Chapter 7: Shadow Hunt

Doctor - If I wasn't being forced, then there'd be no story. If I was dropped into Worm, I'd do my best to get the fuck out, and ignore it all unless I was directly affected. Does the link make it cheap? Sure, but it's necessary for the story to actually go and for me to actually care enough to do something.

Shorty - I know the difference between hate and criticism, I have two bigger and longer stories that helped with that, and I purposefully speak/write like I'm exaggerating shit. Plus, old cliches are useful at times.

While Taylor was out doing her thing, I worked on my forms and farmed materials at the same time. I was getting good with using Diamondhead and making constructs, I could do simple things like making massive fists, turning my arms into weapons, stuff like that. It was also nice that whatever I had leftover could be refined into 'High Capacity Energy Cores', which were pretty important components to our guns and upgraded computers.

The kinds of things I could make from my alien leftovers and abilities were crazy. Snare-Oh was made of Nano-Fibers, Diamondhead could make Energy Cores and highly durable crystals, Heatblast could create Volcanic Ash... Which I was storing away since I didn't know what I could use it for. Wildvine and Swampfire could supply us with infinite wood, and Lodestar could locate natural metals that I could dig up as Armodrillo. That, combined with my scrap runs as XLR8, meant I wouldn't run out of materials for a while.

Anyway, I thought I was making good progress with Diamondhead, so I was about to tap the dial and go for someone else, but then I felt Taylor 'Knock' on our Bond. It was unnecessary given that we could just barge into each others head at any point in time, but the common courtesy was nice. Anyway, I had something come up, so I fully opened up my side of the Bond. [Please tell me you didn't fight Lung.]

The Confusion I felt didn't exactly answer my question. |Uhhh... I didn't?| I let out a sigh of relief at that, thanking go...- |But um... I may or may not have rounded up Skidmark and Squealer.|

I took a few seconds to take that in, then nodded. Tapping my foot against the ground, I idly created a chair, and promptly sat down as I dropped my head into my hands. [Taylor!]

|I didn't do it on purpose!| THAT'S what she chose to respond with?!

Closing my eyes, I breathed in and out, a weird feeling as a crystalline being, and took my head out of my hands to look up, absentmindedly asking god or any other ROB why? [... Okay... HOW did this happen?]

Feeling the Apprehension, Disgust and Mortification that was practically bleeding through, I wondered if it was better if I didn't know. |So, I found a shipment of drugs coming through, and tracked it with my bugs. I've already taken out a few thugs and grunts today, so I thought 'Okay, I might as well stop that', and I decided to do just that.| I mentally told her to go on. |So there I am, running along a roof and tracking a drug shipment when the car pulls into a... I guess it'd be considered a stronghold... If it were more fortified, had attentive guards, and actual defenses, but it's the closest thing I can compare it too at the moment so that's what I'm going to refer to it a...-|

[Taylor... You're rambling.] I was really not looking forward to figuring out how we got to this point if she was trying to keep herself from talking about it this badly.

My partner took a mental breath, then calmed down. |Right... Right... Okay, so I follow the drugs in Cloak Mode, and everything's going great! I'm getting a layout of the stronghold, marking guys with bugs and keeping track of how many people I'd have to go through... Well, people that weren't high, passed out, passed out in vomit or their own... Ugh.| I could FEEL the shudder of Revulsion and had a pretty good idea of what she was alluding to. |Anyway, the mule eventually gets to his destination, a big stash of drugs that would probably cost millions... When I pick up that Skidmark is here with Squealer.| I was following along so far. |For some reason the male grunts got excited... And then I heard Skidmark say it was time for their 'Reward' for being good grunts...| The way she trailed off worried me, but then my mind went to work on what she might've got caught up in.

It didn't take long for me to make a guess. (Ah... Fucking hell, it's not even...) I tapped the dial, turning back into myself so I could check my watch... And I saw it was 9:03PM. (Jesus Christ, it's too early for this shit!) She'd only been out there for 2 hours. (Is it a staple that Taylor Hebert gets into shit on her first night out?!) Shaking that away, I did my best to send Comfort over to Taylor. We were in different countries, but this was a thing we could do now after our Link evolved.

It was silent for a bit, but from the Appreciation I was feeling, I was pretty sure it worked. |So, the male grunts start running over to wherever that was going on... And I saw Skidmark coming to where the drugs are. Apparently he was going to inspect the merchandise, I was pretty sure he was going to use some of it, so I was in a good spot. All I had to do was wait for him to get high... Higher then he already was really, then shoot him with the Stun setting, maybe hit him in the back of the head with my pistol... But then the moaning and the grunting started...| I winced. If it were me I would've burned the place down with Heatblast and gone to take a long swim in the bay.

Taylor didn't have my options though. |I didn't know what to do! And the longer it went on the longer I just wanted to get this over with and g...-| I caught that. I understood Taylor's triggers, I'd been woken up before when she had nightmares about The Locker and had spent time comforting her, she never seemed to remember those for some reason but I just blamed it on Queen Administrator. |LEAVE, so I just acted. I shot Skidmark in the head, the Stun setting knocking him out, and called my Swarm. I flooded the stronghold with everything I had, thousands of bugs rushing in through the cracks in the floor, walls, ceiling, and going to work on everyone. While that was going on, I made my way to Squealer... And I wish I didn't. It was just a few minutes, but she was just... Covered... And she wasn't the only one...| Another shudder of Revulsion wracked the Bond, and I contemplated going to Brockton to go get her away from there. |I... I knocked everyone out and called the PRT. I stayed on a rooftop by the stronghold and watched through my visor. Assault and Battery, along with Velocity and a bunch of troopers came and took Skidmark, Squealer, the grunts and their drugs into custody. I let myself get spotted, had my bugs spell out Khepri on the ledge under me, then Cloaked and left. I couldn't stay there too long, I didn't want to be there anymore...| She went silent after that, and we stayed in contemplative silence.

Though, that wasn't what she needed, and I sighed to myself. "Alright you idiot, time to be a decent human being. Let's hope Dr.XLR8 helped enough." Getting up, I made my way to her room. [Taylor, come home please.] The cocktail of Surprise, Longing, Affection, and Appreciation, I was hit with almost made me stumble, but I survived.

I was slightly worried that she'd be stubborn about this, but the subdued |Okay.| I got was a sign... And a rather bad one too.

After a few minutes, I made it to her room. Taylor was on her bed, I expected that since I felt her come back in range, though it was the way she was practically oozing things like Despair and Discomfort. I was doing my best to just ignore the errant thoughts running around in her mind, and mine by extension, and made my way to her bed.

Normally I'd make some kind of joke here, but she wasn't in the mood for any, so I just sat by her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. It wasn't a surprise when she practically collapsed into me.

We didn't talk, instead I just held Taylor as she freaked out. Talking could come later.

Talking was going to have to come waaay later. After crying and freaking out, Taylor exhausted herself enough to end up asleep. I was in a weird spot, being hugged by a girl I was attracted too after she passed out from emotional overload. Granted, I could escape at any time, swapping to Grey Matter would get me out of here, but maybe because of the Bond, or maybe it was because using XLR8 as my therapist was working, but I was worried about Taylor.

Caring about someone like this was weird for me. Sure, I had friends back in my... First life? (I mean... I wasn't given the whole 'You died' speech, so that leaves questions on whether I died or not... I'm going to just ignore that for now, XLR8 will think about it for me.) Anyway, back when I was Phoenix Torres, I had a few friends, family too, but I was pretty neutral to all of them, eventually falling out of touch with them all when I was too lazy to consistently reach out. It said something that when I stopped reaching out first, no one either noticed or cared. That'd probably seem weird with no context of who I used to be, but in context it was just something that made sense.

... For some reason I started to hear Never Meant to Belong... And I was torn between being exasperated that my future self was an annoying asshole, and slightly amused that I would get to do this to myself later.

Sudden OST's aside, my mind drifted back to my issues. I lived with my grandmother ever since I was a kid, though I remembered times before that when I lived with my mom in her apartment in Jersey. My mom... She wasn't bad per se, but she had me early... Like, Senior or Junior year of Highschool early. I didn't know which, because I didn't exactly care to know, but the point was she had to dropout to have me, which resulted in her not really being able to get good jobs. Add onto the fact that she and my 'dad' did drugs, I was also sure she did them while she was having me because my Grandmother would usually remind me that my mom was a shit parent, and you get it... (Okay... Maybe I'm a best case scenario.) I never really thought about it, because, ya know, I didn't like thinking about myself, but I could totally have ended up some kind of psycho.

That minor revelation aside, my mom was... Eh. I didn't have firsthand experience of her being a shit parent, though her smoking while my first sister and I have/had Asthma, I grew out of it, wasn't doing her many favors.

Didn't know my dad, he was in jail for drugs... Or killing someone... Or trying to kill someone. I didn't know, and since he wasn't exactly relevant, I didn't ask after I was told he wouldn't be out until I was an adult.

Anyway, I couldn't remember if my mom asked my Grandmother to take care of me, or if she decided to take me in, but I eventually started living with the old woman. Some baby years later, and me earning my namesake after my Uncle left a pack of cigarettes around and toddler me proving that children will somehow endanger themselves if you took your eyes off of them, I was cognizant enough to start doing life things.

My mom and I talked every once in a while, my Grandmother bitched about her because she could, or my mom did something that genuinely pissed her off, which was an Uncommon thing but still happened a bunch of times over the years. Some/most of those things were about life choices and how she raised my sisters... Well, Half Sisters, but I was pretty sure I wasn't supposed to know that. My first sister was 7 years younger then me, so it wasn't hard for me to put 2 and 2 together to realize that we had different dads.

We had a... I guess a 'Good' relationship would be enough to categorize it. We saw each other like, once or twice a year, and we didn't really talk to each other, like, at all, but we liked each other well enough that we never fought. We even clicked in a way that normal brothers and sisters did, so she was probably one of the only people I'd really miss for bit.

Then there was my OTHER Half Sister. She was 19 or 20 years younger then me, I just didn't care enough to figure out which, and she existed... That was pretty much the extent of our relationship. I'd spent more time with their dog then the kid... Which was kind of sad when I thought about it, but eh, I was here now and I couldn't do shit about it.

My Uncle... Also existed? There wasn't much I could really say about him... (Uh... He stopped smoking after I set myself on fire? He spawned a cousin?) That was it really.

Life went on, school, friends which lasted for a few years, smothered by my Grandmother, Middle and Highschool where I'd made some more friends that only lasted a few more years, forced to change my choice of college because my mom wanted to visit me, even though she lived in Jersey and I lived in the Bronx, then Corona came and fucked with everything.

By the point I was brought here I was pretty apathetic to everything...

I blinked. Thinking about it, I fit in this stupid fucking death world... (Why does my life story make me seem like a Worm character?) I had no idea, but would accept the irony anyway because there was nothing else I could do... (What was my point again?) Trying to figure out the initial though process that led me to the sudden exposition dump, I remembered what it was.

Caring about Taylor was strange for me... Caring about things in general and not being a lazy shithead was sorta weird to me... But looking at and seeing Taylor holding onto me like a lifeline, I realized I was gonna need to work on it for not just her, but the both of us.

[Taylor's POV]

Warmth.

Safety.

Affection.

I felt like I was wrapped up in the nicest and most comfortable blanket in the world and I just didn't want to get up. I felt something jerk, and groaned as I snuggled closer to my pillow. I felt like there was something I remembered, or overheard, but I was too tired to think about it at the moment, and let myself sink into unconsciousness.

The next time I woke up, it wasn't because of anything I felt or did, it was because of what I heard. Okay Phoenix, how do we get out without waking her up? I was still tired, so I didn't care about whatever it was... But then something poked me, and I heard it again. Oh fuck right off, I thought I dealt with you already! Groaning, I tiredly opened my eyes, looking for the annoying thing that wouldn't be qu...-

I blinked at the frozen look on Phoenix's face, and froze when I realized that my 'Pillow' wasn't a pillow. He snorted at that thought. "As an impromptu pillow, I'll give the experience a 4/10, too many clothes and tears for my tastes." I stared at him for a bit, processing the fact that Phoenix and I were in the same bed... Then I reacted. He knew what was coming and hastily reached for the dial as the buzzing of my Swarm echoed through the base. "Oh shit!" A green flash blinded me for a moment, "UPGRADE!" But even though I was blinded, my Swarm chased after my partner as he flowed out of my room like water. "Ah, my spleen! I shouldn't even have one!" He was fine. "I CAN TASTE COLORS!" I was pretty sure he was fine. [Oh, I am, I'm just using references to distract you from the fact we slept together.]

I doubled my Swarm's efforts to get him for reminding me why my heart was beating like a war drum and why my face was on fire. His loud laughter helped me feel better though.

After I stopped sending my Swarm at my annoying partner, and we both realized it was 2AM, we decided to go back to sleep...

Well, Phoenix went to sleep, he spent most of his time browsing/picking fights on PHO, and watching YouTube, so he was more exhausted then I was. While I was trying to get back to sleep, my mind raced with what I did and what happened on my first day as a Hero, It'd been going so good too, I felt like I was making progress... Then Skidmark happened...

I felt bile start to rise in my throat, and it was only because I could still feel the comforting presence of Phoenix in the base that I didn't throw up in my bed. Being a Brockton native, I heard about the kinds of things going on in the background... Well, it wasn't really the 'Background' when Winslow had Merchant, ABB and E88 kids constantly threatening and getting into fights with each other, threats that involved anything and everything including rape... So in the back of my mind, I knew things like that happened given how serious some of those threats were taken, but seeing it was something different.

For a moment I wanted to kill Skidmark, Squealer was his subordinate, but he just casually whored her out?

For a moment, I wanted to kill the rest of the rapists, they were druggies and rapists, they wouldn't be missed.

Hell, I knew Phoenix wouldn't care, he was fine with the idea of killing people. Our only argument was about the whole 'No kill' rule... And I still didn't know how to feel when I lost that. 'Killing someone makes you as bad as them? Please, that's the dumbest fucking thing in the world. A soldier kills someone in war and he's a hero. A cop shoots a murderer or a serial killer and they get rewarded. But if a Hero kills a Villain, then they're obviously just as bad as them? Come the fuck on Taylor, you know better. The world isn't black and white. Heroes can be just as bad as Villains, and Villains can be better people then the Heroes. Some people just need to die for the world to be a better place. Especially this one.'

His words rang through my head, and I couldn't deny it, killing Skidmark would've been a good thing. No one would mourn him for everything he's done to the Bay, his passing would be celebrated... But I didn't know if I wanted to jump into killing so quickly.

I didn't know if I could handle snuffing out a life on my first day as a Hero.

I didn't know if I could handle being a killer.

I didn't know if I could handle it at all.

... I didn't know how I'd handle it when, not if, Phoenix would kill someone...

And that scared me.

I didn't want to lose the only person I had in my life, but I didn't know how I'd handle it when he finally killed someone... Or how I'd react if I found out that I wouldn't care as long as he didn't leave me...

My dreams were filled with the screams of grunts and flashes of emerald light.

[Phoenix's POV]

Waking up, the first thing I recognized was the beeping of an alert. I thought I'd had my phone on vibrate only, but apparently not. The second thing I noticed was that I couldn't feel Taylor... My eyes shot open, and I remembered what was supposed to happen today. "Oh shit shit shit!" Grabbing my phone from under my pillow, I unlocked it and looked at the aler...- Alerts!

The oldest was that the warrants were signed and approved 3 hours ago, the next few after that were reports about Winslow being searched and what was found. It was no surprise that Asbestos was found, and even less of a surprise that after a month, The Locker incident had led to the birth of an infectious pathogen. Seeing the alert that the CDC were being mobilized made sense, but it was the next few alerts that had me cursing.

Sophia Hess fleeing arrest. 1 hour ago.

Shadow Stalker wanted by the PRT. A few minutes after the last alert.

Rogue 'Khepri', sighted... A half hour ago.

I knew what was going on, and instantly reached out towards my partner. [Taylor?! Where are you?!] I was out of bed already, but when I didn't get an immediate response, I sped up and started sprinting to my Workshop. [TAYLOR?!] Still no response, and I was officially starting to freak out.

There were only 2 instances where even with the Bond open, Taylor couldn't/wouldn't reply. We couldn't actively use our Bond while we were asleep, or if we were unconscious but same thing, and she couldn't hear me when she was diffusing her emotions through her Swarm. Neither of us knew why, just that it didn't work for her.

Though, that didn't mean it didn't work for me. So while I was making a mad dash towards my Workshop, I started sending Concern, Worry, Confusion, and loads of other panic shit towards her, getting an automatic response of Cold Detachment back, which confirmed she was shunting all of her emotions into her Swarm. This was bad, mainly because I didn't know how Taylor would react in this mindset. The only way I knew of how to get her out of this state was to physically poke or touch her, but that was hard considering she was in Brockton Bay, and I was in my Workshop in ALASKA.

Thankfully, I found my suit, its idle form being a gauntlet and bracer pair. The gauntlet was for my left arm, and looked as similar to the gauntlet of the Ultimatrix as I could get it, but it was obviously missing the dial, since I couldn't just create another Ultimatrix. Maybe in the future I could make an Omnitrix, but that wasn't now. The gauntlet though would hold my armor, so it would help keep me alive and going just like the Ultimatrix did.

As for the bracer, it was a simple and thin bangle whose sole purpose was to cloak the Ultimatrix while I was out in my normal clothes. As long as I had the thing hidden then I couldn't be connected to my aliens.

What they did aside, I grabbed the nearest pair of grenades, knife, pistol and sniper, even though I was still shit with them my suit would help me use them, and activated my suit. "Anubis." Slower then a transformation, black and acidic green fibers exploded out of my left gauntlet and wrapped around my body. I watched as they coated my arms, torso, legs, and head, my armor wrapping me up as holsters appeared on my sides. I made sure to watch them coat the Ultimatrix, a thin layer that hid the gauntlet, but could be removed at any time so I could change in the field.

When it was done, I holstered my weapons, and took a quick look at the reflection in the table. Sticking with the theme, I stole the design of Miles Morales' suit, but made a few changes. Instead of the iconic Spider Man eyes, mine were replaced with a visor as identical to the original Green Ranger as I could get. There were no web designs either, and I changed the emblem to a forward facing depiction of Anubis' head, his eyes almost glowing a sickly green. (So far so good.) Calling up the HUD, I made sure everything worked like it was supposed to work, then nodded. (Last check.) Reaching out towards the Ultimatrix, I imagined the fibers hiding it moving away, and grinned when they did, giving me easy access to the watch. (Alright, I'm set.) With everything ready I brought up the list of beacon locations, and mentally poked the one for an abandoned ship I marked out in the Boat Graveyard.

Teleporting was instantaneous, and as soon as I took in my surroundings, I nodded again and reached for the dial, turning into the first alien I saw. "Upgrade!" The idea to take over the ship I was standing on was there, but I ignored it and tapped the dial again. "Jetray!" Flyer picked, I took to the sky.

Thanks to our Bond, I instinctively knew where Taylor was, so I flew towards her, using the clouds as cover as my eyes scanned Brockton Bay. From where I was, I could see a bunch of PRT and FBI vans, see the shit hole of a school Taylor went to being cordoned off by the CDC, and even the massive swarm of bugs that'd look like the end times were coming...

"Wait what?" Looking down, I blinked at the literal sea of bugs making their way towards one small bulding. (Well... I know where she's going.) Groaning, I swooped towards the area Taylor was at, and looked for her. She HAD to be roof hopping somewhere, so the faster I caught up to her the faster we could catch the bitch and go back home to talk and deal with this.

When my eyes locked onto Taylor, which was kind of difficult because she was Cloaked, I found a nearby roof and dropped onto it, changing back to myself and activating my own Cloaking as I ran towards her.

I wasn't expecting for my day to start by hunting down my other half, but fuck it, I could improvise...

I'd have too.

[Taylor's POV earlier]

I was still tired when I woke up, not physically thankfully, but mentally. Sleep hadn't helped my fears and worries, it probably made them worse if I was being honest, so I was basically dragging myself around our ho...- Base. Around the base. My morning shower didn't really help, so I was basically on autopilot as I made breakfast. I wasn't in the mood to cook, so I just got some milk and Apple Jacks, 'The heathen's Fruit Loops', my lips twitched at the echo of my partner's words, but then the worry and fear I'd been feeling since last night came back

My bugs and our Bond let me know that Phoenix was out like a light, so he'd probably wake up later... So it was just me at the moment. I knew I could wake him up, but after he spent hours just holding and comforting me, I couldn't do it. He deserved some sleep, so I'd let him have it. So here I was, 'Brooding' as he would call it as I watched TV. There wasn't anything interesting on, well, nothing I'd found yet, but I kept going searching for so...- "- om what our sources are telling us, Principal Blackwell is under suspicion for facilitating and covering up an attempt at Bio Terrorism...-" My eyes widened at what I was seeing and hearing, and I remembered what today was. The FBI was on screen escorting Blackwell out, cuffed and ranting all the wa...- "What's this? It seems like agents are chasing a student...-"

Emma was trying to run away from the agents... And got tackled to the ground! I could feel my jaw drop as Emma was brought up and practically dragged away... My worries were put to the side as I grinned at Emma, Blackwell and Maddison being arrested... But the longer I watched, the more I frowned.

Something was missing.

And as I watched on, I realized what it was. Sophia wasn't being arrested... Sophia hadn't even been shown... (Where is she?!) I flicked between news channels, searching for any that had some information, but I wasn't finding an...- My scarab necklace buzzed, and I got a mental notification, Phoenix knew I wasn't comfortable with phones yet so he tied the VI into my suit, that set me on edge.

'Sophia Hess fleeing arrest.'

I got up and sprinted back to my room. (She's NOT getting away! Not now, not ever!) My pistol and sniper were in my room, and if I was going to hunt down Sophia I was going to need a way to counter her Breaker Form. Theoretically, my guns should work on her, but neither of us knew if they would in practice. That was where the grenades were supposed to come in, but after using the four I was given yesterday, I only had a single pair left. I could've probably used the Fabricator to make more, but I didn't have time to waste. I'd just need to corner Sophia, hit her with a Shock Grenade, then get the cuffs onto her.

Getting to my room, I went to the rack that held my load out. At the moment I only had the pair of Shock Grenades, a dozen or so Shock Cuffs, my sniper and my pistol. We'd get more weapons eventually, but Phoenix wanted to work on the base first, make a real Training Room or something, which I understood... Shaking the distraction away, as well as the thoughts about my sleeping partner, I focused. I needed to stop that bitch from leaving, and got her behind bars.

I could think about what was going on in my life later...

Even if I didn't know how long 'Later' would be.

Teleporting over to the Bay, I dry heaved a bit, the sensation of being disconnected from my Swarm, only to reconnect to an entirely new one, was disorienting... But it felt a bit easier this time, making it easier to focus. I couldn't, nor WOULDN'T, let something like this stop me. Sophia was going to be brought to justice, I'd make sure of it.

It was while I was searching for Sophia, using the VI to send me updates from the police, FBI and PRT, that I caught a glimpse of her. She was in normal clothes, but I guessed her gear was in the duffel bag she was carrying with her, and was coming out of one of the back alleys people know to avoid... But I noticed blood on the ridges of her boots, and what looked like car keys in her hands. Absentmindedly using some bugs, I 'Looked' at the guy in the alley... And froze when I got a pair of feeds from my spiders. (Oh god.) Bile threatened to rise from my throat as I took in what my bugs were showing me. There were bodies hidden behind a dumpster, and when my bugs got closer I could see there were three bodies, all skinheads given the E88 tats visible on their necks...

Two of them had bolts sticking out of their head and throat, the other having his throat slashed, blood pouring out of their wounds... None of them were breathing... None of them were moving... Which meant they were dead... Sophia had killed them, walked away after hiding the bodies like it was a simple thing.

I stared at the corpses for a few moments... Not sure what to do. I knew I'd be confronted with dead bodies eventually, no Hero was that lucky, especially in Brockton Bay, but I didn't think i...- A car door slammed shut, my head whipping towards the source... To see Sophia in the driver's seat, tossing the duffel bag down onto the passenger seat as started the car. She was trying to escape...

And I refused to let her.

Pouring my anger and disgust into my Swarm, I fell back on the detached and more efficient state of being that was pure logic. (The car she's commandeered will make her escape more possible... Available methods of stopping her include flooding the vehicle with insects, shooting out the wheels or engine with my sniper, or use Speed Mode to approach the car and change to Strength Mode to disable the vehicle myself... Most optimal solution is the sniper.) Bringing out my sniper, I dropped down to a knee and began setting up.

In another state of mind, I'd wonder why we had different snipers, but in this one I didn't care. My target was in my sight, and as long as I was not disturbed, I'd have her. Taking a breath to steady my body, I lined up my rifle, a 'Nightcore Sentinel' from some game my other half liked, and prepared. My rifle charged up, the nearly silent crackling of electric like energy thrumming in my ears as I aimed at the car Sophia was in a few streets away.

I kept myself still as Sophia started the car, and waited until she was going just fast enough... Then shot. Thunder rang in my ears, but my focus remained on the car... And I felt a small pang of irritation at the fact that I'd missed. (Unsatisfactory.) The shot had traveled faster then I'd expected, just missing the engine by a few seconds, and alerting Sophia that she was being followed.

The result was the car she was using had sped up, no consideration of bystanders in mind as she slammed the gas.

Frowning, I readjusted my stance, and prepared to shoot once more. Again, steadying my breath, I aimed down the sight of my rifle, and once again squeezed the trigger, aiming for one of the wheels. I smirked for a moment when I saw the 'Bullet' slam into the back left tire, popping it and causing the vehicle to begin spinning out.

Keeping sight of Sophia with dozens of flies and ticks, I placed my sniper on the magnetic holsters of my back, and began running towards her current location by hopping the roofs. As I did so, I watched as Sophia turned into a mass of shadows and phased out of the passenger side door, duffel bag most likely in her hands given the direction she went. (Target armed with mid ranged weaponry. Keeping our distance will be the more optimal solution.)

I ran across the roofs, steadily closing in on Sophia's position... When she phased through the wall of a building. Frowning, I Cloaked and gathered my Swarm as I leapt closer to her position. The flees I'd placed on her were still there, so I could tell she wasn't leaving the building... (High possibility that Sophia is arming herself with her gear.) My frown deepened as I searched for any bugs in the building big enough to get a visual on Sophia.

A surge of annoyance came and went as I found out that this was one of the few buildings that didn't have many insects in it. I summoned my Swarm, prepared to coat and flood the small building in insects... When I heard a thump behind me.

I only had a few moments to recognize the green dot on my Mini-Map before I was wrapped up in a pair of familiar arms, and felt everything I was trying to ignore SLAM into me.

[Phoenix's POV]

I only had a few moments to recognize that I was fucked before I felt a mountain's worth of Rage, Hatred, Disgust, Fear and Sadness, crashed into me like an 18 wheeler. It was like a spike was kicked into my head, and it just kept getting hammered in. I didn't even notice when we collapsed onto the roof, my head feeling like it was being torn apart was more important to me then that. (fuckfuckfuckfuckfuuuUUCK!) Pain was painful, VERY painful.

Part of my mind recognized that Taylor was going through as much pain as I was, I could feel her trembling in my arms, but my head hurt too much for me to properly process that, or hear what was going through her mind.

So there we were, a pair of invisible idiots writhing in pain on a rooftop, no idea what was going on around us.

After... Not sure how long really, I managed to to get my head out of pain land, and teleport us back to base. When she didn't start freaking out, I figured out that Taylor must've passed out at some point. That made it easier for me to pick up and carry Taylor like a sack of potatoes. I was too tired to give her a princess carry, so this was the best she was going to get. (Ugh, I haven't even had breakfast.) I was going to figure out some way to get her back for this.

Dropping her off onto the couch, I reached towards the scarab symbol on her chest and tapped the wings. "Disengage." The bugs' emerald wings glowed for a second, then the suit retracted and changed back into its necklace form. Both our suits had a function like that, for this exact reason actually, and I was internally thanking my Grey Matter self for thinking of it.

That aside, I looked at Taylor, who looked pale and was still shaking, and sighed. (Time to be... Ugh... Nice.) Picking her back up, I went over to my room, it was closer and I was in no shape to go all the way to her room, and put her on my bed. For extra measure I tucked her in and watched as she sort of relaxed. I'd need to wait for her to wake up to know the damage, but that was fine... (Now what do I do?)

With my bed right in front of me, I was tempted to just flop over and crash, I was tired, hungry, and had a killer headache, so I'd be justified to go back to sleep... So obviously that was when my VI sent an alert to my HUD.

'Shadow Stalker sighted.'

I groaned. (So I can either go and finish what Taylor started, or I can just crash here and now.) I was tempted. So. Fucking. TEMPTED!

But I knew Taylor would throw a pity party and get all fucking depressed that she fucked up and 'Let' Sophia escape... And if I was still going to have this headache by the time she woke up, and saw that the bitch had evaded arrest, I knew I'd be in no frame of mind to deal with her without snapping... And since I not only liked Taylor, but was actively trying to be a better person, I HAD to do this or else we'd both backslide into bad habits. (FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!) I knew what I was going to be stuck doing now... And I hated it. (Being a good person fucking sucks.)

That thought, I teleported back to Brockton Bay.

As soon as my feet touched the boat, I reached for the dial and went for my fastest flier. Finding him, I transformed into Jetray, not in the mood to shout his name as Ben 10 tradition demanded. Taking a few seconds to beat back my headache, I shook myself, then took to the sky.

Straining my eyes, I searched for some kind of sign of where the bitch was.

A few minutes in and I had yet to see said sign, but my headache was slowly getting better. It was still like a cauldron of Leprechauns were beating my brain in with Mario Hammers, but one of them must've gotten tired and stopped.

Anyway, I kept searching... And saw A motherfucking Power Ranger on a motorcycle... (Ah, ArmsOnMaPole, perfect.) Knowing he was probably going after Shadow Stalker, he'd better have been because I was going to choke a bitch if he wasn't and it turned out to be a waste of time, I followed him.

It didn't take long for him to reach where he was meant to be going, some abandoned building that was cordoned off by a bunch of PRT vans and other Heroes... (I could've probably found this if I searched on my own.) Shaking that off, it was fine since I didn't really lose out on much, I circled the area, searching for the bitch... And when I saw her phase onto the roof, I knew I had to get her now.

So I dived.

A small boom was the only warning anyone would get as I flew towards Shadow Stalker like I was shot out of a canon. As soon as I was in range, I gathered my eye lasers, I forgot what they were called, and blasted Shadow Stalker. There would be no monologue or witty banter, maybe when my head and everything in it weren't pounding, as the beams raced towards the unsuspecting bitch. It was no surprise when they landed... Though, watching as one of her arms was blown off as she rocketed towards the street WAS a surprise...

One I stopped caring about after Velocity ran in from... Somewhere, and caught the stupid bitch before she could crash into the street and break her neck. I hovered for a bit, watching the PRT Hero pick her up and... Try, to cuff her... Which was hard to do now that she only had one arm, but he figured it o...- I grunted as something hit me in the back, and turned towards where I felt the shot come from.

When I did, I saw Miss Militia kneeling on a roof, a glowing sniper in front of her as she peered at me through the scope. I scowled at her, not in the mood for this sh...- "UNIDENTIFIED PARAHUMAN, IDENTIFY YO...-" This motherfucker was on my shit list.

Whipping my head towards the grunt with the motherfucking speakerphone, I growled. Giving the grunts and other idiots the middle finger, which was easy given I only had three of them at the moment, and tensed. Then I flew back towards the sky, purposefully making another sonic boom out of spite as I left. It wasn't like they affected me, so they weren't my problem.

When I was far away enough, AKA back to the boat I used as my teleportation marker, I changed back into myself, and teleported back to base.

I could tell Taylor was still asleep, but that was fine. So, disabling my armor, I forced myself to march towards my bed, collapsing onto it the moment I was in range. I was tired, hungry, and had a killer headache. I'd deal with everything that happened when I woke up.

Whenever that would be.

In the grand scheme of things, Sophia isn't important. When it gets to points like where Canon was meant to be, fighting Lung, Coil, the E88, the Endbringers, THEN there'll be fights including the aliens. But for now it's going to be about building the relationship with Taylor, as well as building up to Canon. There's 3 months till then, enough time for other things to happen and for experimentation with aliens and the gear.

Anyway, next chapter should be our 2 protagonists having a talk, and setting the foundation for the future relationship.

Also some PRT reactions and talks.