Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Danny Hebert POV.
"Ha, you must be very proud of your daughter, right, Danny?!" the neighbor asked jovially, I smiled shakily.
"Y-yes, of course, it's... quite an honor." I said bitterly in an almost contemptuous manner.
"Ha, who would have thought! I still remember little Taylor and her sister chasing insects with a net, and now she's at a fancy university in Japan, fighting in the big leagues against villains and monsters alike, and doing a very good job!" the woman said with a laugh.
I closed my eyes tightly as the memory flashed through my mind. I remembered it like it was yesterday: an 8-year-old Taylor, dressed in an adorable explorer outfit and a hat with a bug net, along with a small insect net.
Beside her was Emma, the same age in a matching outfit, only she was carrying small containers full of insects while helping Taylor capture different insects to try to use her quirk.
I felt my stomach churn at that memory.
"I-I'm sorry, I... I'm a little tired, I haven't slept well because of worrying, I'd better go inside." I said awkwardly to the woman. Luckily, she simply nodded.
"I understand, if my daughter were on the other side of the world, I'd be worried sick! But Taylor seemed completely fine at the end of the fight, I'm sure she's already been in touch with you. See you, Danny, have a good night!" the woman said cheerfully before walking away, lucky for her since she didn't see me shudder.
With trembling steps, I made my way to the house, opened the door clumsily, rushed inside, and slammed it shut. Once safely inside, I closed my eyes tightly and leaned against a wall.
"Honey?" Zoe asked carefully as she approached.
"I'm fine, just... another neighbor coming to congratulate us on Taylor," I said bitterly as I composed myself. I blinked slightly before catching a glimpse of my reflection in a small nearby mirror.
I looked gaunt; I'd definitely lost a little weight, again. I could see the dark circles under my eyes, and my hair was a mess. I almost grimaced at that, but I could only manage a weary sigh. Right now, I didn't feel like getting properly dressed.
"Another one?" Zoe asked with a tired, sad sigh. I looked at her closely; she looked a mess too, not as bad as me and… Annette, but this whole situation was taking its toll. Zoe was the only one taking care of the two of us these past few months. She felt terribly guilty and was doing everything she could to look after us both.
I took a deep breath to calm myself down.
"Annette... is she still the same?" I asked carefully. Zoe grimaced, but nodded.
"She keeps... keeps calling Taylor and trying to contact her, but Taylor, as usual, isn't returning any messages. Annette also keeps calling the PRT and all the known lines asking for information about Taylor, but they all keep reaching an operator who doesn't give any answers." Zoe sighed wearily.
I sighed wearily as I started walking toward the living room. The first thing I heard was the television on, showing the news. Just as I expected, they were still talking about the incident in Kamino, Japan.
A fight between a villain and two National Rankers was an event of global interest. But the news, as expected, focused on Taylor. As the only American present, it was only natural that the news centered on her.
They always made sure to emphasize her role throughout the incident and how she was key in keeping the death toll on Kamino almost negligible; without her, the death rate would have been much higher. She was being praised from left to right on every news channel.
I felt a sharp pain and quickly ignored it. I hurried over and saw Annette. She had a blank stare as she stared intently at the news. In her hand was a phone, and in front of her were a computer and three more phones.
Annette had let herself go once again. If I looked haggard now, Annette looked much worse.
Ever since Taylor's birthday, she'd been a mess. She hadn't been able to sleep a wink, she barely ate, in fact, she'd barely taken care of herself. Since the UA sports festival, Annette had developed an almost religious habit of checking Taylor's new social media accounts; it was the only way to keep track of her life. After all, Taylor didn't call, didn't text, didn't communicate at all.
So Annette was almost desperate for any information about Taylor. Discovering that she had been replaced as a mother was a hard blow for her, a blow that completely shook her.
She tried to convince herself it was just a one-off, nothing real, but then the posts came in on Taylor's birthday. Annette had tried calling her to wish her a happy birthday, but as expected, Taylor didn't answer.
Instead… she uploaded pictures of a birthday party with her classmates and… and Iori Miyamura, the woman who had taken Taylor's place as a mother. And Taylor wasn't ashamed to call her that.
And that had broken Annette. From that day on, she had practically gotten worse and worse. She even looked at Emma with increasing resentment every day.
Just thinking about Emma filled me with mixed feelings. I was furious, angry at everything that had happened, truly outraged. Emma had manipulated us all into not believing Taylor. Emma had orchestrated a systematic bullying campaign right under our noses, and we hadn't even noticed.
Taylor had been right. Taylor's screams while blaming Emma for her destroyed terrariums, and none of us believing her during the winter break, gave me nightmares even now.
I know I should have filed a complaint, forced Emma to answer for her actions, but… how could I… how could I send my own daughter to juvenile detention or prison, I just… couldn't…
And I knew Taylor would hate me for this, but I didn't know how to choose between my two daughters, it was just... I couldn't.
"Annet-" I tried to say, only to be interrupted by my phone ringing. I paused for a moment before pulling out my phone and answering it.
"Hello, this is Danny Hebert." I answered immediately.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Hebert, this is Armsmistress speaking." I heard from the other end and my eyes widened.
"Armsmistress?" I asked, confused, as I looked at my wives. They were both surprised, especially Annette, whose face lit up. She immediately turned off the television. Without hesitation, I put on the speakerphone.
"I wanted to let you know that Miss Hebert has just contacted me," Armsmistress said almost flatly, and my eyes widened.
"Is T-Taylor okay?" I asked immediately.
"She's in perfect condition," Armsmistress confirmed. The three of us sighed with relief; I could see Annette's face regaining some color.
"T-thank you very much, Armsmistress." I said enthusiastically. "Did she... did she say anything else?" I asked cautiously.
"As expected, after the Kamino incident, she was dragged into several meetings with her university director, Nezu, her professors, and the police. They had to wait for Mr. Miyamura to wake up for most of the discussion and only recently finished."
"She's going to rest right now after making sure her fiancé was okay and calling the PRT to file a report," Armsmistress said professionally.
"Okay, okay, that's... that's fine," I repeated to reassure myself. "Do you know... do you know if she'll contact us, her family?" I asked shakily. The line went silent.
"She won't." I shuddered at Armsmistress's cold voice. "Miss Herbert made it clear that she's already in contact with her mother, Iori Miyamura. They're together at UA while they look after Mr. Miyamura."
"B-but, s-she's not her mother!" I said shakily.
"I'm just repeating what Miss Hebert just told me, Mr. Hebert, the PRT won't get involved in family matters unless it's a problem, Miss Hebert has every right to call whomever she wants 'mother.'"
"Especially if that person is your fiancé's mother, your future mother-in-law." Armsmistress said without any emotion. I shuddered once again and looked at my phone in disbelief.
"B-but-"
"That's all, Mr. Hebert, I have more important things to do." The call was immediately cut off and I remained silent in shock.
She was resting with her mother… with Iori Miyamura, her again. I could feel a sharp pain tearing me apart from the inside. I could feel how I was losing our daughter, no… we had already lost her, hadn't we? She no longer thought of us as her family, as her parents.
That role now fell to Izumi and Iori Miyamura, her fiancé and her mother-in-law, her new 'mother'; I could almost feel nausea rising in my stomach. I was surprised when Annette simply stood up.
Her face was completely pale and she was trembling so much I thought she was about to faint. Her face was in shock and her eyes were completely empty, completely broken. She didn't say a word before she started walking toward our room. I could hear the door close, making me shudder.
I clenched my teeth tightly and closed my eyes in pain.
We couldn't fix this.
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Trickster POV.
I hated Izumi Miyamura. his ridiculous, petulant smile, his mocking laughter, his eyes sparkling with amusement as he revealed secret after secret that I had tried so hard to hide.
The group had taken its toll, especially on Noel, my sweet, lovely Noel. I'd gone to the trouble of getting rid of Codie and making sure it looked like a group decision, for the sake of group cohesion.
But that damned Miyamura had undone all the work with a couple of mocking phrases, as if he knew what he was talking about, as if he had seen him in person.
And the group had believed it, at least enough to start questioning me, to start looking at me with suspicion. It was irritating.
It had taken me hours to finally convince the group that no, Miyamura was full of shit, that it was just Miyamura talking to separate us, to try to break up our group.
And even though I had succeeded, suspicious glances were still fixed on me.
Especially since we kept working for All For One, even after she was dead. We were supposed to stop once we healed Noel, but we can't, not now. We have to repay AFO's debt, or something much worse will happen to us when she returns.
They don't understand anything; it's not something we can just abandon. We had to obey for now. I needed to keep my sweet Noel safe. No matter the cost.
"We're in, Trickster, you know where to go, we'll distract the rest." Genesis whispered in my ear. I clicked my tongue and focused on the plan. I started running through the narrow corridors. I saw a group of guards coming toward me. I gripped my pistol tightly, my gaze fixed on the guard at the back.
My perspective shifted abruptly when I switched positions with the last guard. Without a moment's hesitation, I raised my weapon and fired at the others from behind, aiming for their heads. Even if they had protection or an aura, a headshot would stun them long enough to continue.
Three of them fell immediately. I concentrated on the last two, taking advantage of the fact that they were both stunned. I switched places with one of them and immediately hit the second one hard on the chin, making her stagger once again.
I tightened my grip on my pistol and slammed it down on the back of her head with all my might, finally knocking her to the ground. I turned to see the last guard heading in my direction. She had a police baton and was running toward me.
I waited until the last second before switching places with one of the guards on the ground. The only conscious guard bumped into her partner's body, causing her to stumble. I immediately got up, and before she could stand, I shot her twice more, and she finally fell.
I clicked my tongue, grabbed the body of the thinnest guard I could find, and started moving again. After a couple more corridors, I finally reached my destination. I took a deep breath and opened the door to the isolation room in the juvenile detention center.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw a Black woman start growling as she lunged in my direction. She would have been more efficient if she hadn't been chained to the wall.
"Sophia Hess, Shadow Stalker." I said her name almost in a purr.
"What do you want, villain?" Sophia growled while glaring at me.
"You," I said honestly. Sophia growled again, even more dangerously.
"I have nothing to give you." Sophia blurted out, and I smiled behind my mask.
"Sure? Even if I give you the chance to get revenge on Hebert?" I said sweetly, Sophia froze for a moment.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Sophia spat out almost venomously.
"Are you sure? I understand you were put in this lovely storage room after seeing Herbert triumph brilliantly as a heroine in Japan." I said playfully.
"Hebert is not a heroine!! Hebert is pathetic, weak, prey! She's not like me!" Sophia growled. I looked at her almost with contempt. So much so that I was grateful I had a mask on my face.
"Of course not, you're better... but the PRT locked you up here, just to get on Hebert's good side." I said with feigned compassion. Sophia just grunted. "But I can free you, if you join us." I said tantalizingly.
"I'm not going to join some villains." Sophia growled.
"We, the League of Villains, can be very… persuasive." Purring in her direction, Sophia froze for a few seconds, finally recognizing the name. "Ah… you know us."
"Your leader is dead." Sophia mocked, finally reacting.
"Are you sure? What if I told you it's just a ploy... to get everyone to let their guard down?" I said playfully. Sophia looked at me incredulously. "And what if I also told you it can help you... we can free you from this place and give you power... much more power than you can imagine... enough to destroy Hebert like an ant under your feet." I started purring louder and louder.
"Think about it... you'll be stronger than anyone who underestimated you... you can get revenge on Hebert for putting you in this prison, for breaking your fangs." He added seductively.
Sophia remained silent for several long seconds.
"Free me and Hebert is mine." Sophia growled, her voice filled with hatred.
Easy. Terribly easy. I sneered contemptuously as I looked at Sophia, yet I moved to free her while replacing her body with the guard I had brought.
Garaki had gained a new hatred for Miyamura for ruining All For One's plans; I couldn't care less about that part, but Garaki was now trying to put the pieces together to hurt Miyamura as much as possible.
And if that meant attacking his fiancées? Well, he'd do it, and I'd help him. I'd make Miyamura suffer, no matter the cost.
"Okay, stay close, they're about to take us out." I said as Sophia stood up, having just been freed, and clutched her wrists where the restraints had been.
"Before that, do you have a phone? I have a damn message to send." Sophia said. I shrugged and threw her the disposable phone I had saved.
Sophia frantically tapped the keys as she typed a message, then tossed the phone back to me, and I quickly texted Garaki. Immediately, mud erupted from my body, engulfing us both and carrying us to Evernight.
One less target.
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Emma POV.
Everything was falling apart, and it was all Taylor's fault.
Sophia was detained at the Juvenile Center, Madison betrayed me like the rat she was, everyone in the protectorate avoided me like the plague, they didn't understand, they didn't understand anything.
And the worst part was, my parents barely looked at me. Mom blamed herself for everything that happened, Dad could hardly look at me, and Aunt Annette was a shell of her former self, although I could feel the hateful, resentful stares she gave me.
I couldn't stand being at home. I took as many shifts at the protectorate as I could, and was constantly away from home as much as possible.
Even so, I could feel everything continuing to fall apart.
Taylor was thriving. She was fooling everyone at UA somehow, I knew it, it was impossible that she could be so… so whatever it was she had become.
Ryuma's heir. Bearer of Shusui. Betrothed to Ryuma's grandson. Pride of Brockton Bay.
Swarm heroine, Skitter.
Skitter, that was her official hero name, that was a damn villain name, but the idiots didn't see it, all those Japanese were idiots.
But I couldn't do anything. I was permanently silenced. Permanently pushed down by my superiors. Armsmistress was watching me closely, as if I were the villain, as if she were waiting for me to make a mistake so she could lock me up next to Sophia like an animal.
I blinked slightly when I felt my phone vibrate discreetly. Not my PRT phone, not even my personal phone; both were so compromised that I had no privacy and didn't even use them anymore.
No, a disposable phone that I had hidden in my clothes. One that I had learned to conceal inside my civilian clothes and to hide outside the PRT buildings.
I grabbed the disposable phone. A message, an unknown number.
"I'm coming, Survivor, we're back."
My eyes widened before a broad smile spread across my face. Sophia was on her way.