Chapter Text
Dashing between treetops, the only sound of her presence the flap of her cape, Sophia knew she was a fucking badass.
At night, dressed in black leather padding, she'd be nothing more than a dark shape in the night. In her shadow form, she'd be completely invisible. No streetlights to illuminate her and there were still so few who could afford a flashlight. Even better, no fucking electricity. At night, Sophia was untouchable and she knew it. Owning the night like this, well, it almost made up for the end of the world.
Sure, life was tougher all-around, there weren't the little things. Like clean beds or hot showers. Sophia picked at a twig in her hair and tried to not think of lice. And there wasn't a lot of options for food - roasted deer got old quick. But here in the night? The settlement and the woods surrounding it? It was hers.
Parahumans in every dimension were staking their claims, so why shouldn't Sophia?
She didn't ask for much. Didn't ask for anything at all, just some food and water from the locals. Otherwise the settlement was free to handle themselves, to fight or fuck or whatever. The people took care of themselves well enough, enough of them had the know-how for farming and the survival instinct not to question the scary shadow cape when she demanded tribute. Some people made a noise about payment, but Sophia set them straight quick. Best to make an example, get the message across. The smart ones though, they understood quick. So long as Sophia was here, this was claimed territory and not just any parahuman could wander in and raise hell. Not if Sophia had anything to say about it.
Yeah. Sophia was a badass. A warlord. A predator. And this place was hers.
The creak of a wagon caught Sophia's attention and she drew her crossbow. A wagon usually meant more refugees, harmless normals. Although, Sophia thought with a smile, first impressions were important.
She leapt from branch to branch, phasing into her shadow form to make each jump a light-step and soon enough she spotted the wagon making its way down the rut that was the settlement's only road. Pulled by a single exhausted horse, the wagon was driven by a portly man who looked just about ready to collapse himself.
Easy targets. And although Sophia couldn't make out who was in the battered wagon itself, it reeked of desperation. Just some prey, Sophia thought as she took aim.
The thunk of a crossbow bolt in the seat beside the driver was heard more than it was seen and the driver nearly fell off the wagon as he jumped. As he turned to look at the bolt, Sophia glided lightly on top of it and shifted back to her human form, her crossbow cocked and aimed casually with one hand at the man's chest. The man's eyes were like saucers and they whipped back and forth from the crossbow to Sophia's expressionless mask. Other than his eyes, he was frozen and deathly quiet, as if that could hide him from Sophia's gaze.
Sophia gestured with the crossbow. "Get off the wagon."
Tightly, the man nodded and hopped down and Sophia tracked him, her finger ready on the trigger. "Who else is inside?"
A squeak came from inside the wagon and sweat popped along the man's forehead, "M-my family. Wife and daughter."
Sophia inched back, keeping herself ontop of the wagon, and shifted her aim towards the opening. "Alright, ladies. Out the wagon."
The wife and daughter climbed out, clutching one another and not daring to look at Sophia as they scurried to the side with the father.
Sophia watched the family carefully as they huddled together, shivering in the night air. Unarmed as far as she could see. Her crossbow still trained on them, Sophia chanced a peek inside the wagon and saw only heaps of clothes and the occasional box of rations. Military-grade, so they had probably come from one of the bigger settlements. "What are you doing out here?" Sophia asked, turning back to the family.
The man stood a little forward, hiding his deathly pale wife and his daughter who looked entirely too old to be standing behind her mother who was shorter than her. "We're refugees. Just looking to get to the next settlement." And as if he wanted to sound as stupid as possible, he added, "We don't want no trouble."
Sophia snorted. "That's good to hear." She stuck a thumb at the contents of the wagon, "Anything you got in there besides food and clothes?"
The woman seemed to go a shade paler and the daughter buried her head in her mother's shoulders. The man shook his head. "No, we're just trying to get-"
"Shut up." Sophia spoke quietly, but the man obeyed instantly. "I'm gonna go through your shit. Move or make a sound and I put a bolt between your eyes."
The man nodded and the daughter squeaked again. Good enough, Sophia thought and ducked into the wagon.
There really was way too much clothing back here, had they really stuffed their suitcases full of this shit when the world was ending? Sophia shook her head and cracked open a case and found nothing but dry rations. Outside, Sophia could hear the daughter still whimpering and she chuckled softly, it didn't matter how much the girl cried, no one would be coming to the rescue, these woods were Sophia's and no one else's.
Sophia found another case beneath a pile of clothing and opened it. A grin began to form as she saw what was inside.
Jewelery. Gold and silver and shiny gemstones. In other words, the basis of a barter economy. With this she could head to a bigger town, get some more bolts for her crossbow or maybe even get some stray tinkertech or...
A word caught Sophia's eye and she forgot the box. On a faded grey t-shirt, in big blocky yellow letters was a very familiar word.
Winslow.
When Sophia stepped out of the wagon, she had holstered her crossbow. Sophia looked at the family and saw they had obediently not moved an inch. Even the girl - Sophia's age now that she thought about it - hadn't lifted her head once. "Hey. Hey!" The man and his wife flinched as Sophia called out, but the girl just continued to shrink behind her mother. "Fucking look at me!"
The daughter's trembling stopped and slowly she raised her head.
"What the fuck, Madison." Sophia sighed, "You seriously don't know it's me?"
"Yes, no, I mean," Madison's voice was quiet and raspy. Nervously she spoke louder, "I knew it was you."
Madison's father cleared his throat, "Please-"
"Shut up." Sophia said flatly, her attention entirely on Madison. "So why didn't you say anything? I could've fucking killed you, you idiot."
Madison swallowed, clearly imagining it. "I-I don't want anything to do with that stuff."
"What?"
"C-cape stuff."
This crybaby shit was starting to piss Sophia off. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"C-Capes! People like you!" Madison flinched as she saw Sophia tense, but knew she had to explain, "You're dangerous, Sophia. You… you were just prepared to kill us. All the capes have been like that. Even after the end of the world, they're all fighting, trying to be warlords. Trying to be like Tay- "
"TRYING TO BE LIKE ME!" Sophia shouted, suddenly very hot under her mask.
"Like you!" Madison squeaked, "Trying to be like you, I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!"
Sophia leapt off the wagon. She could feel her blood rising even as Madison shrank, "I made Taylor, understand? The only reason she did anything was because of me!"
"I understand! I'm sorry, it was you!"
"Please leave her-"
Sophia smashed the man's face in with the end of her crossbow and he crashed to the ground, blood streaming from his nose. Madison's mom started screaming, but Sophia ignored them.
Sophia was in Madison's face, gripping the girl's shoulders so she couldn't pull away. "I'm the start of it all, not her! She fucking copied me and got lucky! She learned everything from me! I'M THE PREDAUUUGH!"
The shift to her shadow form was instinctual, but it was too late. The pain in her back, a jolt that seemed to echo through her and Sophia knew she had been stabbed - Madison's dad had finally gotten the guts to stab a girl in the back, the fucking prick. Sophia swayed in shadow form, Madison's family stirring past her in a flurry of movement. She was dizzy in her shadow form, it was hard to control and so much more exhausting than it should be. She drifted, unable to push against even the slightest breeze and she felt herself sliding away. Vaguely she could make out the wagon rumbling forward, the horse crying out in as much panic as its passengers, but it was hard to bring herself to care.
Unable to stop herself, Sophia drifted deeper into the woods.
She couldn't bleed out like this, could she?
Sophia shifted back and immediately dropped to her knees, a loud splat following her as too much blood materialized around her.
Fuck.
Slowly, she reached behind herself with a hand and felt where the knife was sticking out of her. Low, in the small of her back and the asshole had tugged it the wrong way, too so now the wound was much bigger than just the knife. She brought her hand to her face just to make sure it really was blood.
It was. Of course, it was. What else could it be?
Fuck, Sophia thought to herself again, she was going to die. Alone in the middle of nowhere. No one would know, not even to bury her body. Sophia gasped with a laugh, blood sputtering from her lips. Her corpse would be eaten, by vultures or foxes or whatever.
By maggots.
"Fuuuck!" Sophia screamed and she threw herself forward, bruising her cheek against the ground. She put an arm forward and pulled. "Not like this." She grunted through grit teeth, "Not going to die. Not like this."
Her arm pulled and she felt every root and rock as she dragged herself forward. Her mask was off - when had that happened? - and she could smell the dampness of the dirt. She threw her arm forward and pulled again. If she could get to the settlement. If they had a doctor. If they got to her in time. If she was even heading in the right direction.
"Not. Gonna. Die." Sophia grunted with each inch. She just had to keep moving. Just keep moving.
She focused on the pain. Couldn't rest, couldn't stop. Had to keep moving. Everything hurt, her face and chest from the dragging, her arm from the constant pulling, but most especially the small of her back where Sophia could feel death creeping. Just a little more, she lied to herself, just a little more. She looked back to see how far she had gone and immediately regretted it.
Five feet. Maybe six. And a wide streak of blood.
She roared and threw her arm forward again, grasping at the dirt, but the strength to pull never came. Her fingers dug a little deeper into the dirt, but her arm wouldn't bend, the muscles wouldn't work. Sophia screamed, willing her body to move.
Soon enough, even screaming was too much, her head dropped into the dirt.
Not like this.
With a whimper, Sophia closed her eyes.