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Chapter 3
She was home… with four parahumans.
Four very powerful parahumans.
Parahumans that wrecked the absolute shit out of a literal small army and Armsmaster.
Not to mention the other parahumans that decided to come to Armsmaster's reinforcement.
And now they were in her home acting as if what they did was nothing to them.
…How did her life come to this?
"Yo, Taylor! You need to restock your fridge! There's nothing to eat!" Sukuna's voice coming from the kitchen broke her out of her reverie. "Or you gonna just stare into oblivion all day?"
"Isn't it a bit rude to go through her fridge?" The boy with forest green hair asked him.
"Nah! She doesn't mind! Right, Taylor?"
She shook her head and looked at him, trying to gather her thoughts. She blinked slowly, looking at Homelander, Deku, and Alastor all seated around the small dining table in her house.
"Err...no?" she started before her voice trailed off. What exactly was she meant to say?
"Told ja!"
Homelander chuckled to himself as he watched her struggle to say words.
"Well kiddo, can't say that we expected our day to unravel like this either," he said as if this was an everyday thing for him.
What were the odds of an average high school student suddenly getting caught up in a deadly face-off between some of the world's most powerful parahumans and the largest para-military force tasked with managing them?
Certainly not Taylor Herbert who was nothing close to a parahuman… well at least not some hour or so ago.
She had always watched people like them on television, characters from comic book pages come to life with their extraordinary powers that shaped the course of mankind. She had seen how ruthlessly these powers could be used against ordinary people like herself and how it could uplift humanity to unimaginable heights.
The day started just as any other with her waking up late and rushing to school but now? Now, it seemed like she had been thrown headfirst into a world she had only seen on TV screens or forums.
"I guess we should introduce ourselves, huh? You probably have a lot of questions you want to ask."
That was Homelander's voice breaking the uncomfortable silence. His commanding tone forced Taylor to focus back on their conversation.
Sukuna leaned back in his chair, after not finding anything to chow down on, and folded his arms across his chest. Looking at her like a kicked puppy as he sighed depressingly to himself.
"You wouldn't happen to have money for pizza, would ja?" He asked her with a lot of begging in his voice. "I'll even give you a slice!"
…She had nothing to say to that.
"One slice…" Taylor found herself murmuring, her gaze drifting across the faces seated around the table, each wearing a uniquely mystifying expression. Sukuna lit up at her response, clearly hoping to have found a solution for his ravenous hunger. "And you take the rest?"
"Yes! How about you pick your favorite place and we—" Sukuna joyfully began, but he was abruptly silenced by a soft yet firm hand motion from Homelander.
"Keep those priorities straight," Homelander warned calmly, his eyes darting back towards her with an air of kind concern. "Pizza can wait. The lady has questions."
Deku caught on quickly and nodded in agreement while Sukuna conceded begrudgingly. Alastor remained silent throughout the exchange, following it with an amused grin on his face.
"Right." Homelander regained control of the situation. "First of all, are you okay? A lot did happen today."
Taylor blinked for a moment before nodding hesitantly. Yes, she was physically unharmed but mentally—emotionally—she was a maelstrom of confusion and anxiety. But she didn't want to appear weaker than she already did in front of her four summoned capes.
"I-I'm okay enough." Well, there goes that.
"…Hm, alright" He continued in his deep voice, not at all believing her. "We should introduce ourselves properly, I'll go first, and we'll pick up from there."
Before he could introduce himself, the king of curses decided to cut in.
"Why do you get to go first?"
The hero quirked an eyebrow at the sorcerer before replying, "Because I'm leading this unexpected meeting?"
Sukuna crossed his arms over his chest, huffing petulantly.
"I don't see why you should be the leader, in fact! Who made you the leader of our little group?"
"No one, I'm simply…"
The two of them went on for quite some time after this arguing.
Taylor and the other two capes watched the back and forth between the two strong headed men. While the two seemed content to let them be, she couldn't but feel things were getting a little bit too heated.
"S-Shouldn't we stop them or something?" She asked the green-haired boy beside her, finding him to be easier to talk to than the smiling sinner.
The boy, who seemed to be around her age, locked eyes with her. A blush appeared on her face as kind emerald eyes focused on her. Finding it hard to face him with so much pureness directed at her, she looked down.
"I-I think they're just playing around. So, I don't think we should step in unless things get serious." Deku told her, trying to keep his voice as reassuring as possible despite his shy attitude.
Taylor dared to peek up at him and found sincerity in his words when seeing the atmosphere between them begin to cool down.
"Alright, how about if Taylor chooses who goes first?" Homelander suggested, shooting a look at the dumbstruck girl seated across from him.
Acting as if he was thinking it over and making a whole show over it, the king of curses nodded his head with a smile.
"I'm fine with that!"
Taylor blinked her eyes rapidly in surprise at being thrown into the line of fire.
"I… umm…" She glanced nervously around the table before her gaze landed on Deku. "How about you start?"
Eyes looked over at Deku who sat up straighter, his usual shy demeanor slowly fading away as he focused on Taylor and his fellow capes.
"O-Okay," Deku said softly, nodding slightly before carrying on. "I'm Midoriya Izuku but I also go by the name Deku."
He waved at them with an impossibly bright smile, making her look away due to how bright it was. Izuku finished his introduction and nodded to the demon with a sharp smile on his face to let him pick up from there.
"Well, Darling~! In hell I'm known as The Radio Demon," His voice was smooth like jazz radio, sending chills down Taylor's spine. "But you may simply call me Alastor~"
While she was stunned at the literal demon's introduction, Sukuna leaned over to Homelander and stage-whispered into his ear.
"You think his voice is like that naturally or is he just doing it for the shits and giggles?"
The blonde hero wisely decided to ignore him and scooted away from the sorcerer who looked at him in confusion before a shadow tendril fiercely whacked him in the face.
"Ooooooowwwwww!" the down man groaned on the floor.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself down at hearing the news that, yes hell did in fact exist and that she had a very real demon in her home, she quickly moved on from the existential crisis waiting to happen.
She turned her attention to the hero who just radiated big hero energy on a level comparable to the Triumvirate.
"Homelander, but please just John is fine. In fact, I would prefer if you did." He smiled at her softly, extending a muscular arm towards her in greeting.
Fumbling slightly, Taylor shook his hand and could feel the power in his grip despite how gently he held her hand.
"Now it's your turn." Homelander motioned for the remaining one on the floor to stand and introduce himself.
Sukuna grumbled something unintelligible in his attempt to compose himself.
"Hrghn! T-The names Sukuna, also known as the King of Curses/Strongest Sorcerer." He straightened up, attempting to regain his dignity – only to have it swiftly knocked down a peg by a stifled laugh from Alastor.
"Kickin' introduction, kiddo," Alastor cooed in amusement, his smirk deepening as Sukuna shot him a glare.
"The fuck you calling kiddo?!"
Before they could get into it, they stopped as she waved her hand to get their attention.
Seeing them focus on her, Taylor gave herself a mental shake and brought the meeting back on track again.
"O-Okay, I guess I should introduce myself too even though you already know my name. My name is Taylor and well… I'm just an average high school student."
She felt them staring at her with varying degrees of skepticism and curiosity displayed on their faces. Inwardly, she couldn't help but think what she had gotten herself into. An average high school student she might be -- but this situation was anything but average.
"And now we all know each other's names!" Sukuna clapped his hands together gleefully, a wicked grin spreading across his face as he looked around at the assembled capes. "Now then – onto important business! What kind of pizza should we get?"
Homelander sent an exasperated glance Sukuna's way who simply smirked smugly at him.
"B-Before we do that how about we answer some of Taylor's questions?" Izuku asked when he saw that they were about to get into an argument again.
Sukuna looked put out by the suggestion, shooting Izuku a disgruntled stare and getting a shaky smile in return.
"Or, how about Taylor can ask her questions while we wait for the pizza?" Alastor suggested, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
His grin widened as he saw Sukuna's mood improving instantly when he heard his suggestion.
"That's the smartest thing I've heard you say since we've met Magic Smile Demon man!"
Though his ever-present smile seemed to twitch at what the sorcerer called him.
"Ah, yes," Homelander nodded completely ignoring the king of curses, turning his gaze back to Taylor who visibly started under the attention. "You had questions."
Taylor did in fact have several questions on her mind. The most immediate one being,
"W-Why are you helping me?"
"Well, Darling—" Alastor started to answer but was cut off by Sukuna, much to the demon's ever-twitching smile.
"You see, little miss summoner, I saw this pitiful girl begging for someone to help her, and I decided since she asked so pathetically how could I refuse?"
Sukuna said with a wink which only served to make her redden in shame.
Deku decided to offer his own two cents all while sending the pink-haired man a glare.
"What he's trying to say is you needed help and when your quirk reached out to us, we decided to help. Simple as that."
"Quirk?" Taylor stared blankly at Deku, no comprehension dawning on her face.
A flush of embarrassment tinted his cheeks as he stuttered out, "Y-Yes! You have a summoning quirk. It's incredibly powerful, in fact, I have a couple of questions about it if you don't mind me asking!"
A notebook appeared from seemingly nowhere and into his hands along with a pencil as well, she could see stars in his eyes as he excitedly waited for her permission.
"The hell's a 'quirk' supposed to be?" Sukuna scoffed, leaning back to cross his arms over his chest and cast a glance at Deku.
As someone who idolized superheroes and knew about alternate dimensions, Taylor immediately understood what Deku meant, her eyes widening in realization.
"I-Is that what your world refers to as powers?" she mumbled the question getting an exited nod from the boy.
She blushed and looked down at the table, unused to the look that wasn't disdain or contempt for her.
"Ah well," Homelander shrugged nonchalantly, leaning forward to place his elbows on his knees. "In our worlds, it's fairly common, but we simply refer to them as superpowers."
"…Now that you mention it my world does kinda… huh. Are Curse techniques technically a superpower?" Sukuna mumbled to himself deep in thought.
"Is everyone fine with pepperoni?"
The abrupt shift was enough to catch everyone off guard and left the room filled with brief but comfortable levity.
Alastor, who somehow gotten his hand on an old telephone, raised a brow as he waited for everyone to answer.
Taylor responded with a hesitant nod, momentarily forgetting the daunting task of conversing with otherworldly beings she'd never dreamt she would have to handle.
"I guess pepperoni is okay," she hesitated briefly before adding, "B-But no pineapples."
This statement ignited the room into a colorful symphony of shock, agreement, disagreement, and pure outrage. In one corner, Sukuna wasted no time in expressing his utmost disgust at the mere mention of such a thing.
On the other hand, Homelander simply flashed a frown in disagreement.
"Finally! An educated palate!" Sukuna chuckled, shooting an approving nod at Taylor who couldn't help but snort in disbelief. "Who the fuck puts fruit on a pizza?! Even worse! What kind of demons like it on pizza?!?! No offense magic smile demon man."
Alastor twitched but waved him off as he continued to finish detailing their order.
"Have you ever tasted pineapple on pizza? How do you know it's not good if you haven't tasted it?" Homelander rebutted confidently. His tall and imposing figure leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms with a frown playing on his lips.
"I find the mere idea of it revolting," Sukuna shot back, his eyes narrowing into a matter-of-fact expression. "Fruit has no business being cooked, let alone on top of sacred ground like pizza you fucking pineapple pizza lover!"
Taylor busted into laughter at Sukuna's exaggerated statement. Everyone had their opinions, but nobody took their food preferences as seriously as he seemed to. Even Alastor, who was usually so formal and composed, had to hide a chuckle behind his hand.
"I have to agree with Homelander here," Alastor finally chimed in, his voice smooth yet full of a teasing tone that startled both Sukuna and Taylor. "There is a certain appeal about the combination of savory ham and sweet pineapples."
Even though Alastor's opinion was unexpected, completely out of left field even, John turned and stared at the sinner as if he found himself a long-lost brother.
Taylor looked at the sinner and found he didn't look like the type to prefer pineapple on pizza. But then again never judge a book by its cover.
Deku stared at everyone wide-eyed before blushing slightly and mumbling shyly to no one in particular. "I kind of like... anchovies?"
It was as if he had shot a bullet into Sukuna's chest the king of curses flinched back as if he was literally shot. He was holding his chest where his heart was supposed to be, looking at Izuku with a look of utter betrayal and heartbreak.
Even John seemed to be affected by what Izuku said as he shot a look at him filled with utter disbelief before giving over to Sukuna to help support him.
Izuku shoots them panicked looks all the while.
"Man down! Man down! He's not going to make it!" John cried out as he grabbed hold of Sukuna before he could fall out of his chair.
Taylor could hardly contain her laughter at John's and Sukuna's dramatic reaction. Her laughter created a domino effect as Izuku was chuckling heartily, followed by Homelander who had a wide grin on his face.
Even the usually reserved Alastor was seen sporadically concealing his laugh.
Taylor couldn't help but notice the feeling bubbling up inside her as a sudden realization washed over her. For the first time in what felt like forever, genuine laughter escaped from her lips in an uninhibited burst of joy.
It had been too long since she had let herself truly enjoy a moment without worrying about tomorrow or dwelling on yesterday.
This simple act of laughter stirred something deep within her and reminded her of the carefree days of when her mother was still with her.
A bittersweet nostalgia filled her.
Meanwhile, Sukuna broke out of John's grasp and glared at Izuku with intense fury and scorn.
"Anchovies...the audacity...the disrespect!" He spat out in utter disgust, causing another wave of laughter to ripple around the room.
The scene was almost surreal to Taylor.
Against Taylor's anticipation, Alastor decided it was time to pour some more fuel into the fire; he leaned back in his chair and looked around the room dramatically before declaring, "I myself think olives are quite underrated."
A fresh round of gasps and noises filled the room while Taylor couldn't help but erupt into a fit of hysterical laughter at the reaction the other three gave to the sinner's words.
Things were hopefully looking up for her.
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Winslow High
The sight of an intense but very short battle could be seen all around Winslow with the school somehow miraculously still somewhat intact.
"…So, we got our asses handed to us, huh?" Assault grumbled beside a very naked Armsmaster as he continued to try and break out of his own shadow.
"Shwup uwp!" The naked man growled through his ball gag as he was swinging upside down by his underwear.
The sound of a small army of men and women groaning in pain and misery echoed in agreement with Armsmaster as they lay buried in the ground with only their heads sticking out.
Also completely naked as the day they exited their mother's womb.
At least it couldn't get any worse…
"Armsmaster! Armsmaster! Do you have anything to say about the new parahumans appearing in Brockton Bay?!"
"Go see if you can find anyone with a recording of the fight!"
"Armsmaster! Can you tell us why you're currently naked?"
"Get as many pictures as you can! The people need to know!"
"Armsmaster! This is going to get us so many views!"
…Fucking reporters.