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The type of people who got up before 6 AM to go running were either serious fitness nuts or insane. Victoria Dallon liked to think she was in the former category, though her sister would likely call her the latter. Unfortunately for her, Amy wasn't much of a morning person — or as big into fitness as she was — so she had to go solo.
She found herself running along the Boardwalk by herself in the chilly February air. Even with her powers, she decided to stay in shape. Working out helped clear her head, she felt, and kept her grounded a bit. She had to turn her powers off to do so. Super strength and flight weren't really conducive to her goals in that regard.
As she ran, a tall, lanky girl with long dark hair caught her attention. She was doubled up, panting, holding onto the railing for dear life.
"Hey," Victoria said, slowing down to stop by her, "stand up straight and put your hands on your head. It'll help." Despite the fact she should have snuck up on her, the other girl didn't jump at all. She filed that away for another time, as the dark haired girl gave her a look. "No really, it'll help. Pulls your ribs up so there's more room for your lungs to expand and doesn't restrict your diaphragm as much. At least that's what I was told."
As the other girl finally took Victoria's advice, she couldn't help but notice how tall she was now that she wasn't doubled over.
"I guess you're right..." she muttered after finally catching her breath.
The blonde smiled. "Want a partner, by the way? I find running much more enjoyable when you're with someone else."
"Won't I hold you back?"
She waved the girl off. "Not a big deal. I'm all for helping people, you know?"
Suddenly, the girl's face lit up with recognition. "Wait a second! You're-"
Victoria held a hand up, cutting her off. "Yes, I am," she said, "Right now, though? I'm Victoria. The powers are off. Sort of have to be."
"Oh. I see."
"But seriously, it won't be a problem, at all."
"Alright, fine..."
The two kept on meeting at Taylor's house, with Taylor saying the fact that she was now running with Glory Girl helped put some of her dad's worries to rest. Once Taylor's cardio actually got to the point where they could hold a conversation while moving along the streets, Victoria made it pretty clear that she did not want to talk about cape stuff. It was one of the few escapes from her other life she still had, and she didn't want to ruin it. So they talked about everything else. Taylor started to open up a bit, admitting she had a rough time in school, and that the morning runs were turning into an escape for herself, too.
She was still quiet, though, for the most part, but Victoria figured it was more her personality showing than anything else now.
On a morning like all the others for the past few weeks, Victoria was waiting outside of Taylor's house, having flown there.
"Hello, Victoria," greeted Taylor as she stepped outside.
"Hey, Taylor."
And the two took off, as they did.
She must have been uncharacteristically silent, because Taylor went, "You're quiet today."
"Stuck in my head, that's all."
"You never struck me as the type to be introspective," she said, as they rounded a corner.
"Yeah, yeah.... I've... been thinking a lot lately."
Taylor hummed, "You, think?"
Victoria rolled her eyes. "Ha. Ha. I do, usually. Out of costume, anyway." She took a deep breath, then let it out. "I'm going to break the rule here. Ames snapped at me the other day, and for good reason."
"Oh?"
"Something about unreasonable force. She's... not wrong." Taylor said nothing, but didn't seem to be judging her, so she continued. "I... hurt some criminals to the point where Amy had to heal them, otherwise they would have likely died."
"And it's not heroic to kill people."
"Exactly! It sucks, Taylor, forgetting how strong I really am! I feel like I don't belong, sometimes! All the other heroes? They cause nowhere near the damage I do. I see all the nicknames, and it sucks! I'm constantly calling Amy for help!"
The dark haired girl hummed, then asked, "Do you feel like that, someday, you'll be 'unmasked' as a fake?"
"Yes!"
"Impostor syndrome."
"What?"
"Ok, how did she explain it... you know the phrase 'faking it till you make it', right?" Victoria nodded, and Taylor continued, "You're doing that, but you feel you'll never make it, and you'll be caught before you do."
"...Yeah... exactly that. I'm afraid that, one day, it's all going to fall apart on me, and I'll be exposed."
"I know how that goes..."
The blonde shook her head at her friend and gave her a gentle shoulder check to get her attention. She felt guilty that Taylor started down a spiral that was her fault. "Hey now, if you're telling me that this is you faking it till you made it here since I've met you, you're wrong. You're a genuinely sweet girl, who went through some rough shit. Fuck what they say, okay? They're wrong. You're a brilliant, observant, and someone I'm glad to call my friend."
Taylor looked at her, smiling softly as they turned onto the Boardwalk. "Thanks. You're a good friend, too."
The weeks turned into months, and the two became close, even starting to spend time together apart from their morning routine. Taylor took a few days off in April, saying she had a bad incident at school, and Victoria really wanted to face down her bullies for her partner, but was right back into the swing of things shortly after. The blonde had her own 'Ugh, life fucking sucks' moment in the fact that one of the minor gangs in the city decided to make a play at becoming major one by deciding to rob a bank one day, and debuted one of the most creepy villains of all time that was not a biotinker: a bug controller named Skitter. The Brute and the Master quickly became rivals.
Then, the Undersiders decided they had enough of being escape artist robbers and started pushing to claim territory — no doubt due to Skitter's influence, as well as Armsmaster taking Lung out. Despite the violent streets, Taylor seemed to not give up her habit, and neither did Victoria. Ever since the Brute had her confession, she started trying to hold herself back, to, at first, mixed success, but lately had found a good balance. She felt more confident in herself.
Today, though, was a day where she really wanted to cut loose, as her rival, now the leader of the Undersiders, was making a move, and she happened to intercept the insect controller.
Victoria flew at the Master, knowing that her shield would protect her from the swarm, and threw — by her extremely skewed standards — a very light punch. It was still enough to stagger the supervillain, and her rival's mask went flying off. Immediately, the swarm went into overdrive, obscuring the view of anyone looking at the two.
The hero froze when Skitter turned to look at her again. Taylor Hebert — her friend, the one person who never seemed to judge her at all, her partner — stood there.
"...No..." was all Victoria got out. The person she trusted more than anyone else couldn't be the Bay's Teen Warlord!
"I'm sorry, Victoria," she said, voice completely flat, "but this is me." The swarm was going insane, almost like Skitter, Taylor, was shoving all her emotions into it.
"Y... you... you're Skitter?" she asked in disbelief, staring at her friend.
A few bugs picked up the fallen mask and dropped it into her hand. The villain nodded before reaffixing her mask and admitted, "...Yes, Victoria. I am."
"I... Why? Why did you help me?"
"Because," she paused, then said, barely audible over the din of her swarm, "We're the same. I told you this already. We both put on an air of confidence in costume, but behind the masks — metaphorical in your case — we're both hurting. I'll see you tomorrow. Or not — you decide what you want to do." She turned to leave, leaving a shocked Glory Girl floating there.
Victoria wasn't going to let Skitter win, so she showed up at Taylor's house anyway. She figured if Taylor was Skitter since the villain debuted, then she had plenty of time to ambush her during their runs, but didn't. The Master gave her a slight nod, accepting that the Brute was going to be running with her today, as they had for months prior. The silence, however, grew unbearable, with Victoria struggling to find words, and Taylor simply being focused on the run.
"Taylor… Can we talk, privately?" she asked, having enough of her friend's excessive silence and figuring out what she wanted to say.
"Sure. Fine," came Taylor's flippant answer as she came to a stop on the Boardwalk, not far from where the two first met. The blonde knew her partner was probably searching for a private place with her swarm, but she had other ideas. Victoria growled, grabbed Taylor, and immediately flew hundreds of feet into the air. Figuring they were far enough away from anyone, she stopped after a few seconds, relaxing her grip a little.
Taylor was reserved, in her experience. The bullying probably did that to her, though the Brute did wonder how much of that was also her experience as the extremely calm and emotionless Skitter on top of it.
…This Taylor looked to be in the midst of a full blown panic attack. It was the most expressive Victoria had ever seen the tall girl, and it terrified her.
"PUT ME DOWN!" she screamed.
"Taylor, what's going on?!" Now Victoria was panicking herself, but had to keep herself calm lest she dropped her friend.
"You cut me off from my bugs! You basically cut my arm off! "
"Oh fuck, sorry!" she shouted as she dove down, holding Taylor close again. As they got closer to the ground, she asked, "Is there any place that would be best?"
The ravenette gave her a street corner, and the Brute flew straight to it, then landed on a building that Taylor pointed out at the intersection. It wasn't until Victoria was sure that Taylor was able to stay upright that she actually let go of the girl.
Who then promptly punched her. "Never do that again!" Taylor shouted. Her voice had less of an edge to it, but it was still there. It must have been the building where her infamous swarm was kept when she was in civvies, because it was shaking under them.
"Look, I said I'm sorry!" said Victoria, floating off the roof without thinking.
"Imagine if someone took your flight away. When was the last time you actually walked? You know, with your own two feet on the ground?"
That question caught Victoria off guard. "...Willingly?" she asked, needing the clarification.
The taller girl nodded. "I know you fly to my house before we go running together, so I know you don't do it then. While you're waiting for me, your feet aren't on the ground. As soon as we're done? You're hovering. You're floating now, and you don't seem to realize you are!"
Victoria winced at that. "When we went running right before this. But that doesn't count, does it?"
"No." Taylor answered bluntly. "If you can imagine losing your flight and how much it would suck, then you can also imagine just that with what you did now. "
The blonde looked down in shame. The thought of her not being able to fly, more than any of her powers, shook her. "I don't, not willingly, not anymore. I just... don't. Mom hates it, but if I could, apart from when I'm exercising, I'd fly or float all the time and not even give it a second thought." She let out a sad chuckle. "You know, that first night, after I triggered? I ended up sleeping on the ceiling. I've woken up sleeping against my walls as well. Gravity means nothing to me anymore except 'Oh, it's a thing for other people.'"
Taylor sighed and shook her head, her emotions finally under wraps again. "So you get it. You know full well how deeply your powers become you, and you can become your powers, even from day one."
"Yeah... I'm seriously sorry about that, Taylor."
"It... happened. You didn't know." Her voice had gone completely flat.
"And you need to stop doing your Skitter impersonation!" Victoria looked around, then lowered her voice when she saw the area was empty, "Yes I know you're her, but shit, it's why I wanted to talk to you privately! "
"Well, there's no one here, I can tell you that."
"Ok, Miss 'I know my surroundings perfectly.'" Victoria sighed. "I... fuck. I don't know. Yesterday caught me off guard. I didn't expect a friend of mine to be a gods-damned Warlord in her spare time."
"I didn't expect to be either, but they never gave me a chance to be a hero. "
"You're shitting me."
"No. My first costume was similar to my current one, so Armsmaster thought I was a villain. Despite taking out Lung."
"I knew that him taking out Lung by himself was bullshit!"
"So yes, I got shunned from day one of being a cape. And I fully expect you to do the same thing, Victoria."
"No. I won't."
Taylor leveled the blonde with a look. "And why won't you? Everyone else has, except my team. I can't even be honest with my dad anymore."
Victoria floated over to Taylor, bringing herself up to eye level with the taller girl. "Because... ugh. You want to know why?"
"Sure, enlighten me."
"You saw me as Victoria, not Glory Girl. I can tell when people want to be friends with me because of what I am, not who I am. You saw me. You've helped me with my self-esteem issues. You may be a villain in your night job, but behind the mask, and I meant it and still mean it now, Taylor, you're a very, very sweet girl." Taylor looked at Victoria, expression blank. The blonde knew she was deep into Skitter mode now. "You know what, fuck it. The biggest reason? I ended up getting a huge crush on you, ok? And even now, I don't really care, knowing who you are."
And Taylor's facade broke.
The taller girl seemed to cycle through emotions, before settling on shocked and finally going, "Why?! I'm a villain, Victoria! I do 'evil' things!"
"And I don't fucking care! I don't! Why should I care that you are?!"
"You'd get in trouble!"
"And? How often have I caused more damage 'saving the day' than the criminals in question? Remember when we first met in costume? The report was, 'Glory Girl did more damage to the bank than the Undersiders!' Sure, they buried the shit out of it, but I'm not innocent, Taylor!"
The Master's frustration was starting to show. Deep down, Victoria was glad that she got to crack Skitter like this, but at the same time, she wished the circumstances were different. "Why the hell should I drag you down further then? You're the darling of all the heroes in the damn city! Why should I do that to someone I care deeply about? "
"And why should I let someone I deeply care about face this city alone, Taylor? Sure, we may be on opposite damn sides, but let's be completely honest — you're a thousand times better than all the other gangs in this damn city. You actually give a shit about the people in it!"
"And you're one of those people, Victoria, so don't forget that."
"I know, and so are you."
Taylor let out a sigh, looking at the blonde. "So… What now? This is going nowhere, so what do you want from me?"
"A date."
"... Are you fucking with me?"
"No, I'm not. I honestly want to take you out on a date."
The ravenette locked up, clearly not knowing what to say. Victoria could hear the swarm below them going nuts as her friend shoved as much emotion away as possible. "...I'd like that, yeah..." she finally got out.
The two sat on the roof — with Victoria actually seated, not floating — leaning on each other and looking over the Bay.
"You know, I wasn't expecting you to be," she turned to Taylor with a grin, "copacetic about this whole thing."
Taylor rolled her eyes but pulled Victoria closer. The blonde was glad that her now-girlfriend was showing a bit more emotion than before — she was back to Taylor levels, not Skitter. "Truth is stranger than fiction."
"I want to know why Hemingway cracked." That got an eyebrow raise from Taylor. "What?"
"Bad Religion, really?"
"Yup! Ames got me into them. But think about how the Bay's darling teen hero and menacing teen warlord are dating now. Especially after how we first met in costume."
Taylor hummed. "It will be awkward."
"It'll work, somehow."
"We always could use a little muscle, you know."
"Sorry, but I can't," Victoria said, but without a hint of sadness. "I'm a lot of muscle."
Taylor groaned, but she still smiled. "So I thought you were straight, you know?" she confessed.
"Nah, lesbian as fuck."
Taylor stared at her. "I... didn't expect that," she admitted.
Victoria let out a laugh. "Always had a thing for girls. Boys? They're good and all, but dating one? Nah."
"Dean?"
"Dean's gay, too. He has the hots for Carlos, and they're actually dating but are keeping it quiet. Our usual breakups were pretty much a way to distract people from that."
"Beards, huh?"
"Beards. Amy's a lesbian too, but she's married to her work, unfortunately. I can drag her away sometimes, though, to be Carlos' beard."
"Maybe we should kidnap her to force her to take a proper break."
"Taylor, I know you're the Warlord of the Bay and all, but no kidnapping my sister, dammit."
"I won't."
"Good."
"I'll have Tattletale do it."
" Taylor. "
"Fine, we'll let her be."
"So, ready to make your debut?" asked Taylor.
Victoria took a deep breath, putting the last bits of her new costume on. "Yeah." The Brute finished pulling her gloves on, flexing her fingers a bit to get them to sit right. A bull-shaped mask rested on top of her head, ready to be put on properly, and the rest of the costume was a muddy brown on top, black on the bottom, with armor panels to help in case her shield dropped. Spider silk was awesome, she decided.
"I told you I would end up dragging you down," came Taylor's sad voice. She was almost ready to go, her own mask also resting on her head.
The blonde shook her head. "And I've enjoyed every damn second of it, Skitter." She used her girlfriend's cape name, since they were all but fully costumed at this point. "I told you: you've done more for this damn city than pretty much anyone else, including the PRT! Plus, I get to spend it with you." As if on cue, the shorter girl floated up to kiss her girlfriend on the cheek.
The other blonde in the gang made a gagging sound, much to the amusement of the rest. "Are you two done flirting, or can we get this damn show on the road? I want to see if Glory Hole can actually do what she claims she can and rip a vault door off its hinges."
"One, you probably know the result already, and two, it's Minotaur now — and it was you who gave me the damn name!"
Lisa's face shifted into her classic vulpine smirk. "First, I don't use my powers on bets within the team. Second, It's a callback to you effectively being a bull in a china shop, not that you haven't stopped being one — be glad that Skitter steered me away from 'Taurus'." She winked. "Really, we should have gone with Aries, since you're going to be our battering ram. Oh well."
Victoria rolled her eyes despite the smile on her face, then faced her girlfriend. "Hey, Skitter, even though we have a date later... is it ok if I cheat on you with a vault door? We're going to get very up close and personal," she stated, grinning, as well as making a show of cracking her knuckles before pulling her mask over her face.
"Sure, just don't be late tonight."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Let's go."