There was anger in the threat that caught me off guard.  Was it this miasma that had pushed her to that level of anger?

Y’know, when she put the word “paranoia” on it, I really thought she’d figured it out, but she hasn’t been acting like it.

I wasn’t feeling anything like that.  Had something about the way he had talked provoked her?  Or was that the norm for her?

Hmm. Y’know, I was assuming it just takes a little time to set in, but what if Taylor’s power makes her immune or resistant to toxins because of her affinity to bugs? Granted, she was still affected by the paralysis dust and partially affected by the anti-power elements in that…

I tried to think back to my prior experiences with her and found nothing.

As in, you don’t remember her acting anything like this, or you don’t remember your prior experiences at all?

The latter would be a result of the miasma trying to suppress anything in your memories that would tell you to trust people. This would also explain why Legend called her “little girl” rather than her name, if that’s not just an indication of disrespect.

(We do know Taylor remembered Vista from the Leviathan fight, at least before she ended up in the miasma.)

What was her name?

Yep, there we go, it’s setting in and removing all reason for Taylor to trust anyone.

That, apparently, was enough to get Legend’s attention.  He rose from the street level and surveyed the scene.  He’d taken off the hazmat-style mask and filter, and what little I could see of his expression was drawn.

Shit.

By the way, I concluded that he was affected when it became clear that one explanation could cover both him and his targets.

His eyes were narrowed, a vein stood out on his forehead, and he furtively looked from Vista to me and back again.

“Legend,” I started.  How was I supposed to address him when he was like this?  When I didn’t even know what was going on with them?

He probably thinks the two of them are conspiring or something.

Not that it mattered.  He raised one hand in my direction, and I veered away, taking evasive maneuvers.  It missed me by a foot, circled around and struck me off of Atlas before I could cancel out his momentum and change direction.

Yeeah, Taylor, this is not the best of situations.

“I just want to help.”

“Leave!”

Leaving is probably the best thing you can do for her right now.

She used her power, extending the pillar she had used to ascend to the rooftop.  It missed me by a wide margin, but the threat was clear enough.

“at least she wasn’t someone who could kill me”

I regretted it the instant I did it, but I moved forward to avoid any further movements from the shaft of asphalt.

Oh boy.

If I was going to fall, I wanted to land on the roof, instead of the alleyway a dozen stories below.

Fair enough, but then you’d be stuck on the roof with a paranoid Vista.

“No!”  The word was as much a scream as anything else.  She extended the shaft well over my head and then pinched it off so the top part fell.

Time to get the fuck out of the way!

I’d seen her fight Leviathan, and she’d done the same thing then, if on a somewhat bigger scale.  I had Atlas carry me out of the way and watched the teardrop shaped piece of asphalt crash to the floor of the alley.

Seriously. Do not underestimate her.

She whirled on the spot to look at me, then swiftly began backing away.

Yeah, I was under no impression that Vista would trust Taylor.

I raised my hands to show her I meant no harm, “Hold on!  I’m safe!”

Not gonna work.

“That’s just what they would say!”  She retorted.

They?

Bet you’re even among those who work to keep up the illusion that Bielefeld exists!

So does this paranoia instill the idea that everyone is some enemy in disguise, rather than that the person they actually are has turned on you?

“Who?  The Nine?  In what universe would I be a member of the Nine?”

Oh, I think there are some of those. The only reason you weren’t a nominee was that none of the people picking the nominees related specifically to you.

“Shut up!  Don’t try to convince me!  Just… just back off!  Leave me alone until all this stops!”

Assuming it will stop on its own.

She was breathing so hard I could see her shoulders rising and falling through the protective suit she wore.

A thought struck me.  It was working through the suit?  The mask had to have filters for smoke, why hadn’t it worked against this miasma?

Hm. I was going to argue, but I suppose that assumption makes sense considering they’re in suits meant to be used in a battle involving fire.

I could sense the ground bulge, spearing up in a pillar.

The ground, or the space containing it?

As the ground beneath them stretched in the pillar’s vicinity, others staggered or got disoriented.  At the pillar’s top, a roughed-up Vista bent the growth she’d created to place herself close to the rooftop and hopped down onto solid ground.  She coughed.

I’ll give you this, Bonesaw: You certainly made things interesting around here!

Seriously, out of all the ways to mess with a group of characters’ heads, paranoia is among the very best ones.

And Taylor’s teammates and friends are affected, too. If this is the extent of it, we might have quite an interesting Arc or so ahead of us of the Undertravelers being unable to cooperate properly.

Sunny’s gonna be an interesting case given her aversion to being alone mixing with an aversion to trusting others.

Okay, at least she wasn’t someone who could kill me if this went the wrong way.  I called out, “Vista!”

Are you sure about that, Taylor? She may not be able to squeeze you directly, but I wouldn’t underestimate her. Especially when she’s like this.

Paranoia?

Oh man, yes, that’s a good one! Everyone’s afraid of the rest attacking them, and either hiding so they can’t, or making sure to attack first. And this way, people won’t be able to cooperate well, which has been one of the biggest problems the Nine have faced in this city.

Weld, who I identified by his lack of a costume and the metal growths on his shoulders, was standing with his back to a wall.  His hands were blunt weapons, and he was swinging them through the air to threaten anyone who approached.

“Don’t you dare!”

“No, don’t you dare!”

A small figure who could only be Vista was backing away from two adults.  She got too close to Legend, and he fired a spray of laser blasts at her.

Hm. Can she do much to stop those with her power?

I suppose she could make space do a little twist and redirect the lasers, but this is Legend. He can just twist them right back.

None hurt her or penetrated her costume, but she staggered and fell.

Also lasers are fast. If fictional lasers were as fast as they physically should be, you wouldn’t be able to see them before they hit you.