Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/9786776.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage, Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Rape/Non-Con
  Category:
      F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other
  Fandom:
      Worm_-_Wildbow
  Relationship:
      Taylor_Hebert/????
  Character:
      Taylor_Hebert, OCs, Leet_(Worm), Squealer_(Worm), Über_(Worm), Sophia
      Hess_(Worm), Emma_Barnes_(Worm), Madison_Clements
  Additional Tags:
      Mind_Control, Trans_Character, POV_Female_Character, Harem, Pairings
      everywhere, Pansexual, POV_Third_Person, Threats_of_Rape/Non-Con
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-02-16 Updated: 2017-06-06 Chapters: 5/? Words: 9443
****** Enthralled ******
by Ysfael
Summary
     Taylor gets a power that would make Heartbreaker call bullshit and
     she has no choice but the use it.
      
     Once a quest but now just a normal bit of writing with some changes.
     Rereading is reccomended as some details may be different.
Notes
See the end of the work for notes
***** Prologue *****
Prologue 0.0


‘Powers Suck.’ she thought to herself.

As a little girl she often envisioned herself as Alexandria flying around
beating up bad guys and being adored by the masses.

That dream was killed the moment she realized that not only did she have powers
but that her powers were the kind that if they became publicly known would
result in Kill-Orders.

It was after the locker; stuck in that cramped hell of rotting trash and human
fluids that she began to feel the needs. 

After resisting for a week; the painful headaches, muscle pain, and nausea,
basically everything that could go wrong with a human body without killing it
outright, had overwhelmed all her resistance and she knew that if she would
just use her power everything would feel better. 

The Luster Effect. That’s at least what people on the internet call it. The
absolute overriding need for a parahuman to use their powers. Parahumans that
don’t use their power is some way simply don’t exist.
She went out at night and lured a rapist to jump her. The feeling as she used
her power for the first time had been wonderful until she realized what she did
that was.

Her power scared her in visceral way. Hell if she were a member of the public
and someone was revealed to have her power she would have supported a Kill-
order no matter how willing they might be to become a hero. Afterall with just
a touch and the activation of her power she could completely override the free-
will of her victim. She could see through their eyes, hear through their ears
and feel through their body. Command them from any distance that she had
tested with a simple mental command. If they were mindless zombies she could
maybe reason herself into something approaching acceptable. But they weren't.
They were themselves twisted by her powers to want nothing more than to help
her, to love her...to Serve Her.

Already she had Five souls under her Thrall. Their domination still gave her
goosebumps. She had them go about their normal everyday lives, she didn't want
to think about them whenever that was possible.
She was disgusted with herself. She was a monster to dominate their minds and
Enthrall them. No matter her Luster if she was committed to being a hero there
should have been only one path. She should kill herself. Free the poor souls
already under her thrall and prevent any more from coming under her control. By
killed herself she would have been free...but she did not want to die.
Was it self-centered of her to want to live out her life? If possible she would
have gotten rid of her powers...but the only solutions for that were temporary
or death.
The time between her need to use her powers on another was growing shorter, she
thought as her hands began to shake the first signs of her Luster coming upon
her. She didn't think she could maintain this lie. If she was so self-centered
as to choose her life over that of her potential victims then she should just
accept that was who she was and stop holding back. 
She was calmed by this decision. She was a monster. If her powers were revealed
to the public Kill orders would come...and she would be ready. Fortunately
Brockton Bay had no shortage of Parahumans that would be acceptable targets for
her power.
'Victims you mean.' that voice that represented her most heroic aspects said in
her head.
"Not victims...Friends" she mumbled as she began to plan.
***** 1.1 *****
1.1
She debated internally for days as to her first major target.
Of course her first choice was also her final one.
The Merchants are a collective of drug addicted rapist scum rotting Brockton
Bay from the inside out. The only inhabitants of Brockton Bay that would oppose
the Merchants enthrallment were the Merchants themselves. That is if she were
discovered which she had no intention of happening.
She considered the Empire and the ABB but her lack of any Asian blood would
prevent her from doing anything but patrolling through ABB territory and
enthralling random people wearing gang colors which was unappealing for so many
obvious reasons it didn’t bare going into.
And the Empire was too dangerous for now. She didn’t even know how her power
would interact with other parahumans and with the Empire's Cape-Heavy roster
would would be best to wait until she knew more about her own powers
Of course the Trio had entered her mind. It would be very easy to enthrall them
and have them dial back the torture they subjected her to but...in spite of her
decision to stop holding back that was a line she was unwilling to cross quite
yet.
The Merchants were, as a target, not entirely morally reprehensible. Hell she
would probably sleep better knowing the entire gang was under her thrall.
Jack was the name of the first rapist that she had enthralled and her was a
low-level member of the Merchants. He gave a rundown of the Merchants
organization and she hadto admit that despite appearances and rumors Skidmark
actually knows how to run his organization. Three Tiers of Members. Lowest tier
where Jack is placed are a ten-man cell that gets orders through a Mid tier
leader. That mid tier leader gets the orders straight from a high-tier member.
Jack isn’t sure exactly. Most of the low tier members will run and guard a Safe
house or minor warehouse. They’re the most likely to flip if they get picked up
by the Police/PRT/Protectorate and if they do this minimizes the impact of
that. The highest tiers is Skidmark Lieutenants the only part that shows
Skidmark’s more terrible reputation. Most of the High Tier members are the more
attractive women and the most brutally sociopathic men. Women form of sort of
Harem while Men carry out what orders Skidmark trust them with. Overall pretty
disgusting but in line with more popular perception of the Merchants.
Of course that cell structure made them the perfect first victims of her power.
Because the cells were largely isolated from one another that meant she could
get in and enthrall a cell without another cell being made aware of the shift
in allegiance.
The plan so far was simple in the extreme. Pretend to be a ‘new recruit’ of
Jack looking to get a fix. Enthrall his cell then look to expand while getting
info from the cell leader. Adjust plan as information and opportunities become
available.
But first...School
 
===============================================================================
 
 
School is such a fucking joke. She never had much difficulty in school before
the Trio. She was even offered to skip a grade once but refused because
she didn’t want to leave Emma behind. Then there was the whole getting accepted
to Clarendon High and turning that down to go to Winslow with her then bestie
Emma...Fucking Emma. Now with the Trio’s apparent vendetta against her, all
her classwork and homework gets stolen and called their own. She had stopped
bothering even doing the work now. Why give them the easy way out? Test are the
only things that actually get taken by the teacher because for all their
outright bold bullying none were willing to get caught cheating on a test.
Unfortunately Winslow is a shitty fucking school and they rarely gave out test
because people apparently have ‘Test anxiety’. Seriously? Bitch, are you
kidding me?! I can understand Social Anxiety. Social interaction is fucking
hard but fucking test anxiety? It’s a piece of paper with some of the easiest
questions possible. Hell most test are multiple choice! If you just answer
randomly you have a ¼ chance of getting the right answer. Actually better than
that since many teachers have a bias for the B Answer being the correct one.
But bullshit anxieties aside her grades are just barely acceptable which is to
say just within the range of passing but not passing very well.
Of course school wouldn't be complete without the Bitches-Three. They cornered
her in the stairwell while she was on her way out of the school. After a day of
very little from the Trio she had hoped they would find something better to do
but her hope was in vain is seems. Not that this was a new occurance, she would
just bear what they had in mind for now.
“Wonder what she’s on today?” Sophia says with a sneer.
It's a good observation. Despite her decision to more freely use her powers she
had yet to use them the last few days while planning. She didn't want to lose
her nerve and backtrack. Her symptoms at this point are up to near full-body
shakes with some scratching and a twitch in her neck that lead to the
occasional need to roll her shoulders and neck. What she couldn't see was the
fact that she hadn't eaten today because she felt near the point of vomiting
from her Luster.
“I’d guess meth. It’s not like her teeth could look any worse.” Madison belts
in.
“Let’s take a look.” Emma says and Sophia reaches out pushing her into a wall
and twisting her arm behind her back. Emma rips the bookbag from Taylor's
shoulder and empties it out. She breathed to calmed herself. Sophia is touching
her and she can feel her power ready to strike but she holds it back. This is
nothing compared to some of what she's suffered. 
'But it would be so easy to get Sophia right now' that villainous internal
monster speaks up. 'Then the other two. Nobody else in the stairwell to see the
momentary confusion on your newly made thrall’s face. The perfect Crime. And
then Emma could be your friend again.'
'Lines best not crossed' she manages to convince herself while the trio sort
through her stuff making the occasional snipe at her. 
“Well your pack’s clean of drugs but I’m sure you’ve got some on you.” Emma
says with what Taylor was certain was an evil grin. “Strip her. This is an
intervention. You have to understand Taylor we love you and want to make sure
you’re not abusing drugs.” That she’s able to say such a thing with a straight
face is disgusting
"No." she managed to get out before Sophia pulled her up and guided her down
the stairs and started reached a hand around her hand brushing against her
chest as it slowly reached towards the zipper at her throat.
"Stop." she manages to get out.
But Sophia either doesn't hear her plead or ignores it as she reaches the
zipper and rips it down. Her hand rest itself at her pants buttons and she is
about to unleash her power when salvation comes in the form of the voice of the
Winslow Janitor.
“Is someone in here. I’m about to lock the stairwell up.” an older male voice
echos up.
The trio seem disappointed. “Yeah we’re just coming down.” Emma says. Sophia
let go of her and walked down the stairs alongside the others. She quickly
grabbed her books and rushed down after them getting through the door before
the janitor locks it up. He gives her an annoyed look but said nothing.
She decided to walk home in the hopes of cooling down. Afterall she needed to
use her power today and it was best if her shakes were only from her Luster and
not her anger at the Trio for somehow topping their previous deeds. They didn't
know it yet but they had crossed the line first. Tomorrow they would have a
different opinion of her.
===============================================================================
 
After cooling down with her walk she got on a bus heading towards the docks
where she cooled down from the physical Exertion...She would be best served to
begin an exercise routine or something if a simple walk tired her this much.
Jack gave her his Armband which allowed her to walk through unmolested both
literally and figuratively. She knew she looked like a quintessential Merchant
Addict...and in a way she kinda was an addict at least.
Jack was waiting at the door to his apartment complex.
“Ready to get goin’ bae?” her Thrall said in accordance to a script worked out.
“Yeh.” she replied with a slight stutter caused by nerves she was feeling
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and began guiding her towards the local
Safe house cell he worked out of.
Was it sad that the physical contact of her thrall soothed her nerves and made
her feel so good? Not even in a power way but more in a 'When was the last time
she was touched like this by someone who she could trust?' sort of way. 
It’s a rundown apartment complex. Three apartments had their walls torn down to
make a single large store room of sorts. Small amounts of drugs and handguns
come through this safehouse on their way to the streets.
He walks up to the door and knocks. After a moment a large woman opens the door
and let them in after a pause.
On our way through she brushed up against her and allowed her power to strike
out. Giving the standard ‘Act natural’ command after a brief pause the newly
made thrall shut the door with no one the wiser.
Relief calmed her nerves with the power use. But there were others yet to
Enthrall.
“Hey Spooky I got a new recruit.”
A girl with a vaguely Goth/Punk aesthetic walks out of the one separate room
Long black hair adorned with beads and streamers of all sorts of colors.
Peiricings cover her ears with a relative few on her face. One on each brow and
two near the ends of her bottom lip. Snakebites she vaguely recollects from one
time long ago when Emma had confided in her that she really liked lip
piercings. Jack has said that she’s openly Trans and a pretty cool person all
things considered. Of course coming that is coming from Jack, she is after all
still a merchant and Jack did so recently try to rape her.
Spooky smiles and circles her like a shark or some other predator.
“Nice body. She jonesing that badly?” Spooky questions Jack.
“Yeah thirsty bitch burned through my stash real quick.” he replies keeping to
script.
“Come back to my room and I can get you some good shit. None of that watered
down Cheap-shit Jack keeps at his place.” she offers undressing Taylor with her
eyes.
Taylor nods eagerly as Jack goes to the couch presumably to play the video game
on the screen. Some sort of Racing game she supposes.
Spooky grabs her hand and pulls her softly into the backroom. Once both of them
are in the room Taylor activates her power.
An unnaturally great feeling fills her at the activation and then Spooky is
among her Thralls.
Taylor guides Spooky away from the door setting her down on the bed before she
begins to ask questions.
"What were we going to do."
"Just get high. Heroin"
"Why"
"Most cops will refuse. A real prospective member will agree to do it."
"I suppose that makes sense" She relaxed "D-Did you have anything else
planned?" 
"Nah, despite what I have them believe I don't take advantage of the girls I
initiate. Gets their respect if they think I do though."
"How to you receive orders?" 
"Coded Texts mostly."
"Can you introduce me to some higher-level members?"
"Sorry, not really. If I tried they would know something was up if I had a
newbie with me."
"How many other Cells do you know the location of?"
"Bout 5 that I'm supposed to know about. 2 more that I'm not."
Taylor took some time to process that information. 
After a stretch of time during which she considered strategy she was introduced
to the rest of the cell as the newest member of the Merchants. Of course this
introduction included handshakes all around.
Thank you whoever decided that hand shakes were the best method of greeting.
 
***** 1.2 *****
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
'Huh, this is familiar.'
“Hey there Sophia. Long time no see.” the snark flows from her mouth with
little care. Afterall this will be the last time she gets to snark at Sophia
she might as well enjoy herself.
Her arms are once again twisted behind her back and apparently Sophia doesn’t
appreciate her cutting wit and puts more pressure on the hold.
“See you got your fix. Who’d you have to suck off for that?”
"You mom" she continues the snark.
'This is fun' she thinks as Sophia recovers from the surprise of her prey
actually fighting back...at least a little bit.
"Quite the attitude you got there slut. Maybe you need a reminder of just where
you stand." she pushes herself up against Taylor "Afterall class is in session
so no interruptions this time."
Sophia pulls her away from the wall and turns her up the steps and pushes.
Taylor could end this now but the amusement she feels from just how in-control
of the situation she feels causes her to just go along. Let Sophia tie her own
rope.
Sophia leads her up stairs before she comes to an old janitor closet near the
top. One handed she pulls a key from her pocket and unlocks it before shoving
her into the closet where she pushes her away before closing the door.
Sophia pounces on her grabbing her wrist and slapping metal around them...
'Handcuffs?'
"What are you going to do? Rape me Sophia?"
"Can't rape a slut like you." she sneers back "You should be pleased that I'm
even willing to fuck a ugly disease-ridden whore like you."
This has solidly sold her intent to Enthrall the Trio. Sophia is a rapist and
the others are her accomplices. They crossed the line from unacceptable targets
to totally acceptable.
Her power strikes out as the same pleasure fills her as when she Enthralled
Spooky...The other merchants gave her no such reaction.
"Uncuff me and turn on the lights."
Hands uncuff her and then a click and she sees that Sophia apparently managed
to strip in the few seconds between closing the door and jumping her. She's got
a very nice body Dark, pristine skin, tight muscles, clean of any bodyhair she
licks her lips.
'Am I gay?' she thought to herself. Sophia's body certainly had her responding
her panties feeling very tight and more than a little moist...she could deal
with implications of sexuality at a later time.
"How did you strip so fast?"
"I used my powers"
Sophia was a Cape...
"Spooky, are you a parahuman?"
"Yes"
Well...that was good to know. Apparently you can Enthrall capes and your power
even comes with a nice tell that you have Enthralled one.
"Have you raped before now?"
"No"
Well she wasn't sure how to take that.
"Do you find me attractive."
"Somewhat." 
"Explain."
"You're rather hot. Not quite of par with Emma but still pretty hot. Your
attitude pisses me off and ruins whatever you do have though."
Well...That was actually a nice feeling to know that one of the people who had
made her life and living hell did find her attractive.
Continue as normal. Forget this happened.
The rest of the school she was distracted. She had her plan for the remainder
of the Trio and now just had to wait for school to let out for her plan to
begin.
She had a lot else on her mind. What were the powers of the two capes under her
thrall. She wasn't aware enough of some of the minor capes in the city to know
for certain though you'd think Spooky would be both high ranking and a Merchant
Cape...She would have to wait for a later time for that.
The other thing on her mind which she could address was her sexuality. She had
always looked at other girls and judged them attractive but she had always told
herself that she was judging them as objectively traditionally attractive. But
she was beginning to question rather s such judgement were actually
objective...of course she certainly liked guys. Broad shoulders, a nice square
jaw...maybe a bit of facial hair...she thought as she undressed a jock in her
mind. Of course the guy himself was an asshole with E88 leanings so she had no
actually interest in him but he was some damn fine eye candy.
Of course she tried the same thing with a girl. The girl she tried it with was
Asian. Petite with long black hair and eyes this perfect shade of Jade. That
must have been why her parents named her Jade she supposed. She, like Taylor,
tended to wear baggy hoodies with baggy jeans but she had seen her a few times
in the locker rooms last year...thinking about her cute little chest with the
tight belly and an ass that was just so perfect had her in a happy little
fantasy which was rudely interrupted by the bell.
Okay so she wasn't totally gay but she certainly wasn't straight.
'Oh well, more fun for me.' a cheerful thought filled her mind.
===============================================================================
She waited on the roof.
Sophia had convinced the other members of the trio to come with her to talk
about 'Hebert'.
And she was even now leading them towards the closet that she had apparently
re-purposed.
She lead them in and sat down causing the other two to sit as well in typical
herd mentality.
'Bunch of idiots sitting around in a circle.'
Of course Emma and Madison both were faced away from the door...the unlocked
door.
Which being a door easily opened to her hand. Sophia was talking with the two
about their next attack on her as she slipped in unnoticed by the other two. At
the same time she jumped Madison from behind and Sophia jumped Emma holding a
hand over her mouth.
Madison was not a Parahuman as her power told her as the bitch became her
thrall. Following her order to help Sophia hold down Emma.
She looked on as Emma struggled; she felt bad now. She had wanted to gloat but
the panic and fear in Emma's face decided her next course of action. No matter
how much of a Monster she may be now or may become later. Torture such as this
was not something she would allow herself to take joy in. She reached out and
used her power. Pleasure filled her as another Cape came under her control.
===============================================================================
She left the Trio after that. While she certainly wanted to learn more about
the powers of the capes now under her control this was not the place for that
conversation.
She exited the building and got on a bus that would take her to her home.
She gave orders to the Trio and Spooky to come meet her there in a hour. While
she was attempting to avoid risk she needed to figure out powers and figure out
her plan to dial back the trio.
Meanwhile she cooked a lasagna dish. Between her and her dad this was the only
dish they could make if you discounted Eggs, Bacon and cold-cut sandwiches.
A nice meal was the least she could do for them after taking their free-will
from them.
And there would be enough for dad once he got home.
After putting the dish in the oven she relaxed on the couch. The Trio had
decided to goto the mall and hang-out. The vapid conversations held no interest
with her while Spooky was getting things prepared so that another thrall in the
cell would handle any issues that might come up.
She hadn't considered that Spooky might be busy but at this point it was for
the best. A Cape Thrall was too important to her to have her being middle
management in a Gang.
Around the time the Trio arrived the Lasagna finished. She let the trio into
her home before going and pulling the dish out of the oven. Spooky would be
another few minutes.
"So here we are." she said to start what would no doubt be an odd conversation.
The trio were apparently unsure how to reply and she turned around leveling
them with looks.
Emma looked on the verge of tears while Madison looked neutral and Sophia
looked...bored.
"Fine, lets start with easiest. Madison Why were you bullying me?"
She shrugged. "Wanted to be on top of the food chain. Sophia and Emma were
there and I just joined in. Made myself useful to them and weaseled my way into
the friendship. Never was anything personal."
That...was unsurprising to be totally honest.
"Sophia?"
"Thought it was a good bit of fun. Was starting to get a little boring though."
She probably should be more surprised but she wasn't.
It was at this point that Spooky came within sight of the house.
"Last persons' nearly here. We'll finish this conversation before we eat and
talk about the other part."
She headed to the door and after Spooky knocked she opened it allowing her
inside.
No words were exchanged as she was let in and following along after Taylor was
lead into the kitchen where she sat with the apparent intent of waiting for her
conversation with the Trio to end.
"Emma, your turn."
She mumbled but thanks to her bond granted senses she still heard it clearly.
"I don't know."
That left Taylor feeling angry.
"You don't know?" she managed to get out through her anger.
What followed was bit of word-vomit that was made in a mix of panic, fear
through tears and sniffling.
About how she was raped by ABB thugs and how no matter how much she fought back
they never stopped. How she became a cape and promptly killed all the thugs
that had raped her turning them to ice sculptures which shattered into snow.
How she started a vendetta against the ABB. Took an Asian name to piss off Lung
and kill him and every Marked ABB thug in the city. How she shamefully didn't
want to tell Taylor any of this because she had been nurturing a crush on
Taylor for years and didn't want Taylor to look at her like she was some
disgusting slut that she saw herself as. That she still sometimes saw herself
as.
How she had run into Sophia while out killing ABB and how she had saved her
from being killed by a thug that had hidden from her. How Sophia had built her
back up from the fragile killer she had become. How she had turned of her at
Sophia mere mention that Taylor might be weak unlike her. Her reason for
bullying. To make Taylor Strong.
Emma stopped talking as the story came to a close as Taylor was slightly in
shock...A lot of revelations all at once there.
But one thing stood out in her mind as truth.
"Emma stand up and come here." she directed.
Emma did so crying the whole way.
Taylor reached out and Emma cringed away slightly but Taylor lifted Emma's chin
so she could look into Emma's eyes.
Taylor wiped away the tears before reaching out in a hug and whispered in her
best friend's ear. "I forgive you."
 
 
 
 
Chapter End Notes
     Woh! for those who read the first version this will be the first
     major change they see.
***** 1.3 *****
Chapter Notes
     Brand new Chapter to celebrate the reboot. If you read this fiction
     before June 6th you should return to the beginning and get caught up
     on the new version
After her heartfelt moment with Emma, which she knew she would need to re-
approach at a later time, she decided it was time for other topics.
Namely Powers.
Of course Emma had given some information about hers but more information was
useful.
She explained that she was a Cryokinetic. She could create and control
temperatures cold enough to freeze a person solid in seconds then control these
frozen people-cicles however she wanted. Mostly she dispersed them into snow to
both hide the body and to get her reputation as Yuki-Onna.
So a powerful Shaker/Blaster.
Spooky was next and her power was not nearly as impressive. A Pocket Dimension
and Dimension to point Teleportation. If she knew where something way generally
within her sight she could teleport it into her pocket dimension or from her
pocket dimension to somewhere she could perceive. She used it almost
exclusively to steal things as she had enough control to steal bills right out
of a wallet in someones pocket. She should affect living things like Animals,
insects or Humans but seemed to have no problem with plants and had stolen a
car at one point though it left her with a headache...and as she put it a
bitchin' ass car. By itself it was not overwhelming but...if she could 'employ'
a Tinker she could have Spooky fulfill a role of mobile armory. She could store
a bunch of tinker-tech in her pocket then teleport them directly onto herself
and others. Disarm goons with weapons...maybe just strip them and make them run
to get some clothes again. While intially underwhelming with some support her
power could really be effective.
And finally Sophia....or should she say Shadow Stalker.
That revelation left her pissed off. That she was on probation made her feel a
little better but that she had gotten away with the fucking locker while
supposedly under probation just left her angry.
Of course her inclusion in the Wards meant that she had to now cover her ass
from Sophia possibly being detected as having been mastered. Layered orders to
forget that she was enthralled and to have her honestly believe that she was
acting of her own free will and that nothing in relation to Taylor was at all
outside the norm.
She could only hope that her hastily crafted defenses against PRT Master/
Stranger Protocols would be effective.
Of course with Powers now shared and drama now mostly handled she decided that
it was time for something lighter.
"Lets eat and watch a movie or something." she said to general excitement from
her newest friends.
===============================================================================
She let her friends decide on the movie. Sophia went immediately for Die Hard 3
apparently her favorite Earth Aleph Movie. Emma suggested Little Mermaid,
Madison suggested a Romcom while Spooky decide to play to the stereotype and
picked a horror movie. Which left the 4 to play Rock paper scissors to decide.
The sounds of Samuel Jackson yelling at Bruce Willis gave a hint as to who won
that.
The five of them were all squeezed onto the couch. Spooky and Emma were on each
side of her while Sophia sat next to Emma and Madison sat on the end apparently
enjoying the movie more that her initial complaints might have suggested.
As for Taylor...see was just enjoying herself. Yes she knew that none of them
had a choice in the matter of watching the movie with her but...she didn't want
mindless empty thralls who only ever did as she commanded...she wanted friends.
Okay so some of her thralls would be more...mindless than others but she was
committed to the idea that wherever possible she wanted to give them the
freedom of choice so long as they remained loyal to her.
Like friends were supposed to do.
So she truly considered these 4 to be her friends now. Spooky didn't seem too
bad and well she was a cape so that did make her more useful out of the box
than any of the other merchants so that might have something to do with it but
she wasn't going to let her poor self-esteem gain any purchase here.
Taylor was happy and content to call them friends.
The movie continued despite her inner thoughts and Emma rested her head on her
shoulder. Taylor wasn't sure how to approach that whole potential issue. She
may have forgiven Emma for her part in the bullying but the fact that she
apparently had a crush on her was certainly something she needed to seriously
think about.
The door opened as her dad walked in.
"I'm home" he said as her turned the corner probably expecting to see just
Taylor watching the TV to instead the sight of 5 girls packed onto the couch
like sardines in a can turning to look at him.
He paused before he recognized Emma and smiled.
I never told him who put me in the locker. Fear of reprisal and maybe a bit of
desire to deal with the problem herself had a lot to do with that.
"Hey Emma. It's been a while since I've seen you around. How have you been?"
"Good Mister Hebert." she replied politely. Honestly did anyone expect people
to not reply with something to that effect?
"And who else do we have here and do I smell Lasagna?" he asked sniffing the
air.
"Yeah it's in the kitchen and this is Spooky, Sophia and Madison." she said
pointing to each in turn.
"Spooky? That's an odd name."
"It's a nickname sir. My Birthname was Luke."
"...But Luke's a b- Oh." He paused as he realized the implication. Before
shrugging "Okay then."
"I go by Spooky but my chosen name would be Lacy I suppose." she explained.
"Well alright Lacy." he nodded. "So do you all go to Winslow?" he asked as her
slipped off his tie and Sophia sighed and paused the movie.
Emma picked this one up. "Yeah. Though we don't share many classes."
"High school, am I right?" he replied.
There were general sounds of agreement from the couch as he returned to the
living room with a plate of Pasta. "I'll leave you girls to your movie. I'll be
upstairs." with that he left going up the stairs...that was odd given that he
never ate upstairs but then again she had never had 4 friends over to watch a
movie with.
The movie continued after Sophia rewound it to about where they were when Dad
first walked in.
===============================================================================
 
After the movie was finished everyone left after hugging her. If Emma's hug was
tighter and longer than the others it wasn't a huge surprise. The them all gone
she went upstairs and knocked on her dad's door.
"Hey kiddo. Movie night all done?"
"Yeah."
"Gonna take my dishes downstairs."
"Right."
Taylor followed after.
"So Emma looked good. What happened between you to."
She couldn't exactly tell the truth here so she improvised. Meanwhile she began
putting away the leftover lasagna while dad began to wash the dishes left the
sink.
"We just sorta drifted apart. She's an amateur model and made new friends with
Sophia and Madison and we never really shared many classes so we just drifted."
"It happens...What about Lacy?"
"She's new. She's pretty cool I guess."
"Mhm....So what changed to bring you two back together?" he asked paying
attention to the plates that he was washing.
She paused before shrugging and deciding to share at least a little bit. "We're
maybe sorta Seeing each other..."
He paused in his washing. "As in dating?"
"Sorta...we're seeing if you can still even be friends first I guess." she said
nervously.
He nodded and returned to his dish washing. "You mom would have been happy. She
always thought you two looked cute together."
"Wait, mom thought me and Emma would get together?"
"Mhm, she figured Emma might be gay, but she wasn't so sure about you. So she
couldn't be certain it would happen."
That was yet another revelation...She really just needed to get to bed before
somebody sprung another revelation on her today.
"o-okay."
There really wasn't much else to say about that.
"I'm actually pretty tired so um I'm going to go lay down and get some sleep."
"All right kiddo. Sleep tight. Love you"
"Love you too dad." she said as she retreated to her bed.
She striped and changed into her sleeping clothes before falling into bed where
she curled up under the covers.
It was funny...she had never realized just how big and empty her bed could be
before now.
 
 
 
***** 1.4 *****
She awoke to the sounds of her dad showering. The sound of water running
through pipes bringing her to a slow wakefulness.
She had slept like a log, which wasn't all that surprising after the
emotionally draining day she had had just the day before.
What she had done yesterday came to her in a rush and she was forced to grab a
nearby trash can to catch the vomit that spewed from her mouth.
She had planned on using her power on Sophia, groping her as she had done just
two days ago had been enough for Taylor to consider that Sophia had crossed
that invisible line which took her from (mostly) innocent Civilian, to criminal
in need of 're-education'. 
Taylor felt nothing but satisfaction from Sophia's introduction into her
'Friends'. Emma she felt some regret over...Of course the revelations made her
an acceptable target but they only came after the enthrallment. When she had
used her power on Emma she was unaware of that.
It was Madison who made her nauseous. Madison had not crossed that line and in
fact was a fair way away from ever crossing it. She might be a Bitch but that
wasn't against the law.
She had Enthralled a totally innocent person and then had gone about her day as
if it didn't matter.
It was only now that she realized just how badly she had fucked up.
'So much for lines' she thought to herself.
Her stomach emptied she took the trash can from her room going downstairs and
dumping it in the trash before taking the bag out to the can. She began washing
out the can in the sink before filling it with soap and warm water to soak.
With that done she returned upstairs getting her clothes for the day and
entered the bathroom for her morning ablutions. She tried not to think about
her deeds and distracted herself by checking on Lacy and the Trio.
Lacy was still asleep and she decided to leave her that way. The trio were
currently performing their own morning rituals. Emma was in the shower, Madison
was applying makeup and Sophia was on the bus apparently heading for school.
She set the shower to warm as dad passed by knocking on the door to indicate he
was out of the shower before she striped and stepped inside.
It felt good to shower. The warm water hitting her flesh before clinging to it
and sliding down in rivulets. A part of her wished that this shower could wash
away her sins but that wasn't possible.
She cleared her mind of any thought of powers and her sins and simply allowed
herself to enjoy the shower. Cold soap touched her skin causing her to shiver
momentarily before she began to rub the soap into her body. She zombied her way
through the shower just allowing her body to move on autopilot. She only came
aware of herself again once she stood in front of the mirror. Her hair washed,
her Teeth brushed and her body scrubbed. With a shrug she began the part of her
ritual that she truly enjoyed as she took care of her hair, the one remaining
link to her mother. After that she dressed in her normal clothes, a t-shirt
that was big enough to be a dress, baggy jeans and a baggy hoodie, then exited
the bathroom and headed downstairs where she saw a plate of food with a note
nearby.
"Kiddo, Work called and they need me ASAP. Enjoy your breakfast and say Hi to
Emma for me. Love, Dad."
She shrugged and ate her breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast more than a little
disappointed.
===============================================================================
The Bus to school allowed her time to collect her thoughts and plan. If the
Trio suddenly stopped and befriended her it would draw eyes and unless she
planned to enthrall the entire school it would be best to avoid that.
She would hold off on new enthrallments for now. She had three capes now and
one with access to the some of the best intelligence on Capes in the Bay. She
needed Sophia to give her a debrief on possible threats and targets for her
power.
Acceptable targets that is. 
As for her school life she was going to have the Trio avoid her and give orders
to their cronies to do so as well. Not quite befriending but far more
acceptable first step...maybe she could even brings her GPA up enough to still
qualify for a scholarship. Even if a part of her was no longer interested in
the idea of college and another part doubted she'd have the time.
School itself was blessedly uneventful. Emma's cronies obeyed her and left her
alone basically ignoring her. While the Trio themselves also ignored her
publicly.
It was everything she ever wanted from them during the years of bullying.
She however decided to do some research on Yuki-Onna and Shadow Stalker during
Computer Science class after finishing her programming assignment for a program
that searched for an inputted string. Extracting and collating every sentence
that contained that string.
Yuki is not that well known with only a small 7 page thread despite nearly 2
years of work. That has some nasty implications what with her casual talk of
killing ABB members just last night. A lot of the post are made by one-post
accounts threatening to get back of her for killing someone. Those post are
universally banned with many being censored in some way. Of course Void_Cowboy
has posted a conspiracy theory about Yuki being Lung's daughter and wanting to
kill her dad to take over the ABB. Tame by his standards but still resulting in
an infraction for skirting the line of theorizing on cape identity. Honestly
all she gets from the thread is that Emma's made a fair few enemies as Yuki and
that Vista of the Wards gave her a sparkling review as a competent and
controlled Vigilante with a dedication to making Brockton Bay a safer place.
Apparently Vista doesn't buy into the rumors that she's killing ABB members.
Knowing 'Emma the two-faced bitch' though that's not terribly surprising.
Shadow Stalker's thread in comparison is much longer. She has the same threats
as Yuki's thread, though significantly more (admittedly at a lesser density)
comparing 7 pages to the nearly 300 pages that Shadow Stalker has accumulated.
Shadow Stalker has a Reputation for excessive force apparently. There's enough
info in the thread to tell her that before Sophia joined the Wards she was
skirting the line between Vigilante and Villain. There were even rumors that
the reason she joined the Wards was as part of a plea deal. Jail or
Wards....honestly Taylor felt that that story fit well with what she knew about
Sophia up to this point. She still had 270 pages of the Shadow stalker thread
left when the bell rang and she was forced to shut-down the browser clearing
her history and cookies before rushing to her next class.
===============================================================================
The rest of the day was rather boring. Lacking the fear of the Trio or
something else to do she just sorta finished all her classwork in minutes and
then sat and waited for the bell. Of course Lacy was up by now so she was using
her body to read up on Brockton Bay Capes trying to get as much info as she
could and to pick out capes that caught her interest either with a power that
would benefit her group or that would be a significant threat.
The news of a new gang called the Undersiders having robbed a Merchant
Warehouse taking nearly $500,000 in drug money and burning nearly a million
dollars worth of drugs in the process only just a hour ago was certainly of
interest to her. Two had history while the other two members were apparently
new.
Grue was a Low-level Enforcer type who worked for a few loan sharks making sure
people paid up. He had darkness generation powers but nothing aside from that.
Unless you counted his power of being a hot slab of chiseled man-meat, Which
she was tempted to do. His PHO thread led her to believe that she wasn't the
only one that noticed.
Hellhound however was a long-time cape with a few kills to her name and
a public identity as Rachel Lindt. She could boost up dogs and control them and
she seemed to be aggressively hostile. However further research revealed that
aside from her killing of her foster mom all her other kills had criminal
records of engaging in Dog fighting and animal abuse. Understandably there were
quite a few people who saw her more as a Vigilante/Rebel who just really liked
dogs. She looked a little...butch but Taylor still took some joy in looking at
the pictures. Afterall there were a fair few since Hellhound didn't appear to
be overly camera shy. She wasn't pretty per-say but she certainly had a certain
appeal.
Regent and Tattletale were however complete unknowns lacking even a blurb on
the PHO Wiki. She would have to keep and eye on them. With their only pictures
being a grainy Cellphone picture of them riding some of Hellhound's dogs she
couldn't judge their appearance accurately. 
Sophia was called in by the PRT after school was out. Apparently new villians
required a formal briefing with both wards and protectorate resources there.
This caused a major change in Taylor's plan for the afternoon. In the end this
meant that herself and Emma would be having a conversation alone.
The bus-ride home was uneventfully aside from her leg bouncing from impatience.
Normally the bus-ride home was a time for her to cool down from a stressful day
at school but now it was just a torturous experience and wanting nothing more
than to be home and to get this uncomfortable impending conversation out of the
way. Not that getting there any quicker would help since Emma would be driving
her once she got home via her own bus.
That was that; Emma would be driving her to school and back as soon as
reasonably possible. At least then she could speak with whoever she needed to
without drawing unwanted attention to herself.
As the bus pulled into her stop she got off the bus and quickly walked into her
home and began preparing some cold-cut sandwiches for later. Probably for the
best she supposed.
As she waited for Emma she considered just what she needed to cover with Emma.
Honestly there was less than she initially thought...though still more than
she'd like.
Many of the questions would be better directed towards Sophia.
She sighed as Emma pulled her car into the driveway and Taylor went out to
greet her.
Emma's car was not the car Emma wanted.
It was a '68 Camero with a Bright Red paint job, aka a car enthusiast's wet
dream. Emma had wanted a new 2011 Volkswagen car. I still remember when she
turned 16 and she had done nothing but complain about her dad's choice in car
for her and her refusal to be seen showing up to school in an 'Old clunker like
that'.
Taylor had gotten angry because at least she had a vehicle while dad was too
busy to teach her to drive and too poor to afford even a clunker.
She hugged Emma and greeting before guiding her into the house.
"We need to talk Emma."
"Okay Taylor. Ask me anything."
Taylor was uncertain where to start even after planning out her conversation
earlier. She guided Emma up the stairs and into her room. Emma happily stepped
into her room and jumped on the bed before turning to her and looking at her
with lust-filled eyes through eyelashes that Taylor had never noticed the
length of before now.
"So what are we going to do on the bed?" she asked with a smile.
"Not that." Taylor nipped that distraction in the bud. She had serious issues
to discuss and couldn't afford the distraction.
Emma seemed disappointed but just sorta laid back crossed her legs placed her
arms behind her head and spoke.
"Okay then why'd you call me here?"
Wasn't Taylor the one supposed to be asking questions?
"Look I just need to figure some things out about you before I do anything
else." she paused for a second mentally parsing her first question. "How many
people have you killed."
She appeared to think for a moment before shrugging. "Never really kept count I
suppose. Once you reach 20 or so they all sorta blend together. If I had to
guess...more than a hundred for sure. Probably no more than 5 though." She gave
no indication that her statement had upset her as her foot rocked side-to-side
like a metronome.
That required a moment for Taylor to parse and another moment to mentally
reboot and process that. The girl who was once her best friend had become a
Serial Killer. There was no other way to put it. She was a Serial Killer and
prolific at that. Hell the only thing that probably kept her from being found
out was the natural risk that gang members lived with combined with police
indifference to their being missing and Emma's stated preference for turning
her victims into snow flakes to dispose of the body. Would she have racked up
more if she hadn't Enthralled her.
"No more." she ordered.
"Of course no more. You'd hate it if I did and besides, I don't feel that Need
anymore."
What?
"What do you mean Need?"
She shrugged. "Ever since the Alley, when a triggered, I just...I just felt
empty and cold all the time. I guess...okay so my powers are like I absorb the
heat of things around me. Air, people, whatever. After I absorb that heat I
feel warmer fully for a while but that cold always comes back. Killing those
pieces of inhuman garbage just sorta made me feel better. So yeah I killed
them. Usually at least one every 2-3 nights. When I killed more I could go
longer without that Need coming back." She shrugged "I just...it's weird I
always thought it was my power that made me need to kill but ever since you
used your power on me I just don't feel that way any more. Like it wasn't my
power but more just me being broken of something that made me need to kill."
Taylor was uncertain now, But another question needed to be asked while she
picked apart Emma's previous statement.
"Why didn't you use your powers before I used mine on you?"
"Well I absorb heat and when things like Sophia and later Madison are that
close to me. They would have frozen solid and turned to Snow flakes in seconds
and I didn't want to kill them or you."
"You didn't want to kill me?"
"Course not. I just wanted to make you strong enough to be my girlfriend.
That's all I ever wanted from you."
"You tortured me so I'd be your girlfriend."
"The strongest metals require the hottest of flames to forge. Or something like
that."
"That's insane Emma."
"Is it? You have powers now. Powers so strong that you overpowered me and
Sophia and you aren't going to stop. You're going to keep going. You're the
strongest person I know now and that's all thanks to me and Sophia. Of course
we couldn't foresee that you'd overpower us but now that you have..."
Emma was insane. Was, Present and Past tense.
She was slightly more sane now but still insane. If it weren't for the fact
that Taylor doubted it would do any good she'd order Emma to goto a therapist.
But being a Serial Killer she would need to talk about that which a therapist
would immediately report to law enforcement.
Taylor would need to either Enthrall a therapist, Or become one herself if she
wanted Emma to get better.
She could try to order Emma to get better but...that order felt wrong. Like it
just wouldn't work.
"How would you describe my power's effect on you?" she asked curiously.
"Well...I know I'm Mastered for one. I am fully aware that you're there
like...over my shoulder all the time but rather than being disturbed I'm
comforted by it. Like...I can't be certain but I think your power makes me Love
you and feel Loyal towards you. Like not to the point of romantic love but more
like... the sort of love of a family. Also feel a lesser kind towards other
people under your power too. I just already had a romantic sort of love for you
so It just sorta sits beside that. but Loyalty? Yeah that's the big one I'd
say. Like I would never outright betray you but I'm not mindlessly obedient to
you either. Like if you ordered me to...Kiss a guy or something I'd just tell
you to fuck off. I'm not interested in guys at all. Total Lesbo here." she
raised her hand and waved it around "Tell me to kiss a girl and I probably
would so long as doing so didn't hurt you or me I suppose, but that's just me,
Might be different for everyone else."
Taylor could feel a certain amount of relief at Emma's explanation. It wasn't
perfect but it was better than some of her worst fears the worst of which was
that she replaced them with copies of herself who were just acting like the
people they inhabited to protect her mind and thanks to the bond she knew that
Emma was telling the truth as she saw it.
She could even convince herself that she wasn't Mind controlling them as much
as just making friends...with powers...and leaving them little choice in that
friendship.
But before she accepted that she needed some extra opinions.
Lacy and Madison were both alone at the time so using her power she asked them
the same question. Both gave her replies that shared many of the same features.
Familial Love, Loyalty, awareness of her being there. Lacy stated after further
questioning that she would refuse an order to be "Just a normal boy" or
something to that affect while Madison refused to engage in any "gay shit"
being straight herself.
The form of their answers were different enough to convince her that the reply
wasn't some prepackaged one implanted with her powers in case she asked.
So her powers really did force friendship with a secondary aspect that allowed
her communicate at range and even use their bodies like a puppet but as Lacy
had added. She didn't mind it seeing it as being similar to letting a friend
borrow her phone. She knew it was just temporary and didn't mind being without
her phone(or body in this case) for a bit.
She considered her own action and realized that her power was having an affect
on herself as well...namely she had immediately forgiven the Trio. After
everything they did she should have still been angry at them but...she
wasn't...She remained Angry at the Trio from before but now...They were her
friends. And friends forgave each other. Staying Angry at the trio would be
like staying angry at a rescued stray dog for snapping at you, ultimately
futile.
She would do anything in her power to protect those that were her friends. The
dogs she had enthralled so long ago were no longer strays having found
themselves homes with loving families, the criminals had began turning their
lives around. Getting jobs, going back to school, separating themselves from
criminals connections, Stopping their use of drugs. She had largely ignored the
actions and existences of the non-parahumans she had used her power on but now
she realized that they knew how she would judge them and had made efforts to
appease her. To make her see not the rapist, murders and crooks they had been
and to instead see them as people worthy of her friendship and love.
But they had had the friendship and love from the moment she used her powers on
them. For while she might induce those feelings in them she also made herself
feel for them.
That was both comforting and disturbing...she was uncertain which should take
precedence.
 
End Notes
     Given that there will be some changes to the writing I'm putting this
     note here.
     After a long hiatus I've decided to return to this bit of fiction. I
     left it on hiatus for such a long time for several reasons and after
     some time to sit back and consider I've decided to come back to it
     fixing many of those issues. Most notable is the rating change from
     'Mature' to 'Explicit' While most of the fic will be more towards 'M'
     I will be placing some more lewdness in the story both because I am a
     very lewd person and that it works with the story I want to tell.
     This will not be one of those lewdfic where every chapter is dripping
     with lewdity but expect some lewd things which would not have flown
     with it's previous rating and location.
     I've also changed the writing from 2nd person to 3rd as 3rd is my
     favored writing style.
     You can also expect some new interludes which I was hesitant to post
     while this was a quest for fear of metagaming players. As well
     expected longer and more detailed chapters which the quest format
     made difficult.
     In any case I hope you all enjoy the new and improved Thrall
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