Skitter

The sudden wild rash of gang violence isn't anything that unusual in Brockton Bay, when Bakuda threatens to blow up random businesses until her gang leader, Lung, is set free from police custody. Over a dozen explosions go off overnight, in banks and doctor's offices and storage facilities. But in the morning, the news is good – vigilantes caught the mad Tinker and handed her over to the authorities, and now she and Lung are going to the Birdcage, the no-return prison for uncontrollable parahumans.

That afternoon, when Taylor comes to work, she's got a bandage on her temple and some hair scorched off the back of her head, two black eyes and bruised hands. But she's made sure nothing else looks off – same worn black cargo pants, dark green hoodie, her glasses with their bent arm. She drops her backpack, the third new one since January, in the tiny stock room behind the shop, swapping it for her apron.

“Before you say anything,” the fifteen-year-old starts, the moment she sees Shen Wei's expression go still. “I'm fine. Went to the ER last night. I was on the bus right outside that gym that blew up, is all. Got a little trampled.”