Fanfic / Implacable

Implacable is a fanfiction of Worm by Billymorph.

After injuring Sophia Hess in her Trigger Event, Taylor Hebert is strong-armed into the Wards as a Probationary member.

Fearing his daughter would rather go Villain than have to serve in the same team as one of her bullies, and having decades of experience in dealing with screwy contracts as the HR guy and spokesman for the local labor union, Danny drills his daughter in the noble art of Malicious Compliance.

The fic is most notable for the strong reaction it inspired on the Space Battles forums. Discussion often grew heated or off-topic resulting in multiple thread locks, and despite only coming in at 43,000 words the fic spawned nearly 400 Omakes, a list of which is shown below.

List of Omakes

• "Citizen's Arrest": Pisces arrests Shadow Stalker after finding her doing her vigilante act.
• "Man on the Inside": Lisa tells the Undersiders about Pisces.
• "A Deal With A Snake": Shadow Stalker is late for a meeting. With good reasons, it turns out.
• "Power of the Purse": Taylor tries to make herself as much of a financial strain on PRT ENE as possible.
• "Signs of Trouble": Taylor uses Vietnam-War era hand-signals to signify her duress.
• "Rune Appreciation Day": Aegis attacks a girl using a hoverboard for looking like Rune - right in front of an Australian hoverboard operator and a dozen girls in Rune costumes.
• "Popcorn Villainy": Lung and Kaiser make bets on when Pisces gets released from the Wards, whoever wins (by getting the date closest to when Pisces leaves) getting first chance at taking the Docks.
• "The Battle of the Bureaucracy": Director Costa-Brown sends a special trouble shooter (Contessa) to solve the Pisces situation.
• "Softball": the purse-snatching during Pisces's first patrol was actually staged, and three PRT actors debrief themselves.
• "The Advocate": a Distant Finale with Taylor as a Youth Guard lawyer who works pro bono to get Press-Ganged capes out of the Wards.
• "A Brick Wall": Rose Woods attempts to come up with a way to solve the problems between Pisces, Shadow Stalker and Vista.
• "Everything Is Fine": Amy Dallon is angry over Vicky's interest in Pisces.
• "Debriefing: First Patrol": Pisces details her Rules Lawyering for not stopping the thief from her first patrol.
• "PRT Investigation Protocol": investigators' attempts to find more about the Pisces incident keep getting stymied.
• "Meeting Another Devil": Lisa encounters Pisces at the bank robbery - with a surprising result.
  • "Enlightenment": The Undersiders attempt to understand what happened during Lisa's encounter with Pisces.
• "It Could Be Worse": Bothering by the Book is applied to various powersets (including Taylor's canon powers).
• "Unexpected Teammate Solidarity": Clockblocker requests Taylor's help with his paperwork.
• "The Morning After": Vista considers Pisces' behavior.
• "Habeas Corpus": in which Taylor Rules Lawyers her way out of jail for violating an order that would have endangered bystanders.
• "Crest of a Silver Wave": in which Leviathan feinted towards Boston before attacking Brockton Bay instead, forcing Taylor to perform a solo delaying action as the Protectorate returned.
• "The Leviathan Disaster": a four-part Wham Episode where Taylor was forced to attend the fight against Leviathan, Danny was killed as a result of Taylor's absence, Taylor Second-Triggers upon finding out and has to be talked out of breaking her way out of prison by Glory Girl, and Brandish and Narwhal act as The Cavalry and help Taylor with her case against the PRT.
  • "Searching For Answers": The two-part sequel to the above. Weld is brought in to investigate the Pisces' situation from the point of view of the Wards, who finally learn the reasons behind Pisces' attitude, while Rime demands answers from the Protectorate heroes and calls them out for not acting sooner.
  • "Soulsong": An alternate continuity to "Searching For Answers". Even with Brandish' help, Taylor is still forced to remain a Ward - although she manages to cope by using her new powers to express herself through other means.
  • "The Leviathan Disaster: What If? Danny at the Bat!": An alternate continuity to "The Leviathan Disaster" where Danny survives Leviathan's attack. With the support of Brandish, the Heberts take on the Protectorate.
  • "Brocton Bay late night show" (sic): The fight against Leviathan reveals some surprising things about the Endbringers.
  • "Justice...?": The sentence for State of New Hampshire v. Miss Militia is confirmed.
• "Charlie Alpha Two-Two Tango Charlie Hotel": in which Taylor resigns as soon as she is legally able to without getting thrown in jail - right in front of Alexandria and the press.
• "Poor Foundations": Director Costa-Brown calls in a friend of hers to do an independent investigation on Pisces' conscription.
• "A Downstream Perspective": a concerned Armsmaster relays to Dragon the situation with Pisces and she does her own investigation.
• "Diplomatic Immunity": a crossover with Emissary where Pisces' case gets extradimensional assistance.
• "Union Man": Danny contacts a lawyer, an OSHA inspector, a Detective, and Tattletale to help build his case.
• "Contempt": Taylor and Piggot get subpoenaed, but Piggot is too busy to answer.
• "Change Begins With Me": Danny organizes a Wards Union.
• "Improbably Plausible Deniability": Calvert uses his power to talk with Taylor about her situation.
• "The Almighty Subpoena": Taylor and Piggot get subpoenaed by a Judge, which overturns the gag order on Taylor.
• "The Rise of Starfall": Piggot convicts Danny in Federal court on unspecified charges (later revealed trying to reveal Sophia's role in Taylor's Trigger and how Taylor was conscripted), prompting Taylor to pull a Face–Heel Turn and go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
  • "Starfall Lands on her Feet!": After someone reveals the Empire 88's identities, Starfall decides to help Purity avoid getting arrested. Legend decides to intervene.
• "Dead or Alive": Miss Militia's attempt to make Taylor fight Leviathan backfires.
• "Pyrrhic Victory": Piggot gives Taylor a Soul-Crushing Desk Job for the remainder of her probation, and Danny explains why it's a Pyrrhic Victory.
• "There's Always A Bigger Fish": Danny calls the IRS and gets them to investigate Principal Blackwell and the PRT.
• "Kitchen Patrol": a PHO thread in which footage of Pisces and Shadow Stalker Peeling Potatoes goes viral, and Piggot does damage control.
• "Re: Your Wards": Glenn Chambers writes a scathing e-mail to Piggot over her screw-ups with the Brockton Bay Wards.
• "Scales and Feathers": a crossover with the fanfic A Hummingbird Feather in which the protagonist of the other fic shows up to save the day.
• "Scarier than any Villain": Aegis' delivery of his apology note to Pisces gets waylaid when he discovers Carol and Vicky Dallon are visiting the Heberts.
• "The Anglerfish": a crossover with Are You Afraid of the Dark? in which Danny (AKA the Dark) is not happy about what the PRT is trying to pull off in regards to his daughter.
• "Illumination": Clockblocker decides to do his own investigation to understand Pisces during his time as temporary Wards leader.
• "Thomas Calvert's Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Week, in Stereo!": Coil despairs at how Pisces' actions have caused his plans to go awry without her even knowing about it.
• "Meeting Mishaps and Misconceptions": due to pulling the wrong conclusions out of what he has been told, Aegis makes a mistake on Pisces' reasons for acting out.
• "Image Is King": Danny and Taylor travel to Los Angeles to directly deal with Glenn Chambers.
• "Like (Step)Mother, Like Daughter": A two-part crossover with the fanfic Nike, where Miss Militia is Taylor's stepmother and Taylor triggers with a bud of the former's power.
  • "The Wrong End of the Blade": As Taylor settles in the Wards, a certain snake gets into her crosshairs.
  • "Longarm Doesn't Drone On Too Long": Taylor deals with Wards shenanigans in the PRT's cafeteria, the Empire 88 suffers fighting against Longarm and Sophia Hess sneezes.
• "Dangerous Workplace": Danny hears about Shadow Stalker shooting one of his co-workers' kids and plots.
• "PRT Medical Directives": Taylor breaks a leg and decides to milk it to further mess with Piggot's attempts to force her in line.
• "The Suit of the Day": The Heberts' medical insurance demands the PRT to pay for Taylor's psychiatric treatment.
• "Criminal Intelligence": Coil proposes the other gangs a truce.
• "Implacable Phase": A Taylor screwed up by the Protectorate meets another Taylor screwed up by the Protectorate.
• "Happy Ending": Everyone that made Taylor's life hell dies.
• "Vista Finds A Loophole!": Vista uses the rulebook to find what brought Pisces into the Wards.
• "Perspective": Vista demands answers. Taylor finds a loophole that lets her give them.
• "The Final Countdown": Renick details to Piggot how screwed they are going to be once Taylor's six months as a Probationary Ward are up.
• "She Knows Too Much": Vista demands answers. Taylor decides to prank her.
• "The Long Game": Pisces has left the Protectorate after being forced to do the full six months as a Ward, and Piggot thinks she's won. A press conference soon proves otherwise.
• "It Starts With One": Assault reviews the files on Pisces' case. Soon, most Protectorate ENE heroes and Wards follow Pisces' example.
• "The Art of CYA": A PRT worker makes sure to remind Piggot that the PRT is not fulfilling all its requirements.
• "A Sinking Ship (and a woman with a bucket)": Rose Woods is unable to do anything as the house of cards slowly collapses around her.
• "The Best Defence": A hypothetical lawyer presents the evidence on what happened the day Taylor triggered.
• "What If Taylor Went Villain": Taylor goes villain... but nowhere close to what Piggot expected.
• "Vulpine, Wright, and Dallon, Attorneys at Law": In Part 1, Coil is desperate enough to hire Lisa Wilbourn to find a way to fix the local PRT before it collapses. In Part 2, Lisa teams up with Uber and Leet to put her plan in practice. In Part 3, Carol is of two minds when she finds out who she has been working with.
• "The Smell of Smoke": The PRT and Protectorate manage to capture Squealer and Skidmark, and Piggot tries to turn it into PR. Pisces, who was told it was a PR patrol and captured Squealer, quickly torpedoes Piggot's joy.
  • "COMPLIANCE": Jack Slash sees the press conference and decides it would be great to see if the Protectorate will sacrifice Pisces to save Brockton Bay.
• "Unofficial Power Testing: Mundane Utility": Taylor uses her shields to clean up at home.
  • "Unofficial Power Testing: Mundane Utility 2 (Glory Girl Edition)": Victoria reminisces about her attempt to use her super strength to make lemonade.
  • "Unofficial Power Testing: Mundane Utility 3 (Punishment Duties Edition)": Piggot gets to punish Taylor with car washing. She should have known better.
• "Good Timing": Tattletale takes advantage of Taylor's use of time restrictions.
• "Clockblocker's Official Ward Handling Playbook: Pisces Edition": Piggot interrogates Clockblocker over his decisions as temporary leader of the Wards.
• "A Matter of Sensitivity": Gallant tries his hand at talking Pisces. His approach may actually work...
• "Blue Flu": Two PRT agents consider alternative ways of supporting Pisces.
• "Aegis P.I. is on the Case": After being benched, Aegis does some amateur sleuthing in his civilian identity.
• "How Shocking": Taylor develops a new trick. Shadow Stalker confesses.
• "Being There": Emma sees things from the other side of the fence. It doesn't look good.
• "Community Service, Plus Tips": PRT's PR is not happy about Taylor collecting tips.
• "Legal Tender": Taylor goes to the Protectorate finance office to speak about receiving her paycheck.
• "Malicious Compliance": When Taylor demands her last paycheck as a Ward, Piggot gives her a gift card instead. Big mistake.
• "Literal Back Pay": Piggot thinks that paying Taylor in oil-covered pennies is funny. Taylor finds good use for those pennies.
• "And Our Interests Are The Same": Piggot goes completely round the bend as she frames Taylor. Sophia realizes she needs to do something.
  • "PRT AAR: Pisces": Pisces Second Triggers after being sent to juvie. Soon, Brockton Bay is under threat of a new S-Class Villain.
  • "We Are Friends, Are We Not?": Taylor and Sophia end up in the same juvie hall. Sophia actually has good news for Taylor, for once.
  • "History is written by the winners": A look into a possible future where Piggot's actions lead to a parahuman war.
  • "The Kingdom Crumbles": Piggot is awakened mid-night to undergo Master/Stranger protocols. That's only the beginning of her troubles.
• "Bring Me Pictures of Pisces!": Piggot gets kicked out of the PRT and starts a newspaper. She wants photos of Pisces.
• "I Hate You": Pisces' post-Wards career as an independent hero makes Glenn Chambers hate Piggot.
• "Reforging a Broken Tool": After Leviathan and Echidna, Tagg takes charge. He moves to attempt to fix anything he can.
  • "Reforging a Broken Tool: A House Divided": Vicky thanks Amy for saving Taylor and gets her and the Wards on the same page. Mrs. Tagg does her best to help Pisces return from the edge of despair.
• "It Gets Worse Again": The Shard from It Gets Worse gets to have fun helping (or "halping") Pisces.
• "Accountability": Carol Dallon receives an interesting (and unexpected) request.
• "Battered Fish": Taylor, Amy, Leet and Uncle Jacob from Mauling Snarks show up during Pisces' first patrol.
• "The Ultimate Escape": Piggot takes advantage of Danny's death after Leviathan's attack to attempt to force Taylor to remain a Ward. Taylor will do whatever it takes to avoid that.
  • "Another Sacrifice": Taylor makes good on her oath to clean Brockton Bay of its gangs.
  • "Springtime for Brockton Bay": Newly minted PRT Newfoundland-Labrador Director Emily Piggot reflects on her actions that led to Pisces becoming Blender.
    • "Experience is a Hard Teacher": Piggot does not have pattern recognition.
• "HR is NOT on your side": Piggot learns that two can play the "not allowed to tell you" game.
• "Castigophobia": The main character of Mixed Feelings warns of potential trouble if Pisces is sent back to Winslow.
• "Union Vengeance": Brockton Bay's unions strike against the PRT the best way they know.
• "Taylor Writes an Omake": Taylor tries her hand at writing about Piggot.
  • "The Tragedy of Sophia Hess": Taylor tries her hand at writing about Sophia.
• "Not a Fan-Fiction": A story in PHO's recommended reading list sounds quite familiar.
• "Brat out of Hell": After a former PRT agent attacks Taylor at her home, she goes on the lam.
• "Unforgiven": Taylor asks a former classmate for heavy metal music.
• "Shipping": Taylor discovers there are worse things than patrols - such as shipping.
• "Haya de la Torre": Taylor requests asylum in Russia's consulate in Boston.
  • "Haya de la Torre: Fallout": Piggot has Danny arrested. Then the Russian consul gives a press conference.
  • "Haya de la Torre: Collusion": Rebecca Costa Brown wants to know why they can't force Pisces to return. Contessa explains.
• "Cost": In Part 1, Piggot wants to know why a PR patrol went completely sideways. In Part 2, the Wards live through a city furious for the death of a teenage hero.
• "Poaching": The alphabet soup of agencies takes an interest in Pisces.
• "I Choose Violence": Eidolon wants a situation report on the latest incident to hit Brockton Bay.
  • "A Silent Voice": HIVE takes over the Rig.
  • "Houston": While the Protectorate gets the numbers on survivors, HIVE prepares to expand out of the Rig.
• "Blue-on-Blue": Aegis throws a containment foam grenade. Pisces is not amused.
• "Backbone": Emma from Just A Phase caused Pisces' trigger. She really regrets it now.
• "Rules of Evidence": Someone steals Danny's PC. The investigation leads the police to Taylor's Trigger incident. Piggot realizes she's screwed.
• "Noble 5": Jorge-052 appears in Brockton Bay and learns about Pisces. The gangs will not have a good day.
• "The Source of Authority": In an AU where Hookwolf killed Annette Hebert, Taylor Triggers with the power to control plasma. After being conscripted into the Wards, she decides to do something about it.
  • "The World's Made of Cardboard, and I've Got the Matches": Taylor's power testing goes awry - for the PRT.
• "Denarian Interference": Lasciel manages to find a way to Earth Bet, and Taylor picks up her coin.
  • "Knightly Changes": Two months later, Brockton Bay slowly slips into despair as an indirect consequence of what Lasciel taught Taylor. Little does the Fallen know that a certain Russian Knight of the Cross has tracked her and has a better offer in hand.
• "The Taylor that Laughs": After Danny's death to Leviathan and Glory Girl's to Taylor's Echidna clone, Taylor snaps.
  • "The Taylor that Laughs: Buzzsaw makes a Friend": Taylor goes to Boston, kills the Butcher - and Queen Administrator shuts the other Butchers up. And then it gets worse.
  • "The Taylor that Laughs: Apotheosis": Cauldron makes a deal with the devil.
• "Exposed": Malicious compliance isn't enough. Taylor decides to go for broke. In Part 2, Checkmate (formerly known as Pisces) gives an interview. In Parts 3 and 4, Piggot tries to force Taylor in line after she outed herself.
  • "Who has endangered? A discussion in Chambers": The PRT attempts to get Danny trialed for child endangerment after Taylor unmasks. Danny turns it on them.
• "Omakeception": Glenn Chambers is not happy about the PRT ENE's latest PR disaster.
• "Please See 945T - Omake Title Request Form": Even criminals have to fill forms.
• "Reality Check": Dennis and Dean - Clockblocker and Gallant - put the pieces together.
• "Only Way to Keep a Secret": The incident between Shadow Stalker and Pisces is an open secret in spite of the NDAs.
• "The Rumour Mill": The list of rumours surrounding Pisces is quite long.
• "The Customer Is Always Right": Pisces is put to work at the Protectorate's gift shop.
• "The Largest Form of Theft": Taylor explains to Vista and Clockblocker how the Protectorate is shafting them.
• "Tolkien Was Half Right": Ebenezar McCoy takes a wrong turn and appears in Brockton Bay. He begins to kick ass.
• "The law firm of Vicky and Vicky, Esquire": Glory Girl points out to Aegis that there's something fishy with how Pisces was forced to join the Wards.
• "In the Wind: Squaring Accounts": Taylor cashes in favors to escape Brockton Bay before the Protectorate can force her to do more as a Ward.
  • "Undercover Duty": The people sent behind Pisces are not exactly interested in doing their job.
  • "Hostile Work Enviroment" (sic): Amy testifies to what she did for Pisces.
  • "In The Wind: Possible Outcome": Only two weeks in her run, Taylor is found by Alexandria.
  • "Path to Resignation Acceptance": Contessa finds Taylor. The expected result does not follow.
  • "Path to PRT Stability": Cauldron resorts to drastic measures.
• "You Thought Pisces Was The Only One?": Tattletale reveals Bitch's personal history.
• "Gift Horse": There are other ways to get Taylor out of the Wards.
  • "Victim": The Youth Guard informs Shadow Stalker she will no longer be a victim. She doesn't take it well.
• "Solidarity": All over the country, Wards begin to stick to their handbooks, while at Brockton Bay the Wards learn how screwed up the situation is.
• "A-Warded": After Danny's death, the PRT attempts to gain custody of Pisces. The judge is not going to make it easy, though.
• "Omakes for the Omake Throne!!!": The Wards discover Implacable - and decide to write their own omakes.
• "Checkmate": Piggot decides to break Pisces by forcing her into M/S screening. Bad move.
• "Difficult Lessons: Help More With Less": A crossover with Training Trip. Another universe's Taylor arrives to Implacable's Brockton Bay and, after learning of her counterpart's situation, decides to help.
  • "Consequences: Pisces in New York!": Pisces actually finds companionship among the New York Wards.
  • "Consequences: Spin Makes the World go Round": After Echidna hits Brockton Bay, two Wards are transferred to New York.
• "Pulling Pins": The Wards discover what happened to Pisces and decide to help her.
  • "No Longer Your Friend": After Missy reveals what caused her Trigger event, the Wards plot how to use this to destroy Piggot.
  • "Industrial Action": The Wards reveal their grievances against Piggot. On PHO.
• "An Offer of Hope": A crossover with ''Arknights". Taylor gets an offer to join a different organization.
  • "As A Hero Dies, A New One Rises": One week after Pisces dies when the Endbringers attack Brockton Bay, Piggot insists that the new Rhodes Island-associated cape is Pisces.
• "A Silent Duet": The Wards' resident empath notices something weird in Pisces' emotions.
• "The Chain of Command": After all the other, non-Probationary Wards leave, Vista becomes Wards Leader. She immediately makes the chain of command clear.
• "Clockblocker's Leadership": When asked why Pisces is not in the Ward duty rosters, Clockblocker has the perfect answer.
• "Subverting the Wards": Taylor points out the wages the Wards have been denied from overtime.
• "You Need a Hero!": Kid Win explodes at Pisces for her attitude. Pisces points to the breadcrumb track she's already left.
• "The Opposite of Love": When a Watchdog alert regarding Pisces reaches Piggot, she gets the lever she needs.
  • "Taylor's 25th birthday": After ten years of being forced to be a hero against her will, Taylor resigns on the day after her probation ends.
  • "When All Is Lost": After her house burns down and her father dies, Taylor just gives up. In Part 2, Armsmaster laments not doing enough for Pisces.
  • "Can't Keep a Good Woman Down": Piggot thinks she's got Taylor where she wants her. Taylor brings her suppositions down - brick by brick.
  • "In Death, Freedom": Taylor snaps - and it turns out the Protectorate ENE can't stop her.
• "Best Villain Award": The villains ask Piggot for tips.
• "Commander Calvert, Hero of the PRT": For once, Calvert is actually the hero.
• "Second thoughts and Superior Firepower": Danny is far more powerful than anyone else believed.
• "Emotional Support Worm": Taylor gets an emotional support golden man.
• "The Return of Alt-Chris...": A thirty year old Chris from another universe begs Kid Win to stop the crisis surrounding Taylor.
• "The Waterfall Loophole": Piggot doesn't like Taylor's emotional support animals.
• "The Danger of Rituals": Taylor Second Triggers in a Master/Stranger cell - and her shields acquire an unusual form.
  • "To Speak Against The Sea": Taylor uses her new power to fight Leviathan.
  • "To Cast The Mountain Down": While the Protectorate tries to plot how to bring Taylor back into the fold, she vanishes.
  • "To Deny the Mandate of the Heavens": The Last Endbringer meets the destroyer of Leviathan and Behemoth.
• "Refuge in Audacity": Piggot finally sends Taylor back to Winslow. Pity that she didn't pay attention - and that she forced the issue.
• "Lisa-Doo gets a Clue": Calvert gives up on Brockton Bay and tells the Undersiders they can do whatever they want. The Undersiders start a detective agency.
• "The REAL Youth Guard": Contessa puts an end to the crisis through unusual methods.
• "XXXL-sized Hitler": As bad as Piggot can be, she's not as bad as this one.
• "Power testing, vol. 1": Taylor tests her shields on her own.
• "One to Boned": After Vista raises the alert on Taylor meeting a Youth Guard member, the Wards wonder how screwed they are.
• "Taking a Stand": Fidelio Truth, Legal counsel for the PRT ENE, decides to call it quits.
• "Here's Comes the Cavalry": Greg Veder tries to reveal the truth on PHO.
• "Vista: Model Ward": Vista proudly talks about her certifications.
• "The Favour Trade": Hunch visits California as part of a temporary Ward trade.
• "Threats and Metal Shards": The Empire 88 attempts to shake down Pisces. Pisces drops her bag of sand. On them.
• "Taylor's Apology Letter": Taylor was mandated to write an apology letter. Nothing in the orders said it had to be legible.
• "20 Pisces of Silver": Piggot asks Carol Dallon how much it took for her to take Pisces' case.
  • "Onto Potter's Field": Carol explains to Piggot how much she screwed up.
• "Pleading the 5th": Carol asks questions. Sophia only pleads the Fifth Amendment.
• "Spotlight of the Soul": Armsmaster does some introspection - and hates the discovery he makes.
• "A Crisis of Infinite PR": Rose Woods witnesses a familiar, crossbow-wielding Parahuman shooting a cop in the chest. Piggot tries to cover her ass.
• "That Unforgiving Minute": A patrolling Assault, Battery and Vista chance upon Empire 88 capes about to kill Pisces - and are ordered not to interfere.
• "In a Word, Reciprocation": A troubleshooter makes some changes.
• "Send Not To Know": Danny and Taylor get ready to meet the mediator.
• "In Control": The Youth Guard rep brings up a few ideas for Pisces to follow.
• "PEN PALS": Taylor finds that she can message people that are in the same situation as her.
• "It Tolls For Thee": After her father's accidental death, Taylor is trapped. She snaps and opens her way to freedom. No matter what or who stands on her way.
• "That Which Can be Destroyed by the Truth, Should be Destroyed by the Truth": A PRT lawyer attempts to convince Taylor to drop her crusade by pointing to the consequences. Taylor points harder.
• "Heads They Win, Tails You Lose": Coil tries to delay the Youth Guard's investigation and preserve Piggot's position. Again. And again. And again...
• "Pisces Settlement Calculator": A list of the things Taylor might be willing to reduce the settlement for.
• "It's CYA Time at the PRT": The PRT agent in charge of investigating Pisces' trigger event finds a way to solve the problem - and requests legal coverage.
• "Crom!": Taylor decides she wants out of the Wards - and requests membership in the Undersiders.
• "One of Them": Renick's answer to one of Helena Troy's questions backfires.
• "Everything You Ever...": Coil discovers that not even his best plans are 100% successful.
• "The Eagle Has Landed": Crossover with Eagle's Wings (itself a crossover with Pathfinder). An immortal Taylor Hebert with the powers of a Mythic Hierophant shows up in Implacable's Brockton Bay to help people - among them her counterpart.
  • "Cry of the Eagle": Taylor receives a surprising visit.
• "Plot Device Tinker": Cauldron itself is besieged by a wall-breaking force.
• "A New Normal": Five years in the future, Vista transfers to Boston - where she meets someone from her past.
• "A Balancing of Scales": Taylor apologizes to Aegis and suggests him to listen to a girl's story.
• "A Call for Help": Aegis calls Legend to ask for suggestions.
• "Malicious Snooping": A young African-American girl ransacks Armsmaster's files while talking smack with Dragon.
• "Mandatory Sensitivity Training": The senior figures of the PRT ENE suffer through a session of sensitivity training.
• "External Variables": Contessa explains why the Brockton Bay experiment is ruined.
• "Jack": A homeless man witnesses a murder.
• "Political Realities": As the Pisces Affair reaches Congress, Alexandria and Legend attempt to find a Hail Mary Pass to protect the PRT.
  • "The Wheels of the Senate Turn": Taylor testifies before the Senate Parahuman Affairs Commitee.
• "The Definition of Attack": Even the most terrifying creatures in the world know about Malicious Compliance.
• "Achilles, Come Down": Armsmaster oversees the Wards.
• "Making Sense of Madness": Director Armstrong attempts to make sense of the mess Piggot left behind.
• "Master in the Shadows": Sophia has a secondary power no one knows.
• "Chunder": Taylor is arrested for assaulting Piggot with a "toxic biochemical substance".
• "The Confession of a Fallen Knight": Armsmaster makes a confession.
• "Career Dissapation Light": PRT ENE's leadership is arrested.
• "Entity Cycle Management Headquarters": Zion learns the art of Malicious Compliance.
• "Most damning of all": The crime statistics for Brockton Bay have come up, and it doesn't look good. For the PRT.
• "Did You Make a Reservation?": Pisces joins Faultline's Crew.
• "What Can Go Wrong, Will Go Wrong": Even in victory, things can go wrong.
• "Tagg to the Rescue": When Tagg takes over, his first action is to talk with Pisces.
• "It's All Just Conjecture And Gloom": When Vista asks Glory Girl about Pisces' deal, Victoria does her best to explain.
• "Doomsday": Armsmaster resorts to that which he hoped he would never have to.
  • "The Mighty Mouse": Miss Militia is not happy with Armsmaster's decision.
• "Taco Tuesday": Glenn Chambers gets drunk when the PRT's attempt to get Pisces in trouble backfires.
• "Impressive": The PRT's PR department is not knowledgeable in 19th Century history.
• "Limited Edition Merchandising": The PRT's newest merchandise is advertised.
• "Letting Her Shields Down": Taylor goes about Malicious Compliance in a different direction.
• "TLA Invasion": Piggot's actions bring the attention of a feared enemy.
• "Notes from the Winslow Highschool Contamination Site": The CDC investigates the cause and aftermath of Pisces' Trigger.
• "Empire 88 Strikes Back": The local Nazi gang decides to use Pisces' trigger for political advantage.
• "Thomas Calvert: Hero of the Parahuman Response Team": Thomas Calvert manages to reach his objective - and finds that juggling the PRT and his gang is not easy.
• "There Will Be No Victory In Strength": Sorry, Aegis, but you aren't in the Army.
• "The Parahuman Formerly Known As Pisces": Three years after leaving the Protectorate, Taylor gives an interview.
• "Nailed It!": Vista keeps her mouth shut. Or not.
• "A Glorious Week": Brockton Bay's hotels are having a good week.
• "The Power of Bureaucracy/One of Them": A certain someone has the power to manipulate the bureaucracy.
• "This Is Different": Three conversations post-avalanche.
• "Schadenfraude": Tattletale and Regent enjoy a special TV show.
• "The Art of CYA": Armsmaster has mastered at least one art.
• "The Byword": The Peoria Wards meet their new teammate.
• "Backpay Payback": The Wards receive their lost paychecks.
• "Just Not Fun Anymore": Lisa receives good news.
• "The Dragons in the Details": Lung deals with humanity's greatest bane.
  • "The Eternal Struggle": After the Youth Guard begins their audit, Lung continues his struggle against humanity's greatest bane.
• "Timing": Timing is everything in Coil's plans.
• "GLORIOUS YOUTHFUL GUARDIAN OF GREEN": A most youthful Youth Guard comes to Brockton Bay.
  • "Old Friends": A most youthful Youth Guard meets an old student.
• "Let it Sink In": Mrs Helena Troy wants to understand Piggot.
• "A Hero in His Own Mind": Helena interviews the old PRT ENE's Youth Guard representative.
• "F-Minus": Clockblocker understands memes.
• "You Wanna Be The Hero? Then Play The Part": Assault intervenes in the first Wards meeting of the year.
• "Kaiser, Please Think of the Children!": Not only the heroes can call in the Youth Guard.
  • "Won't Someone Please Remember the Nazis": Kaiser's little call backfires in the worst possible way.
  • "A Gentleman's Agreement": The remaining Brockton Bay gangs divide the pie.
  • "Not a One Note Omake": Contessa makes sure Coil behaves.
• "Defeat in Victory": Victor's skill-stealing cannot compete with Malicious Compliance.
• "Workaholics Anonymous": Workaholism doesn't have a place around Mrs Troy.
• "Rock and ...": Aliens show up in Brockton Bay and kidnap (maybe?) Pisces.
• "Planning for the Protectorate": Everyone in the PRT ENE has a weird sleep cycle.
• "Shield of the Protectorate": Shield agents protect heroes from the risks of daily life.
• "Poetic Justice": When Piggot manages to force Taylor's stay at the Wards extended by two years, Taylor answers by returning the favor.
• "Ignorance is Bliss": Vista learns some terrible truths.
• "Nine Days and Nine Nights On Yggdrasil": After a PRT raid on Taylor's house makes everything go pear-shaped, Taylor becomes the successor to a mythological power.
  • "Heimdall, Keeper of the Bifröst": With the Dallons up-to-date on the situation, Flashbang has an idea.
  • Incense and Powdered Diamonds would end up becoming it's own fic, derived from this Omake.
• "Code 9-9-9": Taylor Hebert, Secret Service agent, saves the President from a conspiracy. Crossover with Olympus Has Fallen.
• "Derailment": Meta-omake about thread derailments.
• "The Truce": The Endbringer Truce is a very serious thing. Malicious compliance follows.
• "Division Six": Child Protective Services are very willing to do their job.
• "Friends in Low Places": The PR Patrol is interrupted by villains.
• "The Letter of The Law": The agent in charge of investigating the incident at Winslow makes the decision to lift the gag order.
• "Rules for Rulers": Thomas Calvert learns from Piggot's mistakes.
• "Sailor Starlight": Taylor's debut as Starlight doesn't go well.
• "Good Riddance": Piggot informs Taylor that her father is dead. Taylor loses her last obstacle towards villainy.
• "The Dead-Man's Switch": Danny was prepared for the eventuality of his death. Incomplete.
  • "The Dead-Man's Switch (Part 2): Completes Part 1.
• "Reproduzione": Glenn Chambers Triggers when he realizes what is going on in Brockton Bay.
• "School of Hard Knocks": Carol Dallon takes advantage of the PRT's own claims to screw with them.
• "Throw the Alphabet at Her": Learning about NDAs' true power lets Taylor throw all the government agencies at the Protectorate.
• "Just Another Day In The Office": For Glenn Chambers, preventing the people from learning the truth is just another day in the office.
  • "A Failure to Anticipate the Market": Turns out, putting your problems behind a barrier just means you don't see them grow.
  • "It Was Contessa's Fault All Along": Contessa's plan was not what Alexandria thought it would be.
• "The Madness Begins": The best way to force the Protectorate to leave Taylor alone is to annoy them to hell.
  • "Haters Gonna' Hate": Vista plays along.
  • "The Super-Pimp Slap": Taylor has the perfect weapon to deal with Lung.
  • "Super-Pimp Gets A Visitor": Super-Pimp receives the visit of a fellow Pimp.
• "The Path to (im)perfect Victory": Victory can take many forms. Even ones you don't like.
• "I MAED DIS": Sophia keeps bragging that she made Pisces.
• "Inconcievable": Taylor did not Trigger in the locker. The PRT does not care.
• "Just Another Day At the Guild": One of the Guild's top hats brings interesting news to Narwhal about a potential successor.
  • "Part 2": Narwhal asks a fellow Guild mate for his opinion on Pisces.
  • "Part 3": With the collapse of the Wards ENE, Ruin has to rush in to help Pisces.
  • "Part Final": Taylor meets the Guild. The Guild discusses potential changes.
• "Well Earned Accolade": The BBVA nominates Emily Piggot as a member.
• "Resting": Pisces rests at the old water tower when she gets a visit.
• "Springtime for Kaiser in Brockton Bay": Springtime for Hitler adapted to Brockton Bay and its Nazi gang.
• "Not Why, But Who?": Piggot justifies herself.
• "Delicious Compliance": Pisces uses her breaks for something constructive.
• "A Flea in Your Ear": Taylor Triggers with her canon powers, and goes into the silk-making business.
• "Professionals Have Standards": Chief Director Costa-Brown reads Piggot the riot act.
• "A Matter of Security over Liberty": Piggot gets thrown in Master/Stranger Quarantine.
• "Another Day, Another Stray": In which Rachel Lindt teams up with a despondent Vista after the events of Chapter 9.
• "Girls' Night Out": In which a group of female Capes enjoy the weather.
• "Rise of the Indy League": After Vista runs away from home, Vicky and Taylor plan a support structure for independent heroes.
• "Cages": Vista feels like her life is a cage.
• "The Queen is Dead": Vista and Bitch go out on a ride against the Empire 88.
• "What doesn't kill you...": After Lisa tricks the Undersiders to turn on Coil, Brian finds himself responsible for three girls.
• "The Most Important Lesson": Contessa takes conclusions from the end of the Brockton Bay experiment.
• "The Pisces Effect": Tattletale has also studied the Wards rulebook.
• "Appreciated Implacability": Hakaishin Recca (original character from the Naruto fanfic Appreciation) finds himself in Brockton Bay and decides to spend his time there helping the daughter of the first person he meets.
• "Priorities": Purity's attempts to become more heroic are considered.
• "The Last Interview of the Cape Formerly Known as the Ward Vista": After the Wards ENE are dissolved, Vista gives an interview.
  • "Always Speak Politely...": Armsmaster and Dragon speak of the consequences of Vista's interview.
• "Independent League (Brockton Bay)": A look into Brockton Bay's independent hero team.
• "Legalis Interruptus": The older brother of one of Taylor's fellow students finds out about Taylor's plight and decides to help her.
• "On Tuesday": Vista manages to track the woman that ruined her life.
• "Nothing At All": Based on an as-of-yet unreleased scene where Piggot blackmails Amy into healing her.
• "A Malicious Owl": Taylor's Trigger turned her into a Terminator.
• "Raise the Bar": Starfall finds herself among her fellows.
• "Director Emily Piggot WINS": Piggot thinks she has won. She has. But not what she thought.
• "When Piggot Bargins": Piggot tries to bargain with Pisces.
• "A Dark (K)night in Brockton Bay": Several characters unwittingly reenact scenes from The Dark Knight.

As of July 31st, 2021, the fanfic is completed.

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This fanfic contains examples of the following:

List of Canon Tropes

• Adaptational Badass: Danny is situationally more useful than in canon, as Taylor's problem is within his field of expertise.
• Adaptational Superpower Change: This fic is an Alt-Power where Taylor controls dozens of force-field "scales" of various sizes, earning her the Cape name "Pisces".
• And the Adventure Continues: Most of the former Brockton Bay Wards join forces with New Wave and recently Triggered Dinah Alcott to create the Indy League, an independent hero group. The Undersiders collapse with the discovery of Coil's identity, with some of them skipping town. Vista runs away from home and partners up with Bitch.
• Batman Gambit:
  • During the discussion with Rose Woods over Taylor's punishment, Danny casually throws in the suggestion of mediation, knowing that Piggot will likely accept this with the expectation of the third party agreeing with her - and not knowing that Danny and Taylor are using this to trap the PRT on their own lies.
  • One commenter also speculates that the fight between Pisces and Shadow Stalker may have also been engineered to provoke the bringing in of mediation.
• Berserk Button: Sophia is this for Taylor. Sharing a team with her is a major reason she's Bothering by the Book.
• Bothering by the Book: Taylor explicitly uses Malicious Compliance to retaliate against her forced recruitment.
• Breaking the Fellowship: Wards ENE is officially disbanded after the Youth Guard finds the situation stinks to high heaven.
• Catch-22 Dilemma: Taylor's situation is this. She cannot leave the Wards and avoid jail without telling people what happened, but at the same time she cannot tell people what happened before she leaves the Wards. Referenced when Aegis mentions finding her reading Catch-22.
• The Cavalry: As of Interlude 1, Glory Girl is setting up Brandish as Taylor's attorney in the matter.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Regardless of her thoughts on the matter, Vista is still a thirteen-year-old that has been involved in a toxic environment for so long that she has a hard time seeing other people's point of view. When what she considers her only safe environment gets denied to her, she eventually runs from home.
• Dead Fic: Zig-Zagged - the thread keeps getting locked due to constant derails, but will eventually resume posting months later.
  • Finally averted for good after the fic was completed at the end of July 2021.
• Double Standard: Piggot has no problem in letting Sophia off with what amounts to be a slap in the wrist for worse things than what Taylor does, yet attempts to bring as much force as possible on the latter for the sake of forcing her to be a Ward.
• Establishing Character Moment: Pisces' introductory scene (aside from her dad explaining Malicious Compliance to her) is when she cites Protectorate regulations' Exact Words to note her lack of privacy and how she can't work more than two hours unless explicitly ordered to by Aegis, Armsmaster, or Director Piggot.
• Exact Words: How Pisces follows orders, including Wards regulations.
• Extremely Easy Exam: To legally hinder the PRT from making her participate in the Wards program, Taylor manages to fail the exam required for Wards to be certified for patrols. The exam is open-book and considered by everyone to be a mere formality — Vista passed without difficulty on her first try at age eleven — but technically it's still a requirement, so Taylor exploits it.
• Heel Realization: Aegis confides to the Youth Guard that he may have been a bit too pushy with Pisces.
• Heroic BSoD: Vista after Wards ENE is disbanded.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Taylor dislikes that her actions are going to splash on the rest of the Wards (save for Shadow Stalker), but knows she has to carry on to free herself of her shackles.
• Lack of Empathy: Piggot (quite likely due to her inherent hatred of all Parahumans) dismisses Sophia's brutal bullying of Taylor (which includes repeated instances of destruction of property, injuries, harassment in and out of school and suicide dares, ending with forcing Taylor into a locker full of rotten biological waste, which could have easily caused her grave infections and potentially killed her) as "schoolyard vandalism and harsh words".
• Loophole Abuse: Taylor does this, combined with Rules Lawyer, to make the Protectorate regret strong-arming her into joining.
• Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: Piggot's attempts to bury Shadow Stalker's role in Pisces's trigger event so she can keep both of them in the Wards leads to it being revealed that the Brockton Bay Wards team is being so badly mismanaged that the Youth Guard calls an all-hands-on-deck situation and ultimately revokes the charter because of it. Piggot herself ends up under investigation as well. This apparently leads to increased oversight as other Wards departments are shut down for their own scandals and the entire program is likely to be removed from Protectorate control.
• Morton's Fork: One commenter explained how the Heberts put the PRT in one in the aftermath of the "PR patrol" screwup. Either Aegis and Armsmaster broke the rules by putting Taylor on patrol even though she is not certified, or a lot of people will get in trouble for letting a PR tour stumble across a pickpocketing incident, and some PR people could easily land in hot water for disguising a patrol as PR. Either the PRT acquiesces to Danny's request for a light punishment, or they look unreasonable for ignoring mitigating circumstances. And Armsmaster must either throw Aegis under the bus or be held responsible for forcing Pisces to violate orders. Either way, the Heberts win.
  • Also, the situation surrounding the PRT's attempts to punish Taylor. Since no punishment can be levied without Danny's explicit approval, and the only thing Danny will approve is (in Piggot's eyes) unacceptable, either they get stalled for weeks with no one giving up or an independent third party acts as a mediator - which allows Danny and Taylor to reveal all the sketchy and potentially illegal things the PRT and Protectorate have been doing regarding Taylor's case to someone that can blow open the entire mess. Either way, the Heberts win.
• Not Helping Your Case: Getting up and running upon finding out about the cell phone investigation is more incriminating against Shadow Stalker than it is against Pisces.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: The exam that allows Wards to become certified for patrols and detainment is open book. Taylor deliberately flunks the exam so she can't be required to participate. She also likes to "get lost", claiming she doesn't know the PRT building.
• Odd Friendship: Vista starts hanging out with Rachel Lindt after Wards ENE is disbanded, ambiguous as to whether Missy pulled a Face–Heel Turn or Rachel pulled a Heel–Face Turn and became a vigilante.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • The Wards when a verbal altercation between Pisces and Shadow Stalker suddenly turns violent.
  • Clockblocker when Pisces punches out mid-patrol due to her two hours a day being up.
  • Glory Girl when she realizes Taylor cannot discuss her Trigger Event due to being barred from talking about ongoing PRT investigations. What that means in practice is that since the PRT is supposedly investigating the crimes committed against Pisces, she is not able to properly take action to protect herself from her alleged attacker, such as, for example, not being placed on the same team. And Glory Girl's mother is a lawyer, so she has some idea of how messed up that is.
  • Mrs. Woods and Aegis when they — independently of each other — realize that Pisces was forced onto the same Wards team as the girl who caused her Trigger Event.
  • Youth Guard Mediator Helena Troy and Deputy Director Rennick when Pisces brings up her complaints with Shadow Stalker.
  • Shadow Stalker and Vista when questioned by the Youth Guard - Shadow Stalker because they're investigating her bullying of Taylor, Vista because they're going to make her even more 'useless'.
  • Helena Troy also has at least one moment with each Ward she interviews in chapter 8, except Gallant- when Aegis mentions he's the one doing Wards assignments, when Clockblocker mentions Aegis works overtime regularly, when Kid Win mentions he's not seeing his Tinker Mentor (Armsmaster) regularly, when Shadow Stalker gets herself arrested mid-interview, and when Vista mentions off-hand that Piggot passes her fines onto the Wards by docking their pay for infractions.
  • Mrs. Troy's supervisor when she calls at 8:30 AM (local time) to inform him of various violations of regulations at PRT ENE- including forcing a Ward to work alongside the girl who caused her Trigger Event.
  • Aegis, Clockblocker, Gallant, Kid Win, and especially Vista after Wards ENE is disbanded by the Youth Guard.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: When Rose realizes how Piggot is willing to go for the sake of forcing Pisces to be a Ward, she suggests bringing in a mediator she knows. When Piggot asks if the mediator is reliable, Rose affirms she is. As several readers point out, it is obvious that, while Piggot meant "someone that can be relied on to make Pisces do what I want", Rose actually meant "someone that can be relied on to do the best for Pisces".
• Plausible Deniability: Piggot regularly engages in this, claiming that the investigation on Sophia and Taylor has yet to bring in any conclusions - even though she already has ample proof that Sophia caused Taylor's Trigger.
• Poor Communication Kills: Taylor being forbidden to tell the other Wards about Shadow Stalker's direct role in her Trigger causes plenty of trouble - particularly for Aegis, who, lacking such critical information, doesn't know how to fix the problem and pulls the wrong conclusions from what little he does know.
• Punny Name: The Youth Guard Mediator is Mrs. Helena Troy- "who married for love, not for the surname".
• Revealing Cover-Up: When the agents investigating the January 3rd events come around to ask Sophia for her cell phone, she mentions it got broken when Taylor attacked her - even though, per Sophia's own testimony, the phone could not have broken in any way. This, combined with the fact that she only reported the break a few days after the fact, makes it obvious that Sophia destroyed it to hide the evidence - which ends up tripping her when Helena Troy points out that the cell phone company still has the registers of every message and call Sophia sent and received. The fact that Sophia quickly bolts once Helena points this out doesn't help her case either.
• Rules Lawyer: Pisces has memorized the Wards' handbook and follows it to the letter - including the part where Wards are only required to work two hours a day, and will even punch out mid-patrol to follow that regulation. Exceptions have to be given as written orders in order for her to comply.
  • She uses the fact that her shields activate automatically if she feels in danger to avoid having to go to Winslow, since she can't feel safe there by any means even with her primary bullies gone, so attending would automatically reveal her identity.
  • When forced into a patrol, she keeps her shields up the entire time so no one can see her, answers questions about herself with "No comment" (since Aegis ordered her to say that if she could not say anything else) and then deliberately misconstrues Aegis' order to stop a thief by claiming she thought it was only meant for Clockblocker (and, either way, she was not officially certified to act on that).
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Taylor's explicit primary motivation for Bothering by the Book. She gets the Youth Guard to shut down Wards ENE, releasing her that way.
• Shout-Out:
  • Taylor is shown reading Catch-22.
  • The national head of the Youth Guard (and Helena Troy's boss) is named Charles Zavier.
  • Clockblocker pleads the Third, and is then asked if he refuses to quarter troops in his house.
• Skewed Priorities: During the Youth Guard investigation in Chapter 8, Kid Win is more concerned with his alternator cannon than with Pisces. Justified because he's a Tinker.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Taylor's Malicious Compliance campaign gets the Wards shut down because it reveals to the Youth Guard just how badly mismanaged the team is.
• Wham Line: "I'm afraid I can't comment on an ongoing PRT investigation" is repeatedly used as this In-Universe, both in the fic itself and in Omakes.

List of Omake Tropes

• Beleaguered Bureaucrat: This is Rose Woods' fate in the omakes she shows up.
• The Bet: In "Popcorn Villainy", Kaiser and Lung make a bet regarding Pisces' stay in the Wards. Whoever gets closer to the date where she gets free has free rein for three weeks to take the Docks.
• Brain Bleach: Contessa is in sore need of it at the end of "It Tolls For Thee".
• Briar Patching: Danny uses this to get the police to check his computer's contents in "The Rules of Evidence", cluing them in on the mess while skirting the letter of the law.
• Can't Stop the Signal: Invoked in "The Dead-Man's Switch", where Danny buys Tinkertech from Uber and Leet to automatically mass-upload a tell-all message in the event of his untimely death or incarceration.
• Canon Marches On: Various Omakes were made obsolete by subsequent chapter updates, including "The Leviathan Disaster", "And Our Interests Are The Same", "The Opposite Of Love", "The Taylor That Laughs", "The Ultimate Escape", "Reforging a Broken Tool", and their respective spinoffs, among others.
  • Averted for "Another Day, Another Stray", which shows an offscreen canon event.
• Condescending Compassion: In "The Ultimate Escape", Legend mentions he had planned to move Pisces to his Wards team in spite of her issues - triggering her Berserk Button and causing to lash out with "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Covert Distress Code: In "Signs of Trouble", "Re: Your Wards" and "Backbone", Taylor uses sign language to send a message indicating she's not a Ward willingly.
• Crossover: Several of the omakes have this fic's characters deal with characters from different fics or universes.
• Deal with the Devil: In "Denarian Interference", Taylor makes one with Lasciel the Fallen.
• Didn't Think This Through: A staple of many omakes is that Piggot's actions unwittingly unleash something even worse than what she sought to prevent.
  • In "Backbone", Emma not only let Sophia bully Taylor, she also joined in, partially because she thought that Taylor would eventually fight back and then they could all become friends. Taylor going in a volcanic rage to the point that she attempted to kill her in their first meeting as Wards shows her how wrong she was.
• Disappeared Dad: "The Leviathan Disaster", "Reforging a Broken Tool", "The Ultimate Escape" and "The Taylor That Laughs" feature Danny dying, while "The Rise of Starfall" has Danny being sent to prison.
• Distant Finale: "The Advocate" and "Taylor's 25th Birthday".
• Downer Ending: "The Opposite of Love" ends with Taylor completely broken and no way out of the Wards.
• Face–Heel Turn:
  • In "The Rise of Starfall", Taylor becomes Starfall after Piggot arranges for Danny to be sent to prison.
  • In "The Ultimate Escape", Taylor becomes Butcher XV to prevent the Protectorate from exploiting her after her feats in the fight against Leviathan catch the attention of the Protectorate on a national scale.
  • In "And Our Interests Are The Same", Piggot goes completely crazy and sends Taylor to prison on trumped up charges.
  • In "The Taylor That Laughs", Taylor snaps after her father and Glory Girl die, becoming an even worse monster than any the Protectorate has fought before.
  • Sophia is enthusiastic over Taylor snapping and going rogue in "It Tolls for Thee". Her bravado doesn't last long.
• Fanon: Due to confusion over certain aspects of the canon story, people thought that Taylor was among those forced to sign an NDA, although the story itself does not make mention of this.
• Godzilla Threshold: Taylor normally sandbags so the Protectorate doesn't learn what she can really do. The only thing that makes her go full out (as a Ward, at least) is an Endbringer attack.
• Got Volunteered: Several fics have Taylor being forced to attend an Endbringer fight, including "The Leviathan Disaster", "Leviathan-Dead or Alive", "The Ultimate Escape", and "In the Wind"; it's mentioned as having happened several times in "Taylor's 25th Birthday".
• Hate Plague:
  • In "Cost", Danny Triggers with the power of making people and animals hate an organization and people - in this case, the Protectorate and Shadow Stalker.
  • In "Master in the Shadows", Shadow Stalker's Breaker form has a secondary Master ability, tainting people's perception of Taylor and predisposing them against her.
• Hate Sink: Piggot tends to be one in the omakes due to her role in forcing Taylor into the Wards. Turned on its head in "Defeat in Victory", as it posits that Victor has been steadily leeching her administrative, legal and security skills, leaving her an useless zombie driven by pure determination.
• Heart Is an Awesome Power: In "Soulsong", Taylor's Second Trigger allows her to learn any art she puts her mind to with incredible ease, making her an excellent artist, dancer, singer, actress and writer in a few months. It also gives her great balance control, diplomatic ability - and the chance to break the PRT's control over her.
• Heel Realization:
  • In "And Our Interests Are The Same", Shadow Stalker has one after seeing Piggot's madness and decides to blow the whistle on her, no matter what happens.
  • In "Backbone", Emma has hers when she realizes Taylor's utter hatred of her and that she caused it.
• Hypocrite: In "The Last Interview of the Cape Formerly Known as the Ward Vista", Missy criticizes Taylor because she didn't suck it up after finding that Sophia (who caused her Trigger) was a Ward - when she kept staying at the Wards as much as possible every day so she could avoid her parents (who were the ones that caused her Trigger).
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Taylor usually sandbags with her powers so the Protectorate doesn't learn how powerful she really is.
• Innocently Insensitive: In "In the Wind: Squaring Accounts", Flechette happily tells Pisces that Legend wants to take her to New York, not realizing that Taylor is mourning her father's death and that she's completely burnt out, nevermind that Flechette did not choose the best way to tell her the news.
• Intimidating Revenue Service: In "There's Always A Bigger Fish", Danny sets the IRS on Principal Blackwell and the PRT. This leads to the collapse of Brockton Bay's gangs and Scion's defeat.
• Irony: In "Thomas Calvert's Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Week, in Stereo!", Coil starts to use his power and position to stabilize Piggot's control of the city after doing the opposite for years. He cannot help but lampshade it.
• It's All My Fault: In "Backbone", Emma blames herself for not only causing Taylor's Trigger, but also her conscription into the Wards.
• Just Following Orders: In "The Leviathan Disaster", Miss Militia tries to use this to explain why she took Taylor to the fight against Leviathan. Legend points out that it doesn't mean it wasn't reprehensible.
• Long List: The eponymous "Chain of Command". It takes Vista six hours of non-stop listing before it reaches Sophia.
• Loophole Abuse: Taylor turns this up to eleven in order to get what she wants.
• Mundane Utility: Taylor uses her shields to clean up house, and Victoria once tried to make lemonade with her super-strength.
• Mythology Gag: In "Cost", it is heavily implied that Danny Triggered with the power to make people and animals grow increasingly hateful of people and organizations he hates, which according to Wildbow was one of the canon possible powers he could have gained if he Triggered.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Any fic with Pisces Second-Triggering will have the Protectorate and PRT react this way, including "The Leviathan Disaster", "It Tolls For Thee", and "PRT AAR: Pisces".
  • Taylor becoming the Butcher also elicits a Mass "Oh, Crap!" from the PRT, such as in "The Ultimate Escape" or "The Taylor Who Laughs".
  • Contessa also has a freakout in "It Tolls For Thee", leaving her curled up on the ground with a Madness Mantra in her unnamed native language.
  • Piggot in "The Long Game" when Pisces rebrands as Shoal and joins New Wave.
  • Sophia in "And Our Interests Are The Same" when Piggot goes off the deep end.
  • Taylor in "The Opposite of Love" when a no-knock raid gone wrong results in a Trauma Conga Line.
  • Clockblocker in "The Letter Of The Law" when Pisces divulges the details of her Trigger Event that were classified in the main fic, prompting a Big "WHAT?!".
  • In "Reproduzione", Glenn Chambers suffers from this as he realizes the strange happenings in his office as he awakens mean he Triggered from Piggot's incompetence.
• Oh, Crap, There Are Fanfics of Us!: The PHO fic scene exists. Taylor tries her hand at writing in "Taylor Writes an Omake", "Not a Fanfiction" tells a familiar tale, and she discovers people shipping her with Shadow Stalker in "Shipping".
• One-Woman Army: Taylor can (almost) singlehandedly deal with Leviathan, and her shields allow her to multitask in attacking multiple targets and defending multiple allies at the same time.
• Papa Wolf: When the Omake centers on him, Danny does a lot of things to ensure the PRT regrets what they did. In "The Anglerfish", he returns to his past as a killer for hire, while "Union Man", "Change Begins With Me", "There's Always A Bigger Fish", "Dangerous Workplace" and "Union Vengeance" feature Danny using his contacts to indirectly strike at the Protectorate and PRT, and "Second thoughts and Superior Firepower" reveals he's a honest-to-God pre-Scion superhero. And in "Cost" he uses his power to cause a Hate Plague aimed at the Protectorate and Sophia Stalker for their role in Taylor's Trigger and death.
• Paranoia Gambit: "Nothing At All" may or may not center on Amy pulling this on Piggot. Even the author admits he doesn't know.
• Poor Communication Kills: Taylor being unable to reveal what happened to her without risking jail and Piggot establishing a lockdown on that information only keeps making things worse for everyone.
• Reading the Stage Directions Out Loud: Averted in "Signs of Trouble", where Taylor is explicitly told not to read the facial expression prompts.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • "Re: Your Wards" consists of an email where Glenn Chambers goes on a verbal, profanity-laden rampage against Piggot for her mishandling of the Wards, particularly Pisces.
  • "The Ultimate Escape" features Taylor (as Butcher XV) calling out Legend for his hypocrisy and the "heroes"' actions.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: The judge from "A-Warded", who listens both to the PRT and Taylor and makes it clear that his first priority is what Taylor really needs, not what the PRT demands.
• Refuge in Audacity: In "The Madness Begins", Taylor revels on being as obnoxious as she can, knowing that she can either drive the PRT insane or force them to let her go.
• Revealing Cover-Up: In "The law firm of Vicky and Vicky, Esquire", Victoria Dallon points out to Aegis that Piggot's and the PRT's insistence on preventing Pisces from telling her side of the story and keeping everyone from learning what happened is a sign of the narrative not being in their favor.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: "The Rise of Starfall", "PRT AAR: Pisces", "The Ultimate Escape", "The Taylor That Laughs" and "Just Another Day In The Office" feature Taylor doing this after being pushed to the edge.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: "In The Wind", "The Leviathan Disaster", "Charlie-Alpha-Two-Two-Tango-Charlie-Hotel", and "The Long Game" have Taylor quitting the Wards, either after her probation ends or because the PRT lost their leverage over her.
  • "Taylor's 25th Birthday" has her quitting the Protectorate the day after her probation ends.
  • "The Rise of Starfall", "The Ultimate Escape", and "The Taylor Who Laughs" have Taylor pull a Face–Heel Turn to get out.
• Shrug of God: The writer of "Nothing At All" admits he has no idea whether or not Amy healed Piggot with no strings attached.
• Suicide by Cop: What Taylor does in "When All Is Lost". She actually moves Armsmaster's non-lethal attack so it will kill her.
• Taking You with Me: In "Re: Your Wards", Glenn Chambers promises to do this to Piggot.
• Tempting Fate: In "There's Always A Bigger Fish", after the IRS solves the entire plot, Contessa remarks that at least Cauldron hasn't been audited yet. They immediately (somehow) receive a Notice of Field Audit.
• Tranquil Fury: It's In the Blood for the Heberts.
• Traumatic Superpower Awakening:
  • Taylor Second Triggers in "The Leviathan Disaster" after learning her father died during Leviathan's attack on Brockton Bay and in "PRT AAR: Pisces" after being sent to juvie.
  • Vista suffers the same problem in "Nine Days and Nine Nights On Yggdrasil" after realizing how horrible Piggot is.
  • In "Reproduzione", Glenn Chambers is so horrified by what happened to Taylor, and even worse, the prospect he is going to have to spin it for the Protectorate, he Triggers.
• Unstoppable Rage: Taylor's reaction when she sees Emma is a Ward in "Backbone". Per Emma's own words, Lung himself would have bowed to Taylor as his superior.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Taylor gets quite a few moments to do this on the people that forced her to be a Ward.
• You Kill It, You Bought It: Taylor deliberately becomes Butcher XV in "The Ultimate Escape" and "The Taylor that Laughs" by killing Quarrel (a.k.a. Butcher XIV). And inverted in the latter case as she lets others kill her or kills herself in their presence so she can take over their bodies and take their powers.

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