waves," I muttered, "wait my bugs!" I said having a revelation. "Vista, hold my gun," she did as I pulled out my camera and turned it on, I had a bit of trouble attaching it on the run.

"What about your bugs," Shadow Stalker asked. "Did you break your tech already?"

"No, I have no idea how I control them, but it's not through sound or radio waves, hopefully I can see them in the dark smoke!"

"Wait can you," Kid Win asked.

"I worked fine back in the proving grounds before they foamed me" I said, having trouble changing commands while running.

"Shit that's right I need to look that video up," Shadow Stalker said. Bitch.

"Let's see if it works," I had the critters go into exploration mode. They will explore every surface within half a block of me. The dark smoke was to our left, Gallant and Glory girl flying above us, wow they caught up really fast. I turned to look and through the darkness I could see the bugs struggling to keep up.

"It works," I huffed out.

"You serious," Kid Win quickly asked.

"Yes! But right now my bugs are just exploring surfaces. I need to get them on the Undersiders!"

"Copy that, asking permission to fairy untrained Vista and untrained rogue, designation Skitter, on Pegasus" Gallant asked. A minute later there was a response.

"Approved," It was Armsmaster voice, "be careful with them."

"Yes sir, Glory Girl can you follow the smoke?"

"No problem!" Both Vista and I stopped and caught our breath as the hover bake came to us, more so me than her…fuck a girl younger than I was doing fine!

"THIS IS BULLSHIT! I trained a month to learn how to be a passenger," Clockblocker complained.

"Cope," Aegis said from the earpiece. "You guys need back up?"

"We're fine for now," Gallant said, "they're only small time anyway."

"Roger, send a shout if you need us. Miss Militia is already heading in your direction with a PRT van."

The hover bike hovered in front of us, "Vista in front of me Skitter behind Clockblocker." Vista and I ran to our spots, mind being the easier one to reach.

"FUCK! They split again," Glory girl yelled

"Follow one trail, we'll pick up the other one. Everyone ready?" We all responded yes as I clung to Clockblocker who clung to Gallant, "HOLD ON!" He shouted as the bike raised in the air and shot forward! It was fast and I honestly didn't care who was in front of me, I was holding for me dear life! Then it hit me. Crap my swarm!

"FUCK! Gallant we're leaving my bugs behind!"

"Can't you get more?"

"I can but my bugs take time to collect and follow the order," I responded, "if they get out of my range than I can't control them anymore!"

"What if we get in front of them?"

"Hopefully my bugs can keep up by then, and I might even get some on them if that's the case, but it still takes time. Maybe if we got them onboard the bike and then we can just drop them on top of whoever these guys are."

"Dowehaveto," Vista quickly said, obviously not liking the plan I came up with.

"Fucking tinkers," Clockblocker yelled, don't know if he meant me or Kid Win.

"First let's catch up, then we'll see, for now see what you can do," Gallant said.

"Alright!" I yelled.

This was not how I planned my day.

Whatever, I'll just do what I can!

Authors note

Yep a fight next chap.

I don't know why by Taylor feeding an endbringer a spam sandwhich was pretty funny to me. Imagine how an interrogation would go!

I didn't really know how to do Glory Girl and Gallant Relationship so I based her a bit on my sister's relationship. She has three Exs and they are all psycho for her now, one still stalks her facebook, the other dumped his girlfriend when he thought he had a shot at getting back together with her, and the third...well I don't know about him but I think he's still after my sis. I think she abuses them to the point where they rely on her emotionally. That plus glory girl's aura should have a good effect. Kuudos if you got the two references, one is for an abridged anime, the other is from scrubs.

Shadow Stalker, when ever I see a fic where Sophia finds out that Taylor is joining the wards, she's either becomes overly aggressive or is teased until she gets sent to Juvie or something. I wanted something different and Sophia doesn't really think much of Taylor. Plus, you know, afterglow. The inspiration was a bit from Nathan of Mistfits, an asshole who can't be attacked verbally and dishes out mean but funny insults. What Imagine Clockblocker would be if he ever became a villain.

I liked the quote "Goddamn it Gallant," whenever Glory girl happens to know something about Wards or PRT procedure when she shouldn't.

Orb weaver silk in tech is from an article posted 2012, biodegrable phones using bugs is more recent i think.

True fact, the airforce used a bunch of playstations 3, 1,760, to create a super computer because it was cheaper, the article was from 2010.

Also tinkers, you know they have that phantom console!

Naruto Fan's who happen to read my fics, expect something in the next few weeks.