The Rise of Marquis 11.2 (Patreon)

The Rise of Marquis
11.2: Taylor Interlude

-VB-

Taylor huffed as she walked around in the night. Normally in Brockton Bay, this would be something no one would think about doing because of how dangerous the city was. However, she lived in part of the city that was ruled by the Marche and the Marquis, arguably the second safest portion of the city.

Here, any untoward action towards women was …

Let’s just say that rape was dealt with by castration, summary execution style.

The Marche itself was a very “healthy” organization for a criminal gang. She personally knew of a few of its members who were from her middle school. They joined the Marche because the Marquis-led criminal gang paid decently without demanding the grunts to do horrible things - like pushing drugs to kids (Merchants).

It could even be said that all other gangs in the city were part of the transition that was the whirlpool of Brockton Bay’s cape and criminal scene with the Marche and the PRT/Protectorate ENE being the only “rocks” that remained in place.

She personally didn’t care about the Marche, if only because she knew that her mother was working for them.

God, hadn’t that been a shock.

She still hadn’t told mom that, because mom was …

Well, mom spent a lot of time in the bedroom with dad ever since the car crash that almost killed her.

What did mom say about that?

Oh, right.

‘Nothing like a near-death experience to shake the dust off the sex drive!’

Taylor shuddered. She’d walked in on them once, and her mind was scarred. Was that a normal experience? Walking in on their parents? She knew Emma experienced it, too, but no one else did.

It was a horror only they knew among their friends.

She paused in her mental rambling when she heard someone screaming.

She looked towards the direction that the scream came from and debated very briefly. Tonight wasn’t the night she had planned to debut on, but if someone was in trouble, then what could she do but act?

Certainly, dad and mom would act.

With a flicker of a mental switch, her power rose up like a spring well freshly unearthed. From all of her pores, blood began to seep out without causing her to lose any of her blood.

She screamed at her mom’s broken form inside the ruined car. Still breathing and alive but leaking blood everywhere.

Dad tried his best to cover her eyes, to keep the image on the TV from her, but it was too late. Dad was shouting at no one about who would put that video on local TV.

She screamed.

She caused that.

She made mom suffer.

Blood. Blood. Blood. Bloodbloodlbloodblooddrippingblood

Drippingpoolingbloodmomsbloodmommommommomomomomomomomomomomo-

She screamed even louder as something snapped inside of her.

She shuddered.

Blood flowed all around her and began to coalesce around her body. It hardened quickly, becoming almost crystalline. Armor formed around her head, neck, and upper body. Blades of blood grew from her shoulders before breaking off and flying lazily around her. Clawed gauntlets, thigh and shin guards with spikes, and even boob guards… even though she didn’t have boobs to speak of.

She was ready.

She crouched down and then took off on a jump towards the scream.

Her hair fluttered on her back on her way up and then fluttered above her head as she came down. She didn’t even need to touch down in a three-point landing to bleed off the energy of a one kilometer jump. That’s how bullshit her power was.

Before her was …

“Lung!”

Her call caught the attention of the flaming half-dragon cape. He turned towards her, leaving a charred body of a woman on the ground. Taylor’s eyes widened at the sight of it, and her teeth gritted.

But her chest was still heaving up and down.

With a burst of movement, she sped in, scooped up the dying woman, and then pulled back out all before anyone noticed what she’d done.

Her power was bullshit like that.

“‘ive the ‘ief back!” he roared even as she let a part of her armor melt and let the fresh blood drop on the woman. The blood seeped into their skin and began to heal her.

Her power was quite ridiculous.

She snapped her attention back to Lung as the now ten feet tall man charged at her and snarled.

“EN GARDE!”

The blades that had been lazily orbiting around her froze. More blades spewed out of her armor until there were a hundred.

“RIPOSTE!”

And all hundred blades turned and plunged forward with a whistle each, making the street they were on sound like a windy alley. Lung roared as the blades plunged into him and stopped him cold, but before he could pull them out, the blood blades screeched as the blades began to crystalize outwards like crystal condensing from a supersaturated solution.

The asian gangster choked on his own spit as those hundred blades began to connect with each other, pierce other areas, and start to bind and hold him down.

Taylor thought she might have actually won against Lung of all people.

But then the draconic gangster suddenly bulged in size and broke free.

Clicking her teeth, she grabbed the woman…

And ran.

Because as her mom always said “responsibility before entertainment,” and by rescuing this woman, she’d taken on the responsibility of continuing to keep her alive.

She ignored Lung’s demand for her to return and fight like a man.

Idiot. She was clearly a woman. Her boob armor declared so!

When she got home…

Mom was there to greet her with exasperated eyes.

“Really?” she asked. “You didn’t tell me that you had powers?”

Drats.