“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”  Shadow Stalker didn’t elaborate too much further on the subject.  Leviathan had revealed the desperate, needy animal at the core of everyone in this city.  He’d made things honest.

…fair. Cynical, but fair.

Most were victims, sheep huddling together for security in numbers, or rats hiding in the shadows, avoiding attention.  Others were predators, going on the offensive, taking what they needed through violence or manipulation.

I guess she’s at least indirectly acknowledging that Taylor is a victim? Is it a good thing that she does that? I’m not so sure… it kinda sounds like she’s counting herself among the predators, and the victims as prey.

She didn’t care what category people fell into, so long as they didn’t get in her way, like Grue had a habit of doing.

How exactly does he get in your way, though?

Worse yet were those who seemed intent on irritating her by being lame and depressing, like Taylor or like Vista had been this past week.

Hey! First mention of Taylor by name in this Arc!

But yeah, if you could elaborate on what exactly your view of Taylor is and why you’re bullying her specifically, that would be appreciated.

They weren’t all bad.  The victim personality did have a habit of pissing her off, but she could let them be so long as the person or people in question stayed out of sight and out of mind, accepting their place without fight or fanfare.

Yeah right. Taylor’s been trying to do that for ages. It’s only recently she’s been getting more assertive, and that coincided with her literally getting out of your way by not going to school anymore.

There were some ‘predators’, she could admit, that were even useful.  Emma came to mind, the girl went a long way towards making life out of costume tolerable, and there was Director Piggot, who had kept her out of jail thus far, because she fit into the woman’s overarching agenda of PR and the illusion of a working system.

I mean, fair. It’s not like being a Ward seems to have improved things with Shadow Stalker the way it was supposed to.

Has it?

There was a need for that kind of person in society, someone willing to step on others to get to the top, do what was necessary, so they could keep the wheels spinning.

I guess.

Not all of them were so useful or tolerable, of course, but there were enough out there that she couldn’t say everyone with that kind of aggressive, manipulative psychology was a blight on society.

Sturgeon’s law as applied to social predators.

She could respect the Piggots and Emmas of the world, if only because they served as facilitators that allowed her to do what she did best, in costume and out, respectively.

Hmm. Emma functions as a facilitator? How? By providing you with a victim?

Silence hung on the line for a few long moments.

“I remember,” Emma spoke, a touch subdued.

Hm. It seems Emma isn’t quite as comfortable with this fact as Sophia seems to be.

Shadow Stalker chewed on her lower lip, watched a butch policewoman pull into the parking lot, then hand out coffees to the others on duty.

This seems to mirror what Sophia is talking about with the Wards – people with the duty to protect the city being concerned with more trivial things like coffee.

But yeah, Sophia should probably talk to Clockblocker more.

…on second thought, please don’t.

“If it weren’t for all the crying and the complaining, I would almost be glad Leviathan had attacked the city.  Tear away that fucking ridiculous veneer that covers everything.

…I suppose she does have a point. This city was always shitty, it’s just more physical now.

Get rid of those fucking fake smiles and social niceties and daily routines that everyone hides behind.”

That said, these things can be important in order to cope with living in a city like that.

“Two and a half more years, right?”  Emma asked, “Then you’re off probation, free to do your thing.”

How much freedom does that actually give her, though? Would she get to go solo and back to the old ways that got her on probation in the first place? …probably not the last part, I suppose.

“God, don’t remind me.  Makes me realize I’m not even halfway through it.  I can’t believe it’s already been this long, constantly hearing them bitch about dating, or clothes, or allowances, and every time I hear it it’s like, I want to scream in their face, fuck you, you little shit, shut the fuck up.  I’ve killed people, and then I washed the blood off my hands and went to school and acted normal the next day!”

Is that a thing to be proud of?

That didn’t stop her from returning to the subject, “Sure, some of them are older.  Some have more time in the field than me.  Maybe.  But they’re still children, living in their comfortable, cozy little worlds.  I dunno if you’ve seen what the city’s like now-”

Seriously, Sophia, you should read this Arc. Especially Clockblocker’s chapter.

“-I saw some on the news.” Emma interjected.

“Right.  Damaged, destroyed, fucked up.  

So Emma hasn’t been back to Brockton Bay since the Endbringer attack? I guess she was one of the early evacuees… if that’s true, that’s a pretty major development for Taylor, if she ever goes back to school.

I mean there’s still Sophia, Madison and their harplings, but while Sophia has found reasons of her own to hate Taylor, Emma really did seem to be the ringleader for the whole agenda against Taylor.

That said, it’s still possible that the whole thing stemmed from Sophia manipulating things so Emma would take a more negative view of her old bestie and thus stick to Sophia.

This is a place those kids visit, and they’re still convinced they can fix it.

Ah, I see, you’re a bit more pessimistic about all of this than the rest, and equating optimism with immaturity. Common fallacy, that.

I’ve lived with this all my life.  Waded through this shit from the beginning.  I know they’re deluding themselves.

…that’s an interesting comment. She’s definitely not talking literally about the Endbringer damage, unless she happens to be from somewhere else that got thrashed by Leviathan. So what exactly does she mean, then? What sort of childhood did she have?

So yeah, they’re immature, new to this, and I don’t know how long I can fucking put up with them.”

I’m not sure it’s what she’s talking about with “new to this”, but I wonder how long ago Sophia’s trigger event happened. Not to mention what it was.

“Which morons?  The Wards?”

“The Wards,” Shadow Stalker confirmed.  She sat down on the ledge.  “They’re children.”

Well yeah, kind of by definition. But that covers you too.

“Yeah,” Emma replied.  She didn’t prod for more information or clarification.  Shadow Stalker had gone over this before enough times, in one variation or another.

Honestly? I’m glad Sophia has Emma, in a way. I mean, of course it sucks for Taylor (because Emma’s a harpy herself, and clearly was already to some extent – I mean sure, people change, especially when prompted to by a new friend, but it takes some willingness to, even if that willingness is hidden beneath the surface), but it’s good that Sophia has someone to vent to when she needs it. We all need it from time to time.

…’course, that left Taylor without someone to vent to, but given what Emma has shown herself as willing to do with Taylor’s ventings, it might’ve been a good thing that she stopped venting to that particular person…

…though how can we know Emma wouldn’t be willing to do the same to Sophia if she were to get in with someone even cooler?

TL;DR we all need someone to vent to, fuck Emma, and I’m confused.

She got her smartphone and dialed Emma.

Oh, this could get interesting. What kinds of things do these two talk about when Taylor’s not around?

The phone automatically made the wireless connection to her earbud.

“Hey, superhero,” Emma answered.

Well, that’s a pretty damn solid confirmation of Taylor’s suspicions right there.

“How’s Portland?”

“Good food, good shopping, boring as hell.  I wish I could come back, hang out.”

Pretty standard pleasantries so far. Fair enough.

“I wish you to come back, too,” Shadow Stalker admitted, “These morons are fucking pissing me off, and I’m not getting enough breaks from it.  I don’t have the patience for this.”

I suppose Emma might to some extent function as the vent Vista tried to provide.

Before I get started on today’s chapter, here’s a thing that just occurred to me: 

If this Arc ends with an Interlude, or there’s one mid-Arc, it’ll probably be from Taylor’s POV. I mean, we’re having an Arc where the chapters are like the Interludes we’ve had before, so why would that Arc not end with an Interlude that’s like what used to be the normal chapters?