Skittering thief by ShayneT

Author:ShayneT [ShayneT]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Web original, Webfiction, FanFiction, Worm
Publisher: www.fanfiction.net
Published: 2022-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

"Principal Blackwell," Colin called, knocking loudly on the door. "We need to talk."

He'd gone to the Hebert house already, but neither Hebert had been home. It was possible that the younger Hebert had suspected that they would have seen through her attempts at hiding her identity, but it was also possible that they simply hadn't been home.

He'd left a note, but he was going to have to make a more concerted effort to alert her after he made the rounds to the other houses. Miss Militia was dealing with her co-conspirators and the Wards had gathered together to watch each other's backs. None of them had seemed pleased by the news.

PRT crime scene technicians had already been on the scene in juvenile hall. The cameras that should have been working hadn't been, but the reports from the other terrified inmates had indicated that Vengeance had visited Sophia Hess shortly before she'd changed.

According to the girls, Hess had been left unharmed, and hadn't started changing until after Vengeance had left.

She triggered.

The only reasons she would have triggered was if Taylor Hebert had terrified her to the point that she couldn't take it, which seemed unlikely given what he knew of Hess and her history. More likely, Hess had somehow realized that Hebert was Vengeance.

If she did, she'd realize that the incident that had landed her in juvenile hall had almost certainly been orchestrated by Hebert, which had probably been...emotionally traumatic.

While Colin wasn't all that good with interpersonal interactions, he did understand triggers and why they were personal to each hero and possibly even more so to each villain. They were the worst days of people's lives and discovering that the person she'd enjoyed beating down for more than a year was responsible for most of her problems would have been bad enough.

Learning that she was now arguably the most powerful parahuman in the Bay would have been unbearable.

It was only arguable because the power level of this Gabriel hadn't been quantified yet. Otherwise there would have been no question in Colin's mind.

He knocked again, and he heard movement inside.

Listening closely, it sounded like gurgling.

Stepping back, he kicked the door open, grimacing as he felt the strain on his knees. "Armsmaster here; I am investigating suspicious sounds inside the home of Principal Blackwell."

"Ten Four chief," Clockblocker said. For once he didn't sound particularly cheerful.

Hannah had once told Colin that Clockblocker acted like a clown to disarm people, to relieve group tension and to try to get people to like him. It didn't work with Colin, but no one had ever accused Colin of having a good sense of humor.

He could see how it might help during times of stress. Hannah had shown him the research. His own attempts at jokes had been...less than successful.

Apparently good joke telling involved something about timing that he didn't yet understand.

The fact that Clockblocker was now serious was a sign of just how affected the Wards were by this news. They had all seemed dismayed, appropriately, and some of them had even seemed angry, especially Vista.

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