Shard of Magic [Worm crossover]

by blake0831

Chapter 14

Taylor hummed to herself as she ruminated on the contents of the physics textbook in front of her as she studied her coursework materials in the Wards common room.

She had been ecstatic when the news came, that she had been officially withdrawn from Winslow. Even better, she had been put on the admittance list for Arcadia high school. But the administration at Arcadia were stricter about their education standards for their students, and mandated that regardless of what external causes for her grades to plummet, Taylor has to take an entrance exam. Luckily, since she's slated to enter the upcoming semester instead of simply being dropped into the ongoing one (Easier to preserve her identity as a cape this way, it's a rather open secret that Arcadia is a 'Wards' school.), she has about three months to catch up on her studies and prepare herself for the exams.

Taylor's concentration was interrupted by someone sliding into the seat of the desk next to hers. A quick glance, and then a wary look later shows that it was Missy, with a rather out of place ClockBlocker-mischief grin on her 12 years old face.

"So..." Missy draws out. "Your power gives you Mid-Atlantic accents when you are on stage?" she teased.

Taylor couldn't stop herself from ducking her head back into her book and blushing at the memory of Starburst's Introductory Press opening a few days back. It was supposed to be a simple swoop over the reporters' heads, a quick landing and an introduction. And maybe a short question and answers session. But Taylor had been overcome with a case of stage fright, and given in to some (weirdly at the time) stronger urges to stave off her nerves, and....

Taylor has no idea how the over flight routine turned into an aerial ballet performance right out from Military Airshows. She admitted the video of her doing a 'superhero landing' on the stage was pretty cool, but afterwards....

Out of nowhere, Starburst adopted an 'elegant lady on the catwalk' poise, accent and speech patterns. Everyone who had spoken to her before was so taken aback by the difference that Armsmaster nearly called Master/Stranger protocols on her, before she explained that it's an urge from her power (she think) that she turned to because of her nerves. Still, she still had no idea which part of her brain even came up with that routine, or that accent...?

"Mid-Atlantic...?" Taylor mumbled in askance.

Missy shrugged. "Heard some troopers talking about it. They were trying to figure out where that posh accent comes from."

Taylor glared at Missy. "Is there anything else you want to talk about?" she asked tersely.

Missy sighed. "Not much. Sorry. I was... I was trying to work off some tension. Everyone here in PRT HQ is all tense. Ever since your run in with Oni Lee."

That was.... what Taylor had noticed as well. Everyone, from the Wards to the Troopers, felt like they're waiting for the other shoe to drop. From what she heard here and there, mostly the reactions from Lung and ABB, and their main rivals Empire 88 to the Ruby Dreams Casino robbery and the seemingly no show from Oni Lee since that night. There was no sightings of the infamous assassin cape of the ABB, even by the few informants the BBPD and PRT had within the ABB.

Taylor sighed. "Yeah." she said before turning her attention back to her book.

There was a moment of silence, before Missy started. "Say, Taylor. You're sort of a Tinker, right? Can give Tinkertech versions of your powers to others?"

Taylor looked at her, a eyebrow raised, "Where did you hear that?" she asked.

Missy shrugged again. "Heard on the grapevine. Heard that's why Armsmaster and Kid Win kept barricading themselves on their workshops on the Rig and here these past week."

"Why?" Taylor asked cagily.

Missy grinned. "Do you think you can make me something to let me fly? Like Alexandria?"

"Huh." Taylor said. "It's possible.... though you'll have to wear a piece of crystal larger than your average school backpack. Not to mention it'll have a short flight-time. Like a minute or two. Unless you want to juggle two large crystal batteries as well."

Missy pouted, then her face turned thoughtfully. "....might be worth it..." she muttered.

Taylor just re-focused her attention back to the textbook.

"You're not one for small talk, are you?" Missy inquired pointedly.

Taylor sighed and close her book. "Sorry. Winslow hasn't exactly been... good for my social skills. The whole place is rather dog-eats-dog in terms of students social order."

Missy winced at the name. "Yikes. So, it wasn't just Shadow Stalker then..." she murmured.

Taylor just managed to restrain herself from reacting to that name. "Yeah, most student cliques there are the popular jocks and bullies, the E88 wannabes, the ABB wannabes, the Merchant customers and some were like me just trying to get by without being dragged into or get noticed by those groups." Taylor gestured to her books. "Hence, why I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Getting into Arcadia is just the cherry on top of the sundae."

Missy grimaces. "After an experience like that, I can see why you wanted to leave." She leaned back. "Arcadia is... nicer I guess. The school staff and admins were pretty strict about cracking down on bullying, and pretty big into integration. They encourage students to mix around, get outside their comfort zone, that sort of thing."

Taylor hummed. She wonders if Dinah goes to Arcadia middle school. She then stood up. "Come on. I need a break. How about I whip up something for the two of us?"

Missy perked up "Oooohhh! How about that new thing? Cherry Chimi-something?"

Taylor laughed a bit. "Two cherry chimichanga special, coming right up." she said as she moved to the kitchenette.

"Where did you learn all these weird recipes anyway? Family?" Missy asked in curiosity as she followed Taylor.

Taylor smiled. "You could say that, I just know it sometimes. Out of the pink."

Missy raised an eyebrow, "From your power? What kind of power provides baking recipes?"

Taylor rolled her eyes. "I reckon the same place I kept getting weird accents and sayin's, sugarcube." she drawled unexpectedly in a Southern Texan accent before she slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide in surprise.

Missy just looks at her weirdly. "...you're messing with me?"

Taylor blushed. "Let's... just forget about that part and I'll add ice cream to your portion, deal?"

"Deal." Missy said cheerfully.

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