With Great Power: A Peek Behind The Curtain

Taylor swung through the air in tight arcs, eyes half darting around at her surroundings and half-glued to the glowing red line of the GPS on the phone in her hand. Her danger sense told her when she strayed too close to obstacles and her natural skill with swinging took care of the rest.

Close behind her, Glory Girl drifted through the air, practically sticking in Taylor's shadow as she followed the heroine without any effort at all. Her method of travel didn't require any sort of effort on her part, and she looked like she was taking a leisurely stroll compared to Taylor's frantic swings.

“You know,” Emma’s voice crackled into Taylor’s ear, , “it’s kind of disgusting how effortlessly she makes that look. You’re over there doing Olympic-level gymnastics just to stay airborne, and she’s basically a human blimp with better hair.”

Taylor glanced over her shoulder, watching her friend bank effortlessly around a water tower without moving a single muscle. Tell me about it, Taylor thought.

Glory Girl seemed to sense her eyes and floated up until she was level with Taylor, her face splitting into a sunny grin

“Sooo…” Glory Girl began, a playful lilt in her voice. “I heard through the digital grapevine that someone took down an Empire dogfighting ring the other night. And apparently, they left behind all sorts of residue.”

Emma’s voice immediately dead-panned in Taylor’s ear. “Residue, ugh. A million things to call it and she went with that?”

Taylor silently agreed with her, a tinge of disgust entering her voice as she fired another line. “Can we please not call it that? Please? Residue is up there with the word moist on my list of most awful things to utter on public.”

Glory Girl let out a laugh, rolling onto her back as she stared at Taylor upside-down. “So it was you! I’m impressed, Spidey. Most rookies get their shit rocked before they manage to do half of what you've done, but it looks like you’ve managed to avoid the worst of it, huh?”

Taylor winced, her shoulder giving a dull throb beneath her suit. Emma didn't miss the opportunity to twist the knife, letting out a sharp, mocking snort in the earbud.

Glory Girl’s smile faltered instantly. She dipped lower in the air, her face falling into a mask of concern. “Or not? What's up?”

Face twisting slightly, Taylor slowed her pace, landing on the edge of a six level parking garage. She reached up with her left hand and traced a path along her right shoulder. The wound was almost gone, but the image of what had been there was still fresh in her mind.

“Cricket was there,” Taylor said, her voice low. “She got me pretty good. I had to run away when more of them showed up with guns. It wasn't exactly a victory.”

Glory Girl floated beside her, eying the area she was caressing.

“Shit,” she muttered, wincing in sympathy. “Yeah, Cricket can be nasty. If you don’t know how to deal with her, she can really carve you up. I’m just glad you didn't try to keep fighting after something like that. Most newbies would have.”

Taylor looked at her, tilted her head. “I don't think I could have even if I wanted to. I could barely see straight after she cut me up.” She paused, looking out over the Docks. “Do people usually keep fighting after they've been hit like that?”

Glory Girl gave a grave, knowing nod. “It might surprise you, but most people who put on spandex and go around at night punching people aren’t exactly what you’d call ‘stable.’ Adrenaline is a hell of a drug, and some capes have a complex about losing. You’ve worked with Shadow Stalker before, right?”

Taylor mentally conceded the point.

“See?” Emma chimed in. “At least you aren't a total moron. Though, to be fair, being heroic to the point of being almost suicidal isn't really much of an upgrade.”

Taylor clicked her tongue, “I learned my lesson. I’m being careful now.”

“Uh-huh,” Emma snorted. The sound was followed by a sudden crunch that made Taylor physically flinch as the sound of a potato chip being obliterated by a human jaw echoed through Taylor’s skull like a gunshot.

“Hey!” Taylor hissed, rubbing her ear through her hood. “That’s right in my ear! Stop it!”

“That’s the point, Tay,” Emma said smugly, followed by another deliberate crunch. “Consider it a reminder to stay humble.”

Taylor mumbled several very mean, very creative words under her breath before jumping as Glory Girl poked her on the shoulder. She whipped her head towards the heroine and the girl pointer at her own ear, a look of curiosity on her face. “So Who are you talking to in there? Or did you just manage to develop psychosis while I was talking to you?”

A swell of embarrassment hit Taylor as she realized how insane she must look. She reached up, pulling her hood and a few strands of hair back just enough to reveal the small, glowing blue lights of her earbuds.

“I’ve got someone back home helping out back home.”

“Making sure you don't do anything stupid, you mean.”

Glory Girl’s eyes were interested as she leaned in close examining the earbud intently. “Ooh, a man in the chair, huh? Very professional.”

Emma let out a loud, disgusted scoff that was so sharp Taylor actually winced.

Glory Girl didn't seem to notice, leaning back in the air and crossing her arms like she was leaning against a solid wall. “So is that like a one off or are you planning to expand this little outfit?”

Taylor snorted, her confidence returning. “Yeah, that’s exactly it. I’m building a team of vigilantes bent on protecting the common man of Brockton Bay. Might even bring in some people from outside the city just for diversity.”

Glory Girl made a show of looking impressed. “Am I invited? I’ve got a pretty good resume. I can move heavy objects and I look great in photos.”

Taylor shook her head instantly. “Unaffiliated heroes only, I’m afraid. If you decide to leave New Wave, we can talk.”

Glory Girl made a show of rubbing her chin in deep thought. “Hmm. I’ve been with them for a while… How's your dental plan?”

Taylor smiled brightly behind her mask. “Oh, it’s great. You get to keep as many teeth as you can collect from the bad guys.”

Glory Girl let out a sharp laugh that echoed off the walls of the parking garage, “Oh, well that's good! I was thinking of making a necklace but my current plan is super stingy.”

Their light banter continued as they resumed their journey towards the Docks. As they reached their destination however, guided by the GPS, that friendly air died a sudden death.

Taylor was expecting a storage facility – some kind of warehouse or maybe a factory that hadn't been used in ages. Instead, they arrived to the sight of a rotted out husk of a boathouse, full to the brim with abandoned shipping containers that were utterly exposed to the elements thanks to the caved-in roof and rusted frame.

Taylor landed on the rusted arm of a crane long since abandoned, her eyes narrowing behind her goggles as she took in the location. The building was wide open, the massive bay doors hanging off their hinges. Inside, the dim light glinted off something that made her stomach do a sick summersault.

Shipping containers were lined up in the center of the floor, but they weren't full of cargo. They had been modified with thick iron bars that were placed just inside the entrance where the doors swung open.

“Are those… cages?” Glory Girl’s voice was whispered, landing beside Taylor. Taylor nodded silently, her fingers digging into the metal below her as she watched the scene unfold below.

She could see more bands like the one she had taken down further in, surrounded by boxes of electronics, but they had completely fallen out of her interest as she eyed the far more interesting ‘cargo’. Though even the thought of calling living, breathing humans cargo made her feel sick.

“The ABB must be involved with this, right?” Emma whispered in her ears, “The guys you took down weren't wearing their colors but nobody else in the city does shit like this.”

ABB or not, we have to do something, Taylor thought, her eyes narrowing as she watched people walking around down below. They were armed but not wearing any gang colors, at least none that she could see.

“Call the police and send them our way,” Taylor spoke into the microphone at her collar. She then turned to Glory Girl, “We need to get down there and help them.”

“You read my mind.” Glory Girl nodded firmly, floating a little closer so she could be heard without raising her voice. “How are we doing this? If we're loud, they might take hostages.”

Taylo took in the scene down below, pointing at a less populated area of the yard where one of the building’s fee intact walls blocked entry, “I can start from there and work my way inside. I'll take out the ones near the cages and then give you a signal so you can work on the rest. I should be able to get them away while you're distracting the rest of these guys.”

Glory Girl nodded, her face set in a grim mask, but before she could respond, she was interrupted by the screech of tires on pavement.

The heroines turned as three black, unmarked cars roared into the yard, skidding to a halt near the entrance. Before Taylor or Glory Girl could move, the doors flew open and several men in grey tactical gear stepped out.

Taylor's eyes caught on their uniforms immediately. Completely grey with full helmets and opaque visors, each and every one of them looked completely the same down to the number of grenades on their belt. They were armed to the teeth and moved with purpose, like they had done this a million times before, or at least practiced it.

They didn’t yell or offer any warnings, simply raised their weapons and opened fire on the men standing guard outside before they had time to even register their presence.

It was a massacre. The men, caught completely off-guard, were cut down with a brutal efficiency that Taylor had never seen before. These guys moved like a cohesive unit, clearing the yard in seconds like they were some kind of elite military squad, and even though there were only a few of them, not a single one of them were injured as they stepped into the warehouse.

Popping gunfire echoed through the night as the men inside widened up to the attack and fought back, and Taylor's heart thudded in her chest as she worried about the girls in the cages.

“We need to get in there,” Glory Girl whispered, her fists clenched at her side.

“Right. I’m going for the cages,” Taylor said, leaping off the crane. “Cover me!”

They moved as one. While the two groups of criminals traded lead, Glory Girl dropped into the center of the warehouse like a rocket, her presence drawing the attention of the few guards left near the containers. Taylor followed after her, watching her as she fired webs that jerked weapons out of hands and pinned thugs to the rusted steel containers.

Taylor dropped down to the first cage, her fingers blurring as she ripped the heavy padlock in half like it was made of plastic. The girls inside were scared and almost naked, and they huddled together, staring at her with wide eyes.

“Run! Out the back, toward the buildings!” Taylor urged, pointing to the rear exit. “The police are coming! Just keep running!”

Behind her, Glory Girl was a white blur, tossing men aside like they weighed nothing as she cleared a path. The women looked at her and then the heroine behind her and did as she told, running for the exits like their lives depended on it. Glory Girl made sure to cover their escape, pushing a container into their path as they made for the exit.

Once they were gone, Taylor moved onto the next crate and did the same thing. They were making progress, freeing cage after cage, until after the last one was emptied and Taylor looked toward the front of the warehouse.

Her heart dropped at what she saw. The men in grey were loading into a van full of boxes bulging with tech. That wouldn't have been a concern, but there was also a girl inside, clearly there long before the men had arrived. They didn't pay her any kind, slamming the doors shut and getting into the cab. They peeled out a moment later, followed by several more vans and the cars that they had arrived in.

Taylor ran after them, calling back to earn her friend. “Glory Girl! They took one! I'm going after her!”

“Go! I’ve got this!” the heroine shouted back, punching through a crate to get to the next container.

Taylor jumped into the air and launched herself off a stack of pallets as she propelled herself through the broken roof. She landed outside just in time to catch the tail end of the van peeling around the corner, closely followed by three others. She didn't hesitate, firing a web-line at a streetlamp and swinging herself into the air.

She moved faster than before, motivated by adrenaline and the images of the scared girls in the cages. She didn't have time to be careful or doubt herself, slinging webs as she swung low over the road, the van weaving through the narrow Dock streets below her.

A man leaned out of the window of the van she was chasing, opening fire. Taylor twisted in mid-air, the bullets whistling past her hood, but she didn't slow down at all. Aiming with one hand, She fired a web, snagging the shooter’s vest and yanking him bodily out of the moving vehicle. He hit the road with a thud and she webbed him to a brick wall in one smooth motion.

“Taylor, we've got a problem!” Emma’s voice rang in her ear. “I’m looking at the map. That road ends in a dead end in less than a block and they're not slowing down.”

Taylor looked ahead. The van was flooring it, heading straight for the side of a massive, half-finished concrete building at the end of the street. There weren't any side streets or alleys they could turn into, but that didn't seem to be stopping them.

Are they just planning to crash into it? Taylor wondered, eyes narrowing. She needed to get that woman out of there now.

Taylor's wrist ached as she slung herself forward as hard as she could. In the air, she fire two lines, pulling herself forward with a burst of speed that strained her arm muscles. She landed on the back of the van, her fingers sticking to the metal as the back wheels spun to compensate for her weight.

The door was locked, but she didn't have time to mess with it. She flicked her wrist, attaching a web to the door and another to the street underneath her as she passed it by at almost a hundred miles an hour. Her web went taut and the door was ripped off with a loud shriek that was echoed by the woman inside.

The van spun but Taylor kept her balance, reaching inside to grab the petite woman by her waist. She stared at Taylor with wide green eyes, and the heroine did her best to sound reassuring in the heat of the moment.

“I’ve got you! You're safe now!” Taylor grunted. With a powerful heave, she pulled the girl out of the van. She kicked off, leaping high into the air before firing a line at the side of a nearby apartment building and swinging them across the street.

She dangled there, the girl clutched tightly to her chest with terrified whimpers as Taylor held her close. The heroine watched down below as the vans continued onward, undeterred now that she wasn't among them.

They zoomed towards the end of the street, their tires spinning as the asphalt turned to dirt beneath them. Taylor watched, expecting to hear the sound of metal being crushed like tin, when a hum like a vibrating drum began thrumming through her bones.

The whole street seemed to shake as the vehicles accelerated straight into the side of the building. Just as the chrome hit the concrete, a thunderclap resounded throughout the street, a sound so loud it vibrated in Taylor’s teeth. A flash of bright blue light, shaped like a perfect sphere, consumed the vehicles for a micro-second.

When the light faded, the cars were gone. There was no wreckage, no debris, and no sound. Just an empty street and the smell of kicked up dirt.

“What was that?” Taylor whispered, staring at the spot the vans had disappeared.

“I don’t know,” Emma said, sounding perplexed. “But I've got it all recorded. We can look at it later. For now, you need to deal with her.”

The woman in Taylor’s arms was shivering, her small hands clutching Taylor’s suit. Taylor shifted her grip, trying to be as gentle as possible. “It’s okay. You’re safe now. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

She lowered them down to the ground, landing softly on the cracked sidewalk. Taylor kept her arm around the girl’s shoulder as Glory Girl appeared in the sky above, descending slowly.

“Widow! Are you okay? I saw that light from three blocks away,” Glory Girl asked, landing and looking around the empty street. “Where did they go?”

“They disappeared,” Taylor said, her voice confused and slightly frustrated. “Some kind of power took them away in a flash of light before they crashed into the building.”

Sirens began to scream in the distance, the red and blue lights reflecting off the warehouse windows a few blocks over. Taylor looked down at the woman.

“The police are here. We'll bring you back to them, alright?” Taylor said softly, earning a small, shaky nod. She looked at Glory Girl. “Do you want to go with her or me? The ride will probably be smoother if you ride with her.”

“Smoothest flight you'll ever have,” Glory Girl jokes, trying to add a bit of brevity to the situation. The woman looked at her, before stepping closer to Taylor and clutching her hand. It seemed she felt safer with the one who rescued her.

“Alright” Taylor voiced softly. “With me then.”

Taylor picked the girl up and jumped into the air, swinging back toward the warehouse in soft, lazy arcs so she didn't jostle the woman too much. Glory Girl followed, quieter than usual.

When they arrived, the yard was swarming with police. The injured were being helped into ambulances, and the freed girls were being gathered together. The police had already begun taking statements from the men hadn't escaped or been killed by the tactical team.

Taylor set the woman down near a female officer who wrapped a blanket around her and began to usher her away. The woman lingered for a second, looking up at Taylor with teary eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Taylor nodded, her chest feeling tight. “You’re welcome.”

As the girl was led away, Glory Girl sidled up to Taylor, watching the chaotic scene. “You did good today, Widow. Real good.”

Taylor watched the police gather the people in cuffs, her mind still stuck on that blue light and the men in grey. “It doesn't feel like it’s over.”

“Maybe not,” Glory Girl said, clapping her on the shoulder. “But it's done for right now. The girls are safe and these assholes are done for. Take the win where you can get it, yeah?”

Taylor managed a small smile under her mask. “Yeah. You're right. We do good work together.”

“And don't you forget it.” Glory Girl clapped her on the back, lifting off into the air. “I need to get going but it was a pleasure as always, Spidey. I'll see you around.”

Taylor waved after Glory Girl as she shot into the night, but as the girl disappeared, the smile quickly fell from her face.

She had done good, saved all of those women and nobody who didn't deserve it got hurt, but she had the distinct feeling she had just stepped into something much larger than she had intended.

“Emma, I'm coming back.” Taylor whispered, slipping away from the crowd of police before they had time to question her. “We need to look over that footage.”