Nemesis [Worm AU]

[BeaconHill]

Nemesis
Worm AU

It was June 2011, and Emma Barnes was the queen bee of her high school, mercilessly tormenting her lessers. But it wasn't enough. She wanted powers. She wanted to be a superhero, lording over not just her school but her city. When her whole family died in a car crash, she thought it was her chance. But she didn't trigger, and when her friend Sophia – AKA the superhero Shadow Stalker – told her that she probably couldn't, she flipped out. They fought. And then she found Cauldron, offering superpowers in a little silver vial. She jumped at the chance. But she had a little money left over after buying her vial, and she knew exactly what to do with it.

It was June 2011, and Taylor Hebert was out of hope. After two years of bullying, she knew she had no way out, no hope of escape, not with her grades or her family's poor finances. Until one day, a portal appeared in her home, bearing a strange woman with an offer: powers. But the woman asked for one thing in exchange: she would have to be a supervillain, the nemesis to her worst enemy's superhero alter ego. And she wasn't supposed to win, not with her weak vial and the rules of the program stacked against her. But that wasn't going to stop her from trying for her one last chance.

This story started in Morning Worm. It can also be found on Sufficient Velocity. Or, you can use my RSS feed (SB version) or Twitter account to keep up with updates.

 

[BeaconHill]

Nemesis
Chapter 1: "No Way Out"​

[ Emma ]

"So," I said, smiling at the pile of forms and pamphlets on the table before me, "I really like the sound of this Nemesis program. I just have one question – can I pick the Nemesis? Instead of just you giving me one."

"Good choice," Cauldron's doctor said. She was a stern woman with pitch-black skin and very closely trimmed hair, curly and graying. Between that and her stark white lab coat, she looked very austere. Businesslike, in a scientist way. Which was okay, because I was here for business. But it made me unsure what to wear. I'd wanted to impress her, but now I just felt overdressed. Maybe I'd do casual next time. "The Nemesis program is likely the best option you can purchase alongside your powers, a perfectly orchestrated start to your new career as a superhero. And, yes, we can tailor the specifics of your Nemesis and their powers and crimes to the image you'd like to present. Did you have anything in mind, or—"

"Thanks, but that's not what I meant," I said. "Can I pick someone specific as my Nemesis? Someone I know. Sorry if that's hard, it's just... there's one girl I'd love to crush under my boot on my road to heroism."

"Oh?" One eyebrow lifted ever so slightly. Considering how stonefaced the doctor was normally, I had to assume this would be the equivalent of shock and horror on anybody else. "That would be an... unusual arrangement, Cleopatra." It took me a second to recognize the name as mine – my pseudonym, since Cauldron didn't like to deal in real names. "I've never done that before, or even had it requested. I don't think that would be possible – the safety protocols for the Nemesis program are extensive, including implanted vulnerabilities and command words along with very precise information on your Nemesis's power and behavior. We wouldn't be willing to prepare a civilian to that extent."

"Okay, but what if we don't do all the fancy Nemesis protocol stuff?" I asked. "What if I just slip a cheap vial in her food and then beat her up?"

"We do not assist in surreptitious dosing," the doctor said. "It has gone wrong far too many times to be worth the risk. And, unfortunately, it would be far, far out of your price range to purchase a vial to administer yourself, even if it weren't dangerous and foolish. Besides, there's no way to ensure she cooperates if she doesn't knowingly take the dose. She may well become a hero herself, leaving you with no opportunity to fight her." Her expression was very severe, almost angry, but it softened as she considered the point. "But there is a program where you could pick a specific person to receive a Cauldron vial. It's called sponsorship, and it's generally used for friends and family, but I suppose we could add a Nemesis program rider..."

"Okay!" I said, clapping my hands together. "Let's get it done! How much is it going to cost—"

"Hang on a second," the doctor said. "We still have a lot to discuss. First is that the sponsorship program is entirely voluntary on the part of the candidate, and that we wouldn't be willing to lie or conceal information. How sure are you that she'd be interested? That she'd accept? Especially considering how alarming the Nemesis program stipulations would naturally be."

"She's a cape geek," I said. "She'd say yes. Actually, I bet she tried to find you already. Her name's Taylor Hebert," I said. "H-E-B-E-R-T. My age, my city."

The doctor swiveled her computer monitor back toward her, then typed the name in. After a few seconds, she frowned at the screen. "Well, you were right about that," she said. "She does indeed have a record of interest. I think this would be a relatively easy sell."

"Told you! Go ahead, contact her. Oh, and how much is it going to cost me?"

"Hold on a second," the doctor said. "I'm still not certain this is wise. Your desired Nemesis will have the freedom to accept or reject the sponsorship, which means the conditions can't be too lopsided: she needs at least the chance to win, and a means of escape if she loses. We simply won't be able to do most of the things the Nemesis program normally does to ensure safety – no implanted commands, no taking dives, nothing like that. You'd have to accept a very high risk of an upset. Of her beating you. We wouldn't be able to offer any upset refund, certainly."

I snorted. "She's not gonna beat me. But can't you just give her a crappy power to make sure?"

"That means you get less of a reputation boost from defeating her," the doctor said, "and a higher chance that you won't be the first. The Nemesis program is at its best when the Nemesis is a genuinely fearsome rival. Are you sure—"

"Then give her something where she's not horrible, but she is weak to me! Or something gruesome, where people hate her even though she's not powerful!" I sighed. "Look, you're the one with all the powers, can't you show me something?"

She typed into her keyboard again. "I'll run the search," she said. "Samples whose sponsorship price would be within your budget for options, with the distasteful flag set. We'll filter out samples with high variability – the less consistent the sample, the more likely she is to get a power too strong for you, or that you can't counter easily." She swiveled her screen around on its stalk, pointing it toward me. "Here."

"Thanks." I started to scroll through the touchscreen list. It was nifty – Cauldron had really nice computers. But I didn't know what I was looking for, really, so I just browsed for a while, like I had when I picked my own – and then one power jumped out at me, and I stopped dead.

I tapped the button and read the description, then flicked through the power drawings. And then I turned to the doctor.

"I want this one!" I said with a smirk. "Fitting, for a worm like her."

~~

[ Taylor ]

I ground my teeth together and screamed, a sound of raw anguish muffled by clenched teeth. They'd gotten me. Again.

Emma and Sophia had been coming up with the most inventive ways of tormenting me lately – seemed like they'd finally gotten bored of the old standbys, like reminding me of my mother or how Emma totally used to be my friend. Probably because I didn't respond to that any longer. I'd built myself a suit of armor, and their jibes just didn't make it through any longer.

This was probably their best attempt yet. Because I did want powers, had trawled the darker recesses of the web looking for conspiracy theories. Ways to get them. But, ultimately, that was all I found. Conspiracy theories. And so I gave it up. But this message was an offer of superpowers like something right out of those blogs I used to read, from the name they gave – Cauldron – to the language, the tone, the atmosphere. One of them must have really studied up to write this thing. And so I'd let myself hope, even if it was tiny, even if it was fleeting, even if it only lasted a second.

I'd work harder next time. I'd block it out. I'd block everything out.

Pity it wasn't going to help me any.

My grades were horrible, partly because of their incessant sabotage, partly because I skipped school, and partly because in my world of dulled emotions and blunted thoughts I just couldn't find the energy to work like I'd used to. It didn't hurt any longer, but it didn't feel better either.

The worst part was, there was no way out. I'd looked. I'd tried. But I couldn't change schools – Arcadia wouldn't accept me with my grades, and the private schools all cost money I didn't have. I couldn't move, because Dad was born in this town and seemed determined to die in it too. If I had powers, I could have gone to the PRT, gotten out that way. Maybe even to the supervillains – I just couldn't bring myself to care about heroes and villains the way I used to. But I didn't have powers, and if I hadn't triggered after two years of bullying, I figured I never would. When I was younger and more hopeful, maybe I could have tested up a grade, or gotten a GED to escape high school altogether. But I just didn't think I could manage any longer.

There was only a shred of stubbornness left, keeping me from dropping out of school. I clung to that. The one and only sign of life in this old corpse. Hopefully it'd last the whole summer.

But this... this stupid trick, these damn cape dreams, weren't something I wanted to cling to. I clicked the delete button on the email and slumped back down into my computer chair, defeated.

Then I heard a voice from behind me. "You sure you're not interested?" said a woman, voice low and oddly maternal. I felt a blast of air against me, hot and humid, as I stood up, spinning around, knocking the old desk chair over. But there wasn't an intruder behind me, or an impostor.

No, what stood behind me was a portal, stretching through the whole den, looking out onto a city skyline with the Capitol Building big and bold and dramatic in the background. I stepped through almost unconsciously, stepping out onto a hot rooftop and staring into the distance, feeling the much harsher summer of Washington DC blast over me.

"Who are you?" I breathed, words meant as harsh interrogation coming out with wonder and awe. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't read the eMail?" said the voice. "We have an offer for you. Whenever you've convinced yourself that this is real, come back through the portal." I turned around. Instead of leading back to my den, the portal now led to a stark white corridor, white tiled walls and floor, a uniform white glow coming from the white ceiling.

Standing there, leaning against the wall, was a black woman in a lab coat, smiling gently at me. She raised a hand and waved with a gentle smile. I smiled back, but I wasn't ready to go just yet.

Instead, I kneeled down. This building's roof was covered in white stones. I picked one up, weighing it in my hand, turning it over and over. I stood back up again, walking to the edge of the roof. I could see people down there – it was a busy street. I hefted the rock, then chucked it, hitting a businessman right in the back. He squawked, turning around and looking frantically for whoever hit him. But he didn't look up, and I giggled bleakly.

"Convinced?" she asked.

"Well, if it's not real, the other option's a psychotic break," I said. "So I'm just going to believe it and see what happens."

"Fair enough," she said. "Follow me, and we'll discuss your offer."

I trailed meekly behind her as the portal closed behind us and I wondered just what the hell I'd gotten myself into.

~~~~~~

Thanks to tearlessNevermore for being willing to chat about the story in the middle of the night. I wanted to release this fast, so I didn't want to beta or anything like that, but I do always prefer to chat about a chapter before posting when I can.

 

[BeaconHill]

Nemesis
Chapter 2: "Cleopatra and Miriam"​

[ Taylor ]

"Okay," I said, leaning back in the chair. God, Cauldron had comfy chairs. I wanted one. "We're agreed: I'll keep your secrets. So, what secrets am I going to have to keep?"

"One thing first," the doctor said. "Why do you want to have powers?"

I laughed weakly. "So I guess you don't have a dossier on me, then? The conspiracy theorist part of me is disappointed."

"Oh, we find people's own reasoning much more insightful than a dossier," the doctor said, a slight smile on her face. "Go ahead. Tell me."

"I, uh, well..." I looked away, grunted a bit. This wasn't going to be easy. "I guess you could say that I have no way out. There's these girls, and they hate me, they're doing everything they can to turn school into hell. My grades have tanked. They're pretty, popular, Emma's rich and beautiful and Sophia's a star athlete. I'm not. I haven't had one friend in ages. Can't change schools. Can't move. Can't get help. Can't do anything!"

I banged my hands on the table, and then looked up, worried. The doctor didn't react at all, which was nice, but... I didn't want to get mad. Didn't need to. There wasn't much point, after all, when I was helpless.

"But powers... they would change things." I looked back up to the doctor, a slight smile on my face again. "I could escape. Wards would get me out of school. Villains would let me pay for private school. Or I could just drop out. Don't need an education to be a full-time cape. I could get revenge. Or I could skip town."

I finally looked back up to the doctor, my smile almost painfully wide.

"I'd have a choice again."

"So it's hope you're looking for," the doctor said. Her voice was quiet and soft, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"It might, in the future, give me hope," I corrected. "Right now I'm still pretty much waiting for the other shoe to drop. Got any of those, by the way?" I leaned back in my chair. "Maybe it's going to be a money thing. I can get powers, except I've got no chance of ever affording them. Just like anything else I could do."

"That, at least, won't be a problem," the doctor said, a faint smugness in her voice. "You're correct that you normally wouldn't be able to afford our services. If not for that, we would have contacted you months ago. However, a sponsor has expressed interest in granting you powers, and will cover the full cost."

"A sponsor?" My eyes widened – then narrowed again with suspicion. "Because I just have loads of friends lining up to spend that much money on me. Surely they'd want me to know their name, right?"

"Actually, they requested to be anonymous." I sighed, shook my head. Damn it! "This isn't always a bad sign. Friends or family request anonymity quite frequently. But your apprehension is entirely understandable. Know that even if you can't trust your sponsor, you can trust us. We won't lie to you. And we will give you powers."

"Because the walking conspiracy theory is oh-so-trustworthy?" I said, my voice starting to crack with bitterness. "Especially if one of my enemies is paying you?"

"Look. Miriam." It took me a few seconds to recognize the code name as my own. "I won't insult your intelligence by claiming that we have never been involved in intrigue. We have. Of course we have. But we won't lie to you, and though we can't be forthcoming about all topics, we will tell you when we can't answer something fully." She smiled wryly. "If you'll believe nothing else, at least believe that if we want to do something against your will, we have better ways than trickery."

"That's true, I guess." I looked off to the wall. White tile, just the same as everywhere else I'd been in this facility. It was honestly kind of eerie. "It was Emma, wasn't it? Who paid you? Her family all died a few weeks ago. Bad car crash on Route 3. I..." Not hoped. "I wondered if it might bring her to her senses. Instead she's doing this. Crazier than ever, I guess." I sighed. "She must have inherited hundreds of thousands of dollars. Maybe millions. Her dad was rich. No wonder she can afford all this."

"I couldn't say," the doctor said quietly.

"Figured. So, what's the catch? There has to be one."

"Your sponsor requested two unusual clauses in your contract. One is simply that they preselected which sample you will receive, so you won't be able to choose your own power. The other is is that you'll be enrolled as a provider in something called the Nemesis program."

"I... see," I said, my face falling a little. "What power would I get?"

She tapped a few keys, then turned her computer monitor on its stalk, pointing it toward me. "Here's our description," she said. "You can touch the screen to scroll or view pictures."

"Thank you," I murmured. Then I started to read.

Sample C-6185, it said. INSECT.

That was when my heart started to sink.

The power was to turn into giant insects. I scrolled down, gaped at the examples. A woman with a giant ant head, an enormous beetle with gaping jaws, a gigantic moth flying over a city street. All of them were sketches – I guess they didn't want to out whichever capes actually took this vial – but, still, they weren't pretty.

"Oh my god," I breathed. "She really is just fucking with me, isn't she?"

"It's not actually a terrible power, whatever you might think of the appearance," the doctor said. "All subjects have been able to transform either into any insect, into any size, or to only partially transform. Many are able to do more than one. The best result thus far was rated Changer 4, Brute 3, Mover 2, able to turn into giant versions of both flying insects and exceedingly strong ones. It's also a very safe sample. It hasn't yet caused any physical changes, let alone more serious adverse reactions."

"Physical... changes?" I asked.

"Samples sometimes cause changes in appearance," the doctor said. "You've seen capes with animalistic or monstrous features. Like that."

"Oh. Okay. I guess that's good, at least." I shook my head, frowning at the screen. "She wants to turn me into a fucking bug. Figures."

"It's still a way out for you, isn't it?" the doctor asked.

"Maybe." I looked back toward her angrily. "What's the Nemesis program?"

"It's one of our programs for aspiring superheroes," the doctor said. "Under normal circumstances, it's quite benign. We've found that early success against a frightening opponent massively improves a superhero's chances of success, team leadership, and ultimately battles won and lives saved. To that end, we offer the Nemesis program: we provide a supervillain with an eerie fixation on them personally, one who they can defeat in order to improve their standing and outcomes."

I raised an eyebrow. "That sounds... kind of like cheating. But why would she get me into that?"

"Many clients feel the same way as you about the program. But in your case, it will not be a concern." She frowned. "Your sponsor has signed you up as a Nemesis provider – that is to say, as the supervillain."

"Oh. Oh. Fuck me, Emma wants me to get powers just so she can kick my ass, doesn't she?" I growled, shook my head. "So what am I going to have to do? Throw my fights? Embarrass myself? Go to prison for her?! I am not going to—"

"No!" the doctor said. "You won't have to throw your fights, and you won't go to prison. You'll have a way out."

"What is it? Tell me!"

"We'll have you sentenced to a few years of required service in the Wards, instead of prison. It's common – if you follow conspiracy theories, you've heard of it," she said. "If we can't persuade them to accept you, or if you turn the offer down, we'll have you broken out of jail."

"Okay," I said. After the loud outburst of before, I suddenly felt listless. Tired. Like all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed. I put my head down on the doctor's cool metal tabletop, and started to cry, my whole body shaking as if in a cold wind.

"You're still not interested?" the doctor said. She sounded unused to pity, but nevertheless I heard it there. She touched my shoulder gingerly, like she was touching a china doll.

"N-no, no, that isn't... I want to do it. If it'll get me out, I want to do it." I looked back up at her, trying to calm my breathing, stop the trembling. "That's the problem. Because now I have to either find the self-respect not to be Emma's bitch, even if it would get me out... or admit to myself that I don't have it any more."

"Then fight, Miriam!" the doctor said. "You don't have to give up!"

"How can I?" My face twisted as I looked up at her in disbelief. "That's how this works, isn't it? The Nemesis loses! That's the point!"

"Your client thinks you'll lose. That doesn't mean you will." The doctor smiled. "To sponsor their own Nemesis, your client has had to bend all the rules of the program. That means they won't have most of the advantages Nemesis clients normally do. Their power will most likely be much stronger than yours, but these are only estimates, never certainties. Your test results could change everything... and so could hard work."

"How likely is that?"

"It's hard to know. I'll be able to give you a better estimate after you've completed your testing – psychological and physical tests that help us estimate what your resulting power will be like. If your test results predict that you will be stronger than the norm for your vial, or if your sponsor is predicted to be weaker, that will make a difference." The doctor looked away, frowning. "It's going to be hard, Miriam, maybe harder than anything you've ever done before. You'll need determination, willingness to sacrifice, willingness to get hurt. You'll need to raise money, practice, strategize, and study your powers. But if you really do think this is your only way out – if you're willing to work like it's your only way out – then I think you have a chance to win."

"What does winning even mean? Will she stop going after me?"

"Your Nemesis contract has a limited duration. 10 weeks, 9 notoriety events, and 7 fights with your Nemesis client. If you complete the contract without being captured, then we say you've performed an upset and defeated your client." The doctor shuffled through her papers, handed me a packet. "Here are the details for your reference. After the contract ends, they might not stop going after you, but they won't have a contract to depend on any longer. Plus, after seven fights, they'll get little or no reputation boost from beating you – if anything, continuing to lose would be a drag on their reputation."

"All right, all right, it's just..." I looked away. "What happens if I don't win?"

"Then you get to leave with powers bought on her dime, and your head held high knowing that you fought as hard as you could." There was a sparkle in her eye. "Not that bad, is it?"

"Guess not." I looked up to her, hope beginning to dawn on my face. "How long will I be able to back out, if I accept?"

"Until the moment you drink your vial," the doctor said. "Though it will cost your sponsor tens of thousands of dollars if you go through with the testing..."

"Then I'm in."

~~

[ Emma ]

"Your tests look great, Cleopatra," the doctor said. "Nothing amiss. You'll have your power in three more weeks, right on schedule. But we must strongly advise you to terminate the sponsored enrollment."

"What?" I drawled, smiling at her. "Something's wrong with Taylor? Who would have thought."

"Everything went wrong," the doctor said, her voice level but her face giving a distinct impression of annoyance. "And we haven't even finished her testing yet. First problem: the candidate scored dramatically above the maximum IQ for Nemesis providers, which will significantly increase the chances of an upset. I assume that doesn't faze you?"

"Of course not," I said with a derisive snort. "Doesn't mean anything. She's not that smart in the real world — you should see her grades. Is that it?"

"Not hardly," the doctor said dryly. "The candidate failed the brain scan and the psych eval, both of them very badly. That means we cannot predict exactly what will happen to her if you allow this to go ahead. She could mutate into something unrecognizable, lose her memories, or even lose her mind. There is a significant risk of sudden death."

"Hah. Always knew she was a psycho," I said. Then I stopped for a second, thinking. "You told her? And she didn't pull out?"

"Yes, of course we told her. The candidate has been warned of the risks, and has accepted them, even though we counseled her in the strongest terms not to. It's up to you whether we go forward."

"Huh," I said. "Good for her. Would have thought she'd chicken out, news like that." I smirked. "I'm still in."

"Why? What's the advantage of selecting your Nemesis if they might not look like themselves, remember who they were, or even survive their sample?" Her annoyance had boiled over into active frustration, in her words and on her voice. "What is the point of going through all this time and expense for a corpse?"

"I'll know what happened, even if she doesn't," I said with a grin. "Good enough for me."

She sighed curtly. "I see. But there is still one more thing. Given her test results, we cannot predict what power she will get if she does survive. We won't be able to guide you against her as effectively, and... there is a significant risk that she could be stronger than you. That, if you fought her, you could lose."

I froze, my mouth falling open. Losing? To Taylor? "No way! I thought the vial we were giving her was supposed to be weak!"

"With her test results, there's no vial predictable enough to call weak," the doctor said. "This was a dangerous plan from the beginning, Cleo. This sponsored Nemesis arrangement always lacked the safeguards the ordinary Nemesis program relies on, and now that we know we can't control her power, I must strongly advise you to terminate the arrangement. If you like, we can try an alternate candidate as your sponsored Nemesis, or we could provide a standard Nemesis with your chosen power—"

"No!" I said. "No. I... I know the results might have come out bad, but... it's Taylor. She's not going to be stronger than me. She just... she just can't be." The doctor looked distinctly irked now. I guess no one liked to be wrong. "I mean, why are you so worried? My power's supposed to be good, right? Give me the numbers, doctor."

She sighed. "It is almost certain that, should the candidate survive, she will be much stronger than the norm for her sample. It's harder to say whether she'll be stronger than you. We have very limited data on candidates like her. Our best estimate is that her power will be no less variable than if she'd triggered naturally. Likely even more so."

"Yeah, but my sample is going to be better than a regular old natural trigger, right?"

"Your own sample will easily place you above the ninety-eighth percentile for natural triggers, yes," the doctor said.

"So that's a ninety-eight percent chance I'm stronger than her?" I snorted, shook my head. "That's nothing."

"I would call that significantly overconfident," the doctor said, "given how little we know about people with test results like the candidate's. They are very extreme, Cleo, and past candidates like her have become extremely powerful."

I sighed. "Look, you don't have to worry so much. Maybe you don't know what's going to happen, but I do. I mean, it's Taylor. She wouldn't know what to do with real power if it bit her on the ass."

"All right," the doctor said. "It is your choice." It seemed like she'd reached acceptance of this particular grief – her voice was low and level again. "Given these conditions, I cannot offer you any death or mutation refund. The candidate's fees must be paid in full, regardless of the outcome."

"That's just fine." I grinned. "Do it."

 

[BeaconHill]

Nemesis
Chapter 3: "Hope"​

[ Emma ]

The bell over the door rang as I pushed open the door to my favorite coffeeshop, a cute little place downtown, not far from my new apartment. And an entirely unexpected voice called out "Hello! Welcome to Leblanc!"

I did a double-take, staring at the girl behind the counter. Was that really Taylor? Crap, it was! That was annoying. I couldn't bully Taylor here, the owners were strict about people harassing the staff – one of my friends had gotten kicked out once, going after some other waste of space.

Which didn't mean I couldn't try to make her overreact, as long as I was subtle about it...

"Hiiii, Taylor!" I drawled, sauntering up to the counter. I really hadn't expected her to get a job – she'd been such a scaredy-cat lately, I was surprised to even see her out of the house. On the other hand, this did mean I'd get to order her around, so it wasn't so bad.

She put her book down as she approached – oh, she was reading a beat-up old textbook on insects! Ha! Sounds like she bought it hook, line, and sinker, like she was really expecting to get something out of that lemon power I'd saddled her with. She was even following all the bullshit advice Cauldron gave. Pro tip: if you need to read a book to use your power, your power sucks!

I bet she hadn't even thought her nemesis could be me. What an idiot.

"Hello, ma'am," Taylor said, just a quirk of an eyebrow to indicate she'd recognized me at all. Ugh. She seemed more confident. Oh, how fun it would be to smash her and that silly new attitude of hers. "What would you like?"

"I'll have a cup of coffee and a slice of banana bread," I ordered. I hoped she'd screw up – she had to be new, I went here all the time and I'd never seen her – and then I'd get to complain to her boss.

She did take a little while, but soon enough she called my name, setting a steaming hot cup and a slice of bread at my usual chair by the front.

I took a sip, and then a bite, and everything tasted perfect. Ugh.

~~

[ Taylor ]

The door slid open as I lay on the couch, panting weakly, sweat soaking into the perfectly clean white fabric. I didn't bother looking up to see who had entered. Everything burned. Everything. I'd been training to run long before I knew Cauldron was going to test me on it, but... god, I could hardly walk any longer, let alone run. I hoped they didn't ask me to do more.

"Hey, Miriam," said a quiet, maternal voice. "How are you doing?"

"Hello, doctor," I said. "Exhausted."

"Yeah, I'll bet."

"So, what's the verdict? Am I tough enough for powers?"

She shook her head. "It's not a physical test, Miriam. Our samples, surprisingly enough, don't require distance running ability. It's a psychological test. A measure of your determination, which plays a big impact in success rates for both heroes and villains. We were tracking when you'd give up, relative to objective biological stress indicators."

"Oh." I closed my eyes, falling limp against the couch. "How did I do?"

"Marvelously," the doctor said. "You didn't give up until you were physically incapable of continuing." The couch flexed as she sat next to me, right by my head. I opened my eyes to see her wry smile. "Guess there had to be one test you wouldn't bomb."

"Hey," I said, trying to sound offended but mostly just sounding tired. "It wasn't like I chose to fail all those other tests."

"No. But you did choose to proceed, even when it became clear just how much you were risking." She sighed. "Which I guess would serve to confirm the determination test."

"Doctor, I'm not going to pull out – this is the best thing that ever happened to me!" Even lying limp on the couch, I had a big smile on my face. "I've been preparing and practicing and studying, I've been running laps around the block, coming up with strategies... I mean, I even got a summer job! Me! How crazy is that?" I struggled weakly upright, so I was sitting side by side with the doctor. "And it's all because I have something to hope for. I won't throw that away, doctor. No matter what the risks are. Because I have nothing else." I bit my lip, looking away. "Except maybe dying young," I added, in a murmur so low it barely reached my own ears.

"Can't getting powers on your own be a good enough hope?" the doctor asked. "You saw the MRI, you saw that you have the potential. You don't need us to become a cape. And a natural trigger doesn't come with the risks of taking a sample, or the Nemesis program contract terms."

"I know. But I can't wait forever," I said. "I didn't trigger when my Mom died, or when Emma left me, or after the flute or the locker. What else has to happen before I'd trigger on my own? I can't think of much worse, and I don't want to find out." I reached gingerly up to pat my head. "Sorry, power. This is your last chance. August 2nd or bust."

"It's why I never took a vial myself," the doctor said. "I failed the MRI, like you did. I didn't want to run the risk of mutation. I always ask, when clients choose to proceed despite the test failure... do you think I should?"

"Do you want this badly enough to run the risk?" I asked. "Because if you don't, then you're making the right choice. Some of those pictures you showed me were pretty grisly." I smiled again, taut and stretched but still a smile. "It's just that I want this more than I care about dying." I turned toward her, wincing at a twinge from my back. "You're not going to convince me, doctor. I'm determined."

She laughed, a short, sharp, bitter bark. "I guess you are, Miriam. I hope it turns out well for you."

~~

[ Emma ]

"Now, I'd like to ask you just one question before we begin," the doctor said.

"What?" I craned my head. "I paid your bill, I passed your tests, I agreed to your contract and your favors and everything else. I'm even wearing your stupid suit. Can't you just give me my sample now? What else do I have to do?"

"Of course," the doctor said. "I'd just like you to say a few words for our records. Why did you choose to buy a power from us? And why did you choose to sponsor another client?"

I sighed, flipping my red hair back. "I deserve to have powers. My so-called friend said I couldn't get them. I'm just proving her wrong. See, this is exactly how the world should always work! I want it, I buy it, I get it. It's that easy."

"And the sponsored enrollment?"

"Some people just deserve to get crushed." I shrugged. "What can I say? I think it's going to be fun. I think she deserves it, and I think she's going to be an excellent victim."

"I guess we'll see." The doctor reached out toward me, holding a long, thin vial. "Drink this as quickly as you can," she said.

"Finally," I said with a smirk, as I grabbed the vial and drank it in one gulp.

~~

[ Taylor ]

"I can't believe it's finally time," I said, leaning forward in the chair. I was wearing a loose white jumpsuit marked CLIENT, and in smaller letters Miriam – a precaution, apparently, in case my powers ruined my clothes.

"Me either," said the doctor dryly, reaching into her canister and pulling out a silver vial, long and thin. "Remember what we discussed. Drink this as quickly as you can. This will hurt, and there may be other side effects, even serious ones. Just stay calm, and it'll be over within two minutes. And... it is okay if this is hard for you. It usually is."

"I remember," I said with a nod. "My sponsor's already done this, right? How'd she react?"

The doctor smiled, if only for a split second. "I am not at liberty to discuss," she said, pulling the stopper off the vial and then handing it to me. I held it almost reverently. "Whenever you're ready, Miriam."

I tilted my head up, and then poured the vial straight down my throat.

Then I flinched. From shock, surprisingly – I'd been warned, but nevertheless, I hadn't expected the pain to be this hard or this fast.

But then I took a deep breath, and started to deal with it.

"You seem very calm, Miriam," said the doctor. "Try to hold onto that – like we discussed, it will reduce your chances of deviation. You won't stay conscious for much longer – no more than a minute or two."

"All right," I said absently. It did seem to be coming easily to me, more easily than I had expected. Repressing the pain, just sitting back in my chair and letting it happen.

My vision blurred, darkening at the edges, then winking out entirely in a flash. That should have been alarming, but somehow it wasn't. And I was really beginning to wonder why.

It wasn't that it didn't hurt. When I thought about what was happening to me, I knew that it was actually really, really painful. Worse than breaking my arm back in third grade. Worse than the locker, or the hospital stay afterward where my arm burned with infection. No, it definitely did hurt. Quite a lot, actually. It was just... after all that had happened to me, ignoring my pain had become the most natural thing in the world.

When the unconsciousness took me, I had just barely started to laugh.

~~

[ Taylor ]

"Miriam, can you hear me?"

I heard the doctor's voice, but I wasn't sure what to do about it. My vision was strange – I saw the chair and the lab where I'd taken the vial, but it was fragmented, broken into millions of tiny blurry fields of view, pointing all different directions. It made me dizzy.

"Miriam?" she repeated.

I tried to say something back, but I realized that I wasn't sure how. I didn't have a mouth. I didn't know what to do.

"Taylor!" she shouted, and it sounded serious. She'd never said my real name before, so this had to be serious. I still couldn't talk, but I tried to turn around, sort of? Face her? And that was when I realized... there was a lot of me. I was mostly flying in the air. And, if my strange vision was to be believed... I was a swarm of bugs.

"I will take that as a conscious reaction," she said nervously. "When you took your vial, you transformed into a swarm of flies, floating in midair. That's not entirely unexpected, given the sample you took. I know you've been out of it for a little while, but you need to turn back now, or at least try. Do you understand?"

Yes. Yes, I did. After all... the alternative was being trapped like this, wasn't it?

I tried to see it. To imagine it. Becoming myself again. I almost felt it. Almost.

My bodies were still hovering over the chair I'd been sitting in. I flew together, flies pressing against each other. I could feel something building up as they gathered, until finally there was a pulse, and suddenly I was myself again, sprawled backwards into the chair. Still wearing my Cauldron overalls and everything.

"Congratulations, Miriam," the doctor said, sounding very calm as I scrambled around in the chair to face forward again. "It looks like you have something new. And you seem to have gotten it without any mutations. Becoming a swarm of insects instead of just one will be a significant advantage for you. Now, let's run a few tests to see what else you can do. But let me step behind the shield for my own protection."

She walked to the far end of the room, then walked behind a big, heavy sheet of glass.

"Now, see if you can control what kinds of bugs you change into. Can you make a swarm of bees?"

Instead of replying, I reached to my power, and changed. It felt... strange. Indescribable. On the one hand, it was so natural – like moving an arm, or looking the other direction. Like it was something I could always do. Like it was normal. But it wasn't. I was a swarm of bees floating in midair.

"Good," she said. "Being able to control what insect you become is one of the more powerful manifestations of the power. Can you add more insects, of a kind you've only read about?"

Silently, I flew some of the bees into each other, midair collision letting them fuse together into Japanese giant hornets. It worked, the big bees zooming around and around until I rammed them all back together and turned into myself once more.

"Congratulations. Are you able to change the size of the insects you turn into? Become a giant ant or spider, like the other recipients of your vial?"

I wasn't sure. It didn't feel like turning into the swarms had. But I pictured a giant praying mantis, right out of my books... and it happened, just like I wanted. I was tall enough that my head was scraping the ceiling.

I stomped around, just a little. It was fun being a mantis. But I didn't have a lot of headroom in here, and I didn't want to break anything, so I turned back into myself again.

"Another successful test. Excellent. Can you change your overall mass? Grow heavier or lighter than your human body is? What are your limits? If you can become a huge swarm, that would be very valuable indeed." The doctor almost sounded proud now, or maybe pleased. I had survived, and my power was looking pretty good. No wonder she was happy.

I turned into a swarm once more, and tried to get larger. I could feel it – my power knew how to make me bigger. But I just couldn't. Something was missing. I tried to make myself smaller, and that didn't work either – I had the same sense of stuckness, of my power just not being able to do it. I changed back to myself, looked down at the polished white floors. "I can't," I said. "There's something stopping me."

"Hmm. Okay. So you have a serious size restriction. Don't worry so much about it – you'll still be by far the best recorded outcome from your vial." She may have said that, but she still sounded pretty disappointed. And, honestly, I was too. I'd taken a crazy risk in drinking this vial and getting these powers, but... Emma was supposed to be strong. Was this really going to be enough?

The doctor had a few more tests, and I did them all with a pit in my stomach.

~~

[ Emma ]

"Hello?" I asked, cradling my phone to my ear. On the outside, I tried to look irritated – a friend calling me in the middle of PRT headquarters? On the inside, I was giddy. Today was Taylor's trigger day. How did it go?

"Hello, Cleopatra," said the faint, tinny voice of Cauldron's doctor. "This is the doctor. We're pleased to report that your sponsored client has consumed their vial successfully. Vital signs normal, no mutations, no brain damage."

"And?" I said, trying not to sound too eager. I was walking right next to Miss Militia, who was acting like a slightly dim superhero mom. But if she'd survived as a Brockton Bay cape for as long as I could remember, she probably had just a smidge of suspicion buried under her goofily exaggerated dimples and her nice kind words. I needed to keep this low key.

"She received powers roughly equivalent to the top results for her sample: she can transform into any insect, can scale her insects up or down, and can partially transform. She also has a new ability not seen before with her sample: she can become many smaller insects, which seem able to perform many functions at once."

"Called it!" I said. "Nothing to worry about. I so knew it."

"Remember, we didn't test her for long. She may discover many more ways to use her power. Moreover, we do think that the swarm ability on its own could, with development, meet or exceed many high-level Master—"

I hung up on her. I'd heard what I needed to hear – and there was a familiar face staring at me from the other side of the hall.

"Hey, Sophia," I said. "Long time no see."

Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. What's wrong, Soph? Can't handle the truth? "E-Emma?" she finally stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"You know her?" Miss Militia asked Sophia, an eyebrow raising subtly.

"Yeah – knew her, I mean – but... what's going on?" Poor Sophia.

"We've just finished up all of the paperwork," Miss Militia said. "She's the newest member of the Brockton Bay Wards."

"We just got back from a power testing session down in the labs," I drawled. "They're thinking Shaker 8 or 9, with Mover and Brute ratings." Miss Militia and I hadn't broken step when we ran into Sophia. We walked right past her, with her still standing there, gaping at me. And it wasn't until I was almost past her that I leaned in and whispered "Told you so."

I traced a heart in the air, adding just the tiniest filament of crystal where my fingertip traced. Then I shattered it, and kept on walking.

Later, Sophia!

~~

[ Taylor ]

"Thank you, doctor," I said, reaching out to shake her hand as a strong wind blew in through the portal.

I'd done a few other tests, none of them positive – the swarm ability was, apparently, the only new thing I'd gotten. I couldn't say I wasn't a little bit disappointed – after all the warnings she'd given me, I'd expected something truly crazy.

But I'd gotten what they promised, without the mutations they'd warned of. I'd come out all right, I thought.

"It's been a pleasure," the doctor replied, her voice warm. She shook my hand, her grip loose and gentle. "We'll be in contact in three weeks, after the preparation period, to check in with you on the start to your Nemesis contract."

"Of course," I said. "Goodbye, doctor."

"Goodbye, Miriam," she said, as I stepped through the portal and onto the grass.

I sighed as it closed behind me, and I started to walk down the grassy path. Normally, Cauldron had opened their portal straight into my house, but... this time, I'd asked for something a little more melancholy.

I knelt down before my mother's grave, on the hill in the Brockton Bay cemetery.

"Well, it worked," I said. "I have powers. No mutations, and I'm a good bit stronger than the sample was supposed to be, it's just..." My voice cut off, quiet, strangled. "I'm not sure it'll be enough," I whispered. "You have any hints?"

That was when I noticed something.

It had been prickling on the edge of my power since I left Cauldron. I thought it wasn't important – maybe just exhaustion – since I hadn't felt it in Cauldron's lab. But now it wasn't just something tingling on my power – it was something tingling on my skin.

I looked down and saw an ant there, one that had crawled up from the dirt. And with a thought, with a push of my power, it joined into me, vanishing into my skin. And my jaw dropped open. I flexed my power and felt everything – the bees in the trees, the butterflies in the flowers, the ants in the dirt. I twisted them with my power, and they all turned into bees. Another flex, and they turned back.

Of course! Cauldron's headquarters were kept antiseptically clean. There were no bugs anywhere, none except for me. Which is why I didn't know. Why I didn't see it.

I thought all I could do was turn myself into a swarm or a giant bug. Which was all right, as powers go. Not hugely strong, if I was limited to just my body size.

But I wasn't. I could take any bugs, and I could turn them all into me. Shift them and change them like they were part of my own body. I had no size limitation whatsoever – I could become swarms of locusts out of the Bible, big enough to destroy cities. I could be a legion of giant insects, a real army. I could even be a swarm of mes, if I wanted.

Could I breed more bugs? Make myself even bigger? I bet I could. What kind of bugs would be easiest to breed, anyway? I'd have to do more research. But I could start my training now. Wild insects swarmed in the woods, clustering together. It was time to test my real powers, free from Cauldron's prying eyes. As helpful as they'd been, they did have to report everything they knew about my powers to my sponsor. But they had no idea about this.

"Thanks, Mom," I whispered.

Then my body at the gravestone burst into bugs – and the insects in the forest turned into me. I grinned, and started gathering bugs for another body.

One thing was for sure: I wasn't going to be the pushover Emma had bargained for.

 

[BeaconHill]

Nemesis
Chapter 4: "Bumblebee"​

[ Taylor ]

My laptop whirred away on the bed in front of me, my feet kicking in the air as my body tingled with excitement. I'd done it. I'd taken the risk and come out ahead, and while I wasn't confident putting an actual ranking on my new powers, I knew that I was going to be good. I knew what insects could do, and I at least knew where to start on squeezing every last trick I could get out of my abilities. I could really go for something big if I wanted. Maybe see how Brockton Bay liked to have a spider-queen? I knew I might be letting my ego get the best of me, but I was a powerful, dedicated, serious supervillain, so of course I wanted to flaunt it. To show Emma, to show the whole world who I really was.

I wasn't going to.

The problem was, Emma's goal was to boost her reputation by taking down a terrifying opponent, which meant the more terrifying I was, the better her reputation got. No matter how fearsome I became, I could never really defeat her – the rules of the Nemesis program said I couldn't kill her, couldn't maim her, couldn't Master her, couldn't even take her out of the fight for long. In fact, I couldn't even avoid her – I had to stand and fight and not run away. No – even if she lost every time, she'd look good, the noble superhero taking the fight to the villain no one else could match.

Plus, the scarier I got, the more PRT and Protectorate resources Emma could draw on. I was pretty good, I knew – my power made me a natural escape artist, which was excellent considering my real goal was to not get caught. But what if Emma got to break out the big guns? If she could spray pesticides, or call in out-of-town capes? What if she got to use lethal force? I was good, but I couldn't match the whole PRT, Protectorate, and Wards. And if Emma played her cards right, she could be in the vanguard as they brought me down.

No, that wasn't what I wanted. I wanted her to look ridiculous – embarrass her when she loses, make her look crazy when she gets mad, turn my own arrest absurd if it came to that. And make it so losing the Nemesis program's seven fights would stop anyone from ever taking her seriously again.

The easiest way to do that? Was to look utterly ridiculous myself.

A lot of cities had one or two supervillains that made jokes of themselves on purpose. Hammy lines, silly costumes, mostly harmless crimes – they were as lovable as supervillains could get. The weird thing was, supervillains like that could do a lot better than the serious ones. See, people liked them. They got fandoms on PHO and pictures on shop walls and even souvenirs. They became local legends. It was hilarious when heroes lost to them, but even when they won, they mostly just looked like the fun police. What were you thinking, going after her? She's not hurting anybody. The closest we had in Brockton Bay were Uber and Leet, but they were assholes, which undercut the charm. The slot was open, if I wanted it.

I hadn't been planning on this. I'd thought I'd need to use everything I had to have a chance against Emma, or that I wouldn't have a way to make my power look friendly enough for it. But I was strong. I could afford to lose some strength to gain some image. And I had lots of ideas on how to turn my power to the humorous.

Doing that would make me look pretty silly, and I didn't love that. This just wasn't like me. But the difference between me and Emma was, I could take looking ridiculous. She couldn't. The more I won, the madder she'd get, and the madder she'd get, the worse she'd look.

Still, my new cape ID was going to be really silly.

I turned back to my laptop, started to scroll through my research. I'd been studying comedy capes ever since I flew back – heroes like Mouse Protector and the Dream Parade, villains like Dryad and Ringmaster and Doctor Roboto. I'd watched hours of videos, read loads of articles, and now I had pages full of notes – how they talked, how they acted, how they made people laugh even as they stole from them, how they made themselves look incompetent even as they got away with everything. What they did when things went wrong. And photos, a whole collection of them. Dryad in her leafy leotard, holding a sign that said "VEGGIES ARE MURDER" as the grocery store vegetable aisle behind her erupted into a forest of plant life. Ringmaster in his tuxedo jacket with nothing at all underneath, his tigers all around him and his flaming hoop in his hand. Doctor Roboto in her sparkly minidress, surrounded by robots with cartoonish angry eyebrows on their red LED faces, the laser attached to her gadget-festooned goggles tracing a heart on the ceiling.

All of that was going to be me. Jokes, gags, clumsiness, failing at being a supervillain, viral video popularity – the whole nine yards. It was going to be... well, crazy. It really was nothing like me. And, sure, maybe I'd give up on it in the end. I wasn't going to stop working on my serious skills. But I was going to try. I was definitely going to try.

At least I could promise myself that I was never going to wear a costume like Dryad's or Doctor Roboto's. I mean, look at all the skin they were showing! Look at their breasts! Thank god I didn't have the body for it. I would have been mortified.

~~

[ Taylor ]

I was standing in the middle of the woods, and I was starting to get frustrated with this whole humor villain angle.

For starters, my costume was horrible – it was a boiler-suit style ladybug outfit, red with black spots, and it looked ridiculous in a bad way. Ladybugs were supposed to be big and bulbous, and I was way too tall for it – I looked like someone had taken a ladybug and stretched it out. It was ridiculous. I'd have to make another version, but... as much as I hated to admit it, I probably had to try the minidress thing. There was a reason all the other comedy villains dressed skimpy – it was just funny seeing a supervillain show that much skin. Not to mention, it did help to build a fanbase. It was clearly the better style – I just didn't think I could do it.

That wasn't the only thing that was going wrong. I still hadn't found good sidekick bugs. And I'd been practicing my banter, too, and I still wasn't convinced I was actually doing it right.

Maybe what I needed was another set of eyes?

A lot of the humor of a villain was physical – words, yes, but also body language, expression, gestures, and I couldn't see any of that the way another person would. But I could if I summoned another body...

My insects clustered together and formed into another human body that dropped onto the dead leaves. It looked exactly like me – I could change all my insects within their species' ranges of natural variation, but I couldn't look like different human beings, just myself...

I shrieked, covering myself with my hands, as I finally realized that my new body was stark naked.

Both of my bodies blushed. I tried to cover myself in butterflies, but that didn't help at all, it just looked kind of kinky, and besides, it tickled... I'd changed into my costume out here, hadn't I? Where were my normal clothes?

My body dove for them, putting them on in record time. I was decent again, thank goodness.

All right. Back to work. That might have been funny, but there was no way in hell I was ever gonna do that on purpose.

First order of business? Finding myself a species I could make bigger, to use as a buggy sidekick. I'd tried ladybugs last time, but I didn't think they'd work – they were cute in miniature, but the giant ones looked just a little bit too creepy. Too many strange beetley bits. I had a whole list to try today: butterflies, bumblebees, caterpillars, moths, and jumping spiders. Any of them could work, but I was really hoping to find a primary sidekick bug that could fly – it just made things easier, and if I couldn't get that, I might well have to abandon the idea altogether.

My first try was a butterfly. It was very beautiful, gliding through the forest on its massive shining wings. I really admired it. It didn't look too buggy at all – sure, it had bug parts, but they were smaller, deemphasized by the huge, pretty wings. But... I still couldn't use them. Butterflies were beautiful, graceful, and elegant, and I had to be goofy, clumsy, and ridiculous. Maybe I could have a schtick where they were supposed to be conceited and snooty? I tried a line or two, but they weren't great. Maybe I could use them for some things, but not as my main sidekicks.

My second try was a bumblebee. And suddenly everything worked.

It looked perfect. Of course it looked perfect – I should have tried it sooner. A big fuzzy bumblebee only got bigger, fuzzier, and bumblier when I scaled it up, and that was exactly what I wanted. I watched as it zoomed through the air, ungainly and oversized, struggling to turn and navigate. I would have to get rid of the stinger – that thing was way too big to be used on anything but Brutes, look how huge it was! – but, other than that, this was wonderful.

There was only one problem – it was a bit hard to fly straight as these things. I hadn't had a lot of practice flying at all, and as a giant bumblebee, I was so heavy that I had to overcome inertia every time I wanted to turn. I kept on zooming, working on bends and loops, feeling my body plow through the air, and then—

My bumblebee body flew straight into my human body, knocking me flat on my butt. And I was almost embarrased, and I almost just poofed it back into smaller bugs and moved on.

But I'd seen the whole thing with my other body, too. And it was the funniest thing ever.

Run with it! I told myself. Keep going!

"Hey!" I said, glaring at the bumblebee as I stood back up, dusting off my costume. My voice was pitched up in a particularly petulant anger. "Watch where you're going!"

My bumblebee rose back into the air, her head pitched downward in shame. She turned slowly away from me, buzzing toward the woods.

"Hey, no, I didn't mean it like that," I said, grabbing her with my hands and spinning her around to face me. "You know I love you, it's just..." I bent down and kissed her on the top of her fuzzy head, right between the antennae. "Sorry, little guy."

She perked back up at that, buzzing happily at me before going back to zooming around the forest. And my grin was just getting wider.

I had it. I had everything. I had my sidekick, and I had my schtick: I would be the happy, naive, clueless supervillain, with my clumsy, disobedient sidekick bees who I could never stay mad at for long.

Now I just had to practice. And... I looked down at my garish ladybug costume. Nope, this had to go too. My new theme would be bumblebee.

~~

[ Taylor ]

It had taken a lot of research and a lot of work, but finally my costume-weaving was going smoothly.

It was one hell of an operation. I'd turned into millions of spiders for it. I had spiders making silk of many different kinds – strong and stretchy line were the main ones, but I had a few others. There were even a few spiders making tangled balls of web, for use as padding. I had spiders to run the thread through vats of dye, spiders to carry it from place to place, and spiders to weave it all together into a costume.

Yeah, this was just about the creepiest thing ever. If I was going to keep my reputation friendly, I had to make sure no one ever saw this.

But it was effective. I could make any clothes I wanted, faster than I could order them or sew them together as a human. Faster even than going to the store and buying something. And the clothes were beautiful, too – soft, wonderful silk, perfectly formed to whatever shape I wanted. Because I used Darwin's Bark spiders, with the strongest web in the world, I knew it was going to be tough and sturdy, never tearing. No wardrobe malfunctions for this supervillain. And the best part was, it was surprisingly easy to do, once I'd managed to figure it out. I could make as many outfits as I wanted, for different designs or backups or anything.

I wondered idly how I managed to keep track of it all, how I managed to keep so many spiders coordinated as they worked. It had to be my power, right? Like, a minor Thinker power? Because there was no way I could have handled so many things at once before I'd gotten my power.

One of my human bodies walked over to look at the finished product: a tight, skin-color bodysuit, to keep me protected... and a skimpy, bumblebee-striped minidress, to wear on top of it. It even had wings, dark silk stretched over wire like in a cheap Halloween costume. If you thought I wouldn't have been caught dead in anything like it, you would be completely right.

Yes, making this costume had been easy. Wearing it? That would be the hard part.

~~

[ Taylor ]

I paced through the abandoned warehouse that served as my new lair, angry at my costume. Not because it was bad – no, quite the opposite. Because it was too good.

I'd never wanted to wear that bumblebee minidress. But no matter what I did, no matter what I tried, it was just the best option. Pretty in a goofy kind of way, just like I wanted it to be. It was the right costume, I knew – I just couldn't stand to wear it. The thing was so skimpy, so ridiculous... It made me angry, that my powers, my high hopes, had really come to this. It made me want to drop the whole humor-villain angle altogether. But determination didn't always mean looking cool and suave and badass. It meant making the right choice. And sometimes, that meant embarrassing myself. I hated my costume. I hated everything about it. I hadn't shown that much skin or worn a skirt that short... ever. But that was exactly what made it the perfect costume for me. And I was determined.

So, with a sigh, I took off yet another failed attempt at a more concealing costume. Now it was time to see if I could give up something else: my skin-colored bodysuit.

Originally, it had been for protection. It turned out, however, that my transformations healed me – I didn't need to care about protecting myself. And the bodysuit really, really didn't look right. The only thing was... I just didn't think I bring myself to show that much skin.

But I at least wanted to think about it. See what it would be like.

Then I looked into the mirror, and transformed.

I couldn't change human bodies the way I could my bugs. I could make any kind of bug I wanted – any individual of any species, within their natural range of variations. For humans, it was different. I could only become one individual: Taylor Hebert, my human self. But I could change her, within her range of natural variation. I could change her weight, her physique, her hair, her skin, even her age. So I made my skin smooth, let a healthy tan replace my usual pallor. I hadn't shaved my legs in ages, but that didn't matter – the hair receded and went away. Then my hair – my long, beautiful hair – vanished in a puff of butterflies.

Then I admired myself in the mirror, looking at my arms and my legs. They looked fine. They looked great. There was no reason I had to hide them. I could just skip the bodysuit...

I shook my head. No. No, I just wasn't ready yet. So I pulled the bodysuit on one more time, and then the minidress on over it. I had a few new additions this time: goggles, black and teardrop-shaped, meant to look like insect eyes. I didn't want to have a big, ugly strap for them, and as a humor villain I couldn't wear a full mask, so instead I'd decided to glue each lens to my face – it worked better than it sounded. Finally, I put on the newest addition to my costume: a blonde wig, styled in pigtails, two antennae rising up from it to end in two big black-and-yellow pompoms.

Even with the bodysuit, I looked pretty good. I summoned my bugs – three of my big sidekick bumblebees, plus a whole swarm of smaller ones – and walked across the warehouse, stopping in front of a set of double doors standing in the middle of the room, hinges nailed to a stack of crates.

One thing that was remarkably consistent in all the books I'd read, pretty much no matter what they were about, was practice, practice, practice. As often as you can, as much as you can, and as close to real life as you can. So I'd built this place. I'd taken stuff left around in the warehouse, and used it to set up an area I could build and rebuild to match whatever place I was planning to rob.

Today, I'd set it up as the interior of a bank, a scenario I'd copied out of a Doctor Roboto video. Her work were really helpful, because her MO was a lot like mine – she had minions, her goofy, malfunctioning robots, which were a lot like my bumbling bees. Our styles were very different – hers was a hammy, cackling-mad villainy, whereas I was angling for more of a cheerful obliviousness. But we'd operate similarly – hit similar targets, attacking in similar ways, so I could learn a lot from her.

I'd already filled up the bank with victims – more Taylors, each wearing a perfectly matched white shirt and sweatpants. There wasn't much point in practicing if I didn't have anyone to practice with, so it was lucky that I could make as many people as I wanted.

Besides, if I could keep a straight face while robbing a dozen of my own bodies, I could keep a straight face for anything.

I walked through the doors, my sidekick bees following behind me, my smaller ones swarming ahead of me to control the civilians.

"Hi!" I said, loud and chirpy. "I'm Bugsy, and I'm here to steal all the money in the vault. Don't like it? Talk to the bees!"

Yeah, I know. The name needs work.

~~

[ Taylor ]

I stood on the roof of the ice cream parlor, my costume skirt flapping in the wind, watching the sun set from behind the shop's giant ice cream cone sign.

It was finally time. My first real robbery. I'd been watching the shop for days. I'd copied its layout in my practice arena, and I must have run through the plan a hundred time. I had my lines prepared, my jokes, my bumblebee gags, everything. I'd thrown every complication I could think of at myself in the arena, all the way up to 'the entire Wards team was there in civvies.'

I'd even reworked my costume one last time – but not, for once, to make it tamer. It was frilly now, black lace around my arms, my neck, and the hem of my skirt. I'd added a fuzzy yellow-and-black choker around my neck, and the costume's yellow-and-black stripes now swirled and whorled across my body. It was lower-cut now. Perhaps the biggest change: I'd finally gotten rid of that horrible bodysuit. Yes, that was my real skin showing, my real legs and arms, and though the suit had to do a lot of pushing and padding, the cleavage was really mine, too. And I was actually starting to like it. I was starting to love it.

There was just something magnetic about changing like this. Before, I'd used to worry about someone finding me out – someone recognizing my build and my hair and putting two and two together. But this? No one would ever connect this skimpy blonde bumblebee to shy, pale, mousy, hoodie-wearing Taylor Hebert, and that felt amazing. I got a real thrill out of it – changing, becoming something new, almost like I did when I used my power. Except this was all me, my regular old human self. And, somehow, I was really pulling it off.

This was going to be the most important robbery of my career. My first impression. Everything started with this.

I walked to the edge of the roof, feeling the cool sea breeze blowing against my skin. I jumped off, shifting into a cloud of butterflies midair. When I shifted back, I was standing on the pavement outside, flanked by three of my giant bumblebees and a whole cloud of smaller ones.

Was I terrified? Sure. But that didn't matter. It was time. And I was ready.

I was Bumblebee.

~~~~~~

This series has been such a blast to write! I can't believe I've already moved this to its own thread. Thanks to everyone who's read and commented!

Also, congratulations to everyone who guessed that Taylor would be a comedy supervillain. I'm sure this isn't what most of you were expecting – I hope you like it. Because there's going to be a lot of fun ahead.

 

[FrozenOzean]

I never realised how much I wanted this...

So, who will fight her this time?

Anyway, great fourth chapter, please keep up the good work!

 

[Moliblazer]

Nice to see this getting it's own thread!

Loved the direction Taylor decided to go, too.

Watched for sure.


BTW, the Chapter 4 doesn't have a threadmark.

 

[Night_stalker]

So, who will fight her this time?

Click to shrink...

Turns out Rune was out for a cone of Rocky Road. She's not happy.

 

[Lunar]

Comedy supervillain Taylor without it being a crackfic?

tears of joy are flowing like a river from my eyes.

 

[Flairina]

I don't think I've ever seen a Worm story attempt a... well, "serious" take on Taylor's persona being ridiculous, if that makes any sense. Those few that there are are usually just crack of some form or other, so this is very unique. Not what I'd expected based on the previous chapters, but definitely something I'm eager to see more of.

 

[acctokeepuptodatewithff]

Hope she manages to pull of the comedy and it doesn't turn into bonesaw attempting to be cute.

 

[KillerFish]

Brilliant!

Taylor is stuck in the contract to be Emma's Nemesis, but is going to do her best to win whilst coming across like a bubbly cinnamon bun of evil(ish). Can't wait to see how this one goes!

 

[twocubes]

Given her occasional-anger at her whole schtick (implying a less-than-total commitment), and given the Worm universe's tendency to have things Suddenly Turn Serious (that might challenge that commitment),

Well, I just, have this picture in my mind of her bantering amusingly, making authority-figures pratfall with lines of silk, holding up a bank while giving everyone elaborate honey-based confectionary she's been working on...

...And then some rookie with a high Shaker rating and some Brute/Mover has the brilliant idea to turn all the walls to glass and punch them, resulting in tons of sharp glass everywhere maiming everybody, and Bumblebee's smile vanishes and her banter stops, as she wordlessly, methodically, destroys whoever it was in roughly 30 seconds while simultaneously shapeshifting into dozens of bumblebee-human hybrids to give everyone first aid.

(Probably not in a first outing, but it would make for good character development in the papers? "Beloved local villain is serious and responsible when things go bad", "A role model for the villain community?", "Local Villain given key to the city")

 

[Skittles]

Go Beacon!

 

[audriuska12]

Emma?
I think Clockblocker's going to steal your nemesis.

 

[KillerFish]

Emma?
I think Clockblocker's going to steal your nemesis.

Click to shrink...

HAH!

The PRT decides that Emma shouldn't be allowed to face Taylor as Clockblocker is obviously the best for facing off against her. And Emma gets called up on disciplinary actions for trying to solo Bumblebee.

 

[Quelau'un dans la nuit]

It would be particullary funny, if Sophia would wonder why Emma suddenly declare eternal vengence against Bumblebee and ask PRT for mental evaluation of her friend. Sophia turning into a reasonable one always makes me laugh.
Either way, wonder if Doctor will watch these Nemesis fights with buckets of Popcorn.

(Probably not in a first outing, but it would make for good character development in the papers? "Beloved local villain is serious and responsible when things go bad", "A role model for the villain community?", "Local Villain given key to the city")

Click to shrink...

Villan declare the saivor of the city after local Hero lost her mind and decide that raise the city to the ground just to get the villan is accptable.

 

[dycouza]

Gallant is going to be so uncomfortable once he gets a good look at her. This comedic young villain that's been charming civilians and heroes both (with one notable exception) is just radiating pure spite, hatred and vicious satisfaction at seeing the Wards humiliated. And then after the seventh fight little Bumblebee (who everyone thought dead at the hands of that Ward that was sent to the Birdcage) shows up again with a suitable edgy name and theme like Black Widow, or Plague, or Infestation.

Someone: *Shaking their head with a smile* "Why are you doing this?"
Bumblebee: *Suddenly utterly serious with a hateful glare* "Spite."

 

[Moliblazer]

Gallant is going to be so uncomfortable once he gets a good look at her. This comedic young villain that's been charming civilians and heroes both (with one notable exception) is just radiating pure spite, hatred and vicious satisfaction at seeing the Wards humiliated. And then after the seventh fight little Bumblebee (who everyone thought dead at the hands of that Ward that was sent to the Birdcage) shows up again with a suitable edgy name and theme like Black Widow, or Plague, or Infestation.

Someone: *Shaking their head with a smile* "Why are you doing this?"
Bumblebee: *Suddenly utterly serious with a hateful glare* "Spite."

Click to shrink...

Would Taylor join the Wards or at least become a hero in her new edgy persona, after Emma was Birdcaged?

 

[ShyGuy91]

Comedy villain huh. I didn't consider that. This sounds like it will be a blast. It will be interesting once Taylor's contract expires or she actually is forced to get serious for once. Say an Enbringer attacks or the S9 visit and she is forced to use all the power at her disposal instead of acting like a clumsy villain. The shock and spit takes would be amusing to see. But I think I will enjoy Taylor and comedy approach for now.

Your Nemesis contract has a limited duration. 10 weeks, 9 notoriety events, and 7 fights with your Nemesis client.

Click to shrink...

Also, Taylor only really has to fight Emma 7 times for the contract to be pretty much over. I can imagine her sticking with the comedy routine for the rest of her career unless things get serious.

 

[ChaoticSky]

Would Taylor join the Wards or at least become a hero in her new edgy persona, after Emma was Birdcaged?

Click to shrink...

Also, Taylor only really has to fight Emma 7 times for the contract to be pretty much over. I can imagine her sticking with the comedy routine for the rest of her career unless things get serious.

Click to shrink...

My theory is that shes going to join Cauldron. Her power would make her a serious asset and they kinda gave her hope, which is not to be underestimated. Dr Mom seems to favour her and would no doubt be proud of her for turning the situation to her advantage.

One last hurrah to make it look like Emma murdered her in front of lots of witnesses, and then vanish into the conspiracy.

 

[globalwarmth]

Brilliant!

Taylor is stuck in the contract to be Emma's Nemesis, but is going to do her best to win whilst coming across like a bubbly cinnamon bun of evil(ish). Can't wait to see how this one goes!

Click to shrink...

at the end of the contract she can go edgy af and blame Emma for the change.

I doubt she'll want to but she has the option.

 

[YoTuesday]

Would Taylor join the Wards or at least become a hero in her new edgy persona, after Emma was Birdcaged?

Click to shrink...

Honestly, I'd rather Emma doesn't got birdcaged or anything like that. I just hope that by the end of the seven fights she's looked at as incompetent or a head-case.

I'd also like to see Taylor at least go into her villain carrier planning to 'turn over a new leaf' after the seven fights are over with. Go talk to an out-of-town protectorate (maybe Boston or even Legend in NY) about turning herself in with a deal to become a Ward.

As for why I'd really like to see that - power testing.

So... '"Bumblebee" we see that you hadn't demonstrated everything you could do while you were a villain...' Looks back at an army of giant praying mantises shreding steel barriers as giant jumping spiders with stupid-huge fangs dart back and forth faster than the eye can follow. 'Your abilities are a bit more expansive than we expected.'

Taylor: "Thanks! I've been trying really hard!"

'We really don't see too much of a reason not to go for a plea bargain with Wards service, you aren't suspected of any truly heinous crimes and haven't been caught or convicted of anything yet. However, if you don't mind I'd like to ask why you decided to become a hero?'

Taylor: "Oh that's easy! I wanted this one Ward to stop bugging me!"

 

[Kemayo]

The whole comedy-villain-gets-serious thing is fun when it's pulled off well. The Flash's Rogues work pretty well for that sometimes, though generally in response to a less moral out of town villain trying to move in.

I don't think I've ever seen a Worm story attempt a... well, "serious" take on Taylor's persona being ridiculous, if that makes any sense. Those few that there are are usually just crack of some form or other, so this is very unique. Not what I'd expected based on the previous chapters, but definitely something I'm eager to see more of.

Click to shrink...

Pick A Card kinda does it. Hammy thief persona, driven by power-needs.

 

[Vinzzz001]

You got me with the ladybug thing. Totally thought she would go that way (as a nod to 'the miraculous adventures of ladybug an cat noir').

As a side note, I do hope Taylor is going to be holding back during the 7 fights to a ridiculous degree, before stopping at fight 8. Also she can blame Emma for her trigger event, as she wouldn't even be lying....

Gallant is going to be so uncomfortable once he gets a good look at her. This comedic young villain that's been charming civilians and heroes both (with one notable exception) is just radiating pure spite, hatred and vicious satisfaction at seeing the Wards humiliated. And then after the seventh fight little Bumblebee (who everyone thought dead at the hands of that Ward that was sent to the Birdcage) shows up again with a suitable edgy name and theme like Black Widow, or Plague, or Infestation.

Someone: *Shaking their head with a smile* "Why are you doing this?"
Bumblebee: *Suddenly utterly serious with a hateful glare* "Spite."

Click to shrink...

Or she could just stick to bees the first 7 fights, and switch up her persona after it. (becoming a 'new hero')