Chapter Text
My bugs mapped the corridor out of habit, despite the fact that I knew all the other doors led to empty rooms. Only one villain—Ward, I corrected myself. My Ward. My heart thumped loudly in my chest at that thought, at the sharp memories of being on the other side of this situation only two years ago.
The entrance was right behind me, it was made of thick alloys and would only open when the ones outside accepted the request. Two PRT soldiers stood on my left and right, as I immediately placed the gnats and mosquitoes around them. Just to let me remember where they would be. Both of them gave me a polite nod as I walked forward, and a few of my insects slipped out of my utility belt, automatically winding and building the silken threads across the corridor behind me. I’d know if they were broken, and they wouldn’t need much of my attention to monitor. Satisfied with my precautions, I walked forward into the room.
Deep below the rig, crabs spread their claws, ready to murder any predator that thought they would be an easy prey. My hand stopped trembling, allowing me to push the keycode in peace.
This place was close enough to the bottom of the sea, making the crabs an easy choice to grasp and push my reactions towards. I would rather murder more pests around the base, but one of the clerks saw me murdering some rats while I was pushing it back into its hole… and the PR department immediately told me off for it. My chest burned hot at the memories, at how unfair the whole thing was. Some of my crabs immediately swirled around, snapping their claws against their brethren until their shells broke, blue gelatinous blood seeping into the water.
The first door opened, and I walked into the empty space between the two doors, more security precautions. Useful ones though. It made it harder for any Wards to even think of fleeing, when they would be in this frankly almost claustrophobic room, with only doors and four nozzles on top as company. If they detected an active obedience collar without the appropriate mentor, the alarms would blare on, while whoever was inside would be covered in containment foam.
I squared my shoulders and tried to remember how Battery did it. How she pulled my attention just by walking into the room, those blue lines glowing and grabbing my attention. It wasn’t just her costume. She’d pulled me in with her confidence: intense but empathetic, full of certainty that she was in the right. That's what I needed to draw upon. Stand up tall. No slouching.
With nervousness and restlessness pushed away, it made some of my crabs move erratically, as well as the more useless bugs I kept at the edge of my control at all times. They fluttered, slamming against one another, even as I kept them as hidden as possible.
The first door finally closed behind me, and the second one opened. Despite the fact all Wards were fitted with obedience collars, the Protectorate refused to give them any slack. It was one of the few things I approved of them for.
My more stealthy insects had slipped into the room the moment a little crack opened. Tattletale was sitting to the side, on top of the bed and trying to appear relaxed. She was good at it, the only reason I saw through the mask was the tension in her body, the muscles were all tight against one another as my gnats ghosted her skin—trying to ensure she didn’t feel them, or even realize they were there. I had to be careful, especially against a Thinker like her.
“Myriad… finally deigning to meet the prisoner? Every important player in the scene knew about your past, you know? It’s so easy to dig for it. Positive, or even negative experiences…” she drawled slightly, taking great care to make herself seem more in control than she really was. “A few months as a vigilante, then you got caught by the Protectorate…” Another trail off, another implication of her knowledge. As if being caught by the government was a failure of mine rather than their prowess.
I twitched, feeling an itch beneath my skin. My ego also took a hit, despite knowing it had been for the best. I had learned a lot under Battery, and she was great to me. How would she act if I’d been flagrantly disrespectful? I tried to think, and drew a blank—I hadn’t acted out much as a Ward. I’d been focused on improving, and Battery was always encouraging me, pushing me to shake more possibilities out of my power.
“That doesn’t matter. We should focus on you, Tattletale.” A few of my insects buzzed in tandem, and the small room helped to make the hissing more unsettling. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and all I did was watch her carefully behind my mask. “Or should I call you Sarah ?”
Perhaps it was unfair to throw her real name like that, but the way she reacted loosened some of my tension. Her brows furrowed, the edge of her mouth down turning—a sign of unhappiness. Because of her real name? Highly likely. At least it meant the document was right, starting from telling me that her name was Sarah Livsey. Murdered her brother with her power, then ran away from home. Pickpocketed and scammed people as she went from one city to another, finally settling down here. A scammer still, but an informant for both sides. I knew some vigilantes had talks with her, asking her for knowledge and giving her money or favor in exchange.
“I have long since thrown that name away, the Protectorate must be losing their touch,” she snorted derisively, making me bristle. She ignored my reaction, the feelings bubbling within me, “Call me Lisa. Lisa Wilbourn. Why don’t you introduce yourself too, Myriad? Pretend that I don’t know.”
She waved to her bare face while saying so. A forced unmasking. I had experienced that, and it was now her time to feel it. Allies might still be given the courtesy of keeping their secret identity, but Wards? They had none, especially not to their own mentor. Her motion made me look up, noting the freckles dotting across her cheeks and nose. And yet her eyes pulled upon my focus, of how it was filled with spite and fire. Not empty. Full of life, even.
“Lisa.” So different from her document. My stomach felt like it was flipping, a light feeling somehow fluttering within at the same time. She still burned, still full of many things. I could feel a smile growing on my face, even as I lifted my hands towards my mask. Battery did the same thing, even if it wasn’t by my encouragement. “Taylor.”
She nodded, the grin on her face matching mine. Her movement was smooth as she stood up, an ease I could never match, even if I pushed everything out to my bugs. I watched her, every corner and shadows hiding a few of my insects. Each of their eyes gave me splotches of color, accompanied by the usual ache, letting me see her from every angle.
“So. We need to talk,” Lisa started, the grin from before being dropped for a more serious look. I tilted my head slightly, keeping my silence as she moved closer, deftly avoiding the few strings I have strewn across the room. They were a “just in case” measure, and yet she knew where each of them was. The few she stepped on were done as if she wished to mock me, and my spiders and wasps went to my range’s edge, murdering the pile of cockroaches I had stashed there.
Her head tilted to the side, eyes narrowing before she grimaced, shaking her head. I found myself frowning too, my insects stilling for a moment before they continued as if nothing had happened.
“No. Okay, so. I did research you, when you were but a mere ghost back then,” she started, and I only raised one of my eyebrows at her, waiting for her to get to the point. I had left that past behind, not something that mattered , not anymore. She scowled as if knowing I couldn’t find it in myself to care, her hand tapping her thigh in annoyance. A habit, or just this once? “Be patient, I’m going somewhere with this.”
Probably true, considering her reputation as an information broker. I gave her a nod, to signal her my understanding, and to try keeping skepticism off my face.
I didn’t think I managed, considering the sigh she let out was loud enough to echo within the room. “You were different back then, picking only those you saw as criminals, and your wrath didn’t stray away elsewhere. Only them.”
Ah. I looked up upon that question, looking at the bare steel the ceiling was made of. A few of my bugs flitted across, but I ignored them, trying to find the right answer. It was only when I felt I could draw some sort of conclusion did I look back down again, Lisa walking a little closer in the meantime. We were only a few footsteps apart now. So close I could jab her with my taser if I want to—or she could grab it from me. One of the flies fluttered inside my tool bag, checking and making me sigh in internal relief that it was still there.
“I learned.” The words caught in my throat, a little wobble that I didn’t want to dig into further while I frowned at Lisa. I was still trying to find the right way to say it. “I had caught more villains than when I was running as a vigilante too.”
Lisa shook her head, “But do you count them as a villain, or was it just a label that the PRT slapped on them?”
My jaws clenched as I stepped forward, glowering and taking advantage of my height over her. “Those people are criminals, breaking the law as they see fit.”
She didn’t back off, the blaze in her eyes seemingly making them glow—glinting dangerously even as it pulled my attention. I drank the way she focused on me, a flutter of satisfaction forming in my chest. We were so close, just mere millimeters apart. “Why don’t you think again, for yourself? Instead of blinding yourself to the truth? Or do you wish for everything to be easy , a ready-made answer always ready for you?” Her eyes were narrow now, even as her questions cut as deep as a newly sharpened knife. “Oh, I hit them a little harder—but that’s fine, the higher ups said it was okay .”
It would be so, so easy to stop this. I could say the two words, and I knew the collar on her throat would make her stop. To do that would be giving up, would be giving her credence, though.
“The Protectorate has handled this for many more years than I have,” I continued before Lisa could have spoken more, cutting her words before they even formed. “Besides, you are just saying all these to show you aren’t a problem , aren’t you?”
I didn’t know where I found them, but as I let the words loose I found the fire again within me. “I wouldn’t have caught you, when I was a vigilante. There’ll always be more dangerous villains at hand to face. More conflicts to head off… but now?”
My eyes deliberately looked at her from top to bottom, a gaze moving slowly enough that she had to see it. “The fact you are here, even without my help, seems to be a sign the Protectorate managed to do well.”
Her hands clenched, slightly hidden by the too long sleeves of her prison jumpers. My gnats continued to be one of the most useful insects in my arsenal. She looked like she wished to talk again, her mouth opening, certainly another gambit to turn me against the Protectorate.
Never let a villain use their best weapon. “It seems it is a mistake to talk to you right now. We’ll talk again when your head has cooled. Stay here until I’m out of the room ,” I cut her off, giving an order for the first time—the flutter from before came back, a swirl of excitement I didn’t fully understand turning my stomach.
“You—fine!” Her glare, the way I was sure I would have burnt to a crisp if her eyes could shoot lasers, continued to make my heart sing. I gave her the slightest nod, ready to leave the cell for a while.
I let Lisa stew inside here, alone, with only her thoughts in her head. She would be more receptive next time, for sure. I hoped the fire wouldn’t be doused yet then.
Yet before I could have left, before the door could have closed behind me, Lisa shouted a sentence that sent ice down my spine.
“Leave and be a coward. After all, you are PRT’s dog by now, right Taylor?”
The door closed, leaving me alone, for a moment. Her words tumbled in my brain, and I knew that she won this time around.
My hand trembled, and a grunt came out of me everytime I pulled myself up. I had been using my right hand for the past… I blinked away the sweat, realizing the number wasn’t coming up. Didn’t matter, I could just go back to my left hand.
Before I could have done so, I detected Battery—wait no, she wasn’t wearing her costume right now. Kristina was walking by, and from where she was angling to, obviously coming to this gym room I had commandeered as my own. Slowly, I put myself back down onto the floor, grabbing the towel to at least make myself look a tiny bit more presentable than just moments before.
Tension formed at the bottom of my stomach, wondering if she was here to scold me. I shook my head, unlodging the memories of when she could have done that. That shouldn’t be it. If any of the Protectorate wished to tell me about my recent performance, it would be Armsmaster.
The insects across the base fluttered, a few of the cockroaches even nearly flying straight to a few of the employees I could feel walking around. I sighed and reined them back, putting the bugs back into the crannies, where people wouldn’t end up seeing them. A few piles were immediately cocooned, ready to become a feast for my spiders.
Luckily for me, that was when Kristina finally arrived and opened the door. “Taylor.” There was warmth there, and I was reminded again of when she was my mentor. “I have been hearing from the others that—”
One of my spiders brutalized a cocoon, a buzz that wasn’t coming from my insects sounding so loud in my ears. “I’ll be doing better in the patrol. You don’t need to worry about me.” The anymore might not be said, but I might as well have shouted it out.
She shook her head though. “Not what I wanted to talk with you about, but we do need to talk about your… Ward.” There was a bit of hesitation there, her eyes not looking right at me. She was usually so confident, so certain of what she did.
Especially when it was about the Ward program, considering she was the expert in it. Two Wards under her belt, both of them successful heroes—Assault and I were one of the prominent members shown in the websites. I didn’t usually open them, but sometimes there was an urge to look and see at how many the Protectorate managed to rehabilitate from being a villain.
I hoped Lisa would be there too, one day.
“I can handle her.” As evidenced with me being here instead of already dragging her out of the cell, obviously. To be honest, I could have done that. The collar was sophisticated enough she couldn’t have run away from me. Resorting to such barbaric methods wasn’t to my taste, though—Kristina didn’t need that with me, so I didn’t need that with her . I just had to show her the error of her ways, how being a villain wasn’t all that cracked up to be.
Kristina gave me a nod, and there was a part of me that puffed up, glad for her approval. Until she opened her mouth and continued, “I believe in you.” Her voice was soft, as if I was an angry animal, ready to attack with just an excuse. If I puffed some cigarettes, this would be the moment I pulled one of them out, no smoking be damned. Instead, I let my bugs handle my reaction, a few of them automatically going around Kristina’s body—checking if there were any weapons. She didn’t realize.
Or maybe she did, but she wasn’t afraid of me.
“I’ll give you a few suggestions, since we all know Tattletale is a bit…” She grimaced, probably remembering the few times she had gone to find the cape beforehand.
Tattletale—well, Lisa now I suppose, in the safety of my head, sold her information to both us and any villains or even vigilantes who could have coughed up the money. The Protectorate almost never did, beyond a very grudging few times when the case went cold, and we had to bend the rules a bit. She was always so smug when she did that, words sharp and cutting, just like her eyes. A bit of a smile spread on my face when I remembered that, even if I had to wipe it just moments after.
Luckily, Kristina probably didn’t see. I focused back on the present, tilting my head slightly to let her know I was ready to hear what she wished to say about the Thinker.
“People say it’s obvious, but when you are faced with disrespect, I don’t think it’s easy to decide what to do next, especially if you want to be fair. After all, while they were a villain before… now they are a Ward. Your own , ready for you to take their reins,” Kristina said, slowly walking around the gym, even as she seemed to note that they were all pretty clean—my bugs had long since cleaned any possible marks whenever I finished using them.
I kept her in my eyes, even as Kristina continued her talk. Sometimes, her eyes had a faraway look to it, as if she was reminiscing about something. An old, sweet memory, perhaps.
“You have to be clear with them. What you will punish, what you will reward… and be consistent. In some ways, it’s like training a dog.” She chuckled then, one I never heard before.
The little bugs I was keeping around her body immediately went on alert, ready for whatever she might do—and she only talked.
“They respect strength. Negotiation, or even backing off. But that’s a last resort.” She continued, voice serious. I listened quietly, giving her a nod whenever she looked at me to show I was still doing it. Even if she sometimes spoke at me from behind, where I could only look with the help of my bugs. “Your way of moving and talking should unnerve her, at least when you can bring your full arsenal.”
If Lisa’s still that fiery… A few tensions I was holding loosened up as I thought about it for a moment, the certainty that I needed to show Lisa who was holding the cards growing. A little show, that would show her. While it might give her more information she didn’t have before, I needed to make her understand who was in power. That parting shot she did in the end…
A swarm of flies slammed themselves against a wall a few times, not killing themselves, but enough to bend their limbs and wings.
“Talking about this really reminded me of when I was handling my first Ward. He’s really rebellious, I can assure you.” Kristina wasn’t looking at me, but a few of my swarms were able to look at her face—it sent another shiver down my spine. Excitement? Fear? Maybe both.
She shook her head, and it felt as if she was back to normal. “I’m sure you’ll work it out—every Ward is different, and you are smart, Taylor.”
Another look was sent to me, but I kept silent for a little while longer—until she turned to leave.
“Thank you, Kristina,” I finally answered her, complicated feelings arising with the longest conversation we had ever had since I graduated off the program. I tried not to dwell upon it further—best to just think of Lisa.
Kristina stopped just at the doorway, pausing as if she was contemplating something. She turned her head towards me, and this time there was warmth I didn’t expect. “My door is always open to you, Taylor. You are still the best Ward I ever took care of.”
You married your other Ward though.
I didn’t say that, merely giving her a slight nod. She left soon after, finally leaving me alone with my thoughts.
The whole talk was leaving me with ideas, the many possibilities I could have done to Lisa. Of the best way to ensure I could mentor her to be the best hero she could be.
A wide smile formed on my face with that thought.