Her badass points hadn't gone out the window never to come back again. They'd just excused themselves for a minute to go find their missing buddies.
— Shadow Stalker
Like Mother, Like Skitter
is a Worm fanfic written by LD1449. Unlike many other Worm fanfics that start off with the dark setting that is Worm and maintaining it or going even darker, this one starts off with Annette Hebert being alive and well. And also being the supervillain Marquis, but that's a "minor" side point.
Annette is overjoyed at finding out her daughter triggered, and has dreams of having her alongside her Marquis persona as part of her massive criminal empire, only to have her hopes dashed to find out that her daughter wants to join the Wards. Hilarity Ensues.
Firmly in the camp of humorous fanfictions, with Annette's legendary blackmail material, Skitter's combat performance being leagues ahead of her opponents, and Shadow Stalker's firm commitment to keep the PRT from wussifying Skitter's outfit.
This work of Fanfiction contains the following tropes:
- Adapted Out: Because Marquis is actually Annette, Panacea (who is, in canon, Marquis' daughter) does not exist. Also the canon Marquis does not exist either.
- Badass Family: Taylor is Skitter while Annette is Marquis, with Danny being the latter's second in command. Also, Jack Slash is Annette's cousin with Bonesaw as his sort-of adopted daughter.
- Berserk Button: Marquis for Brandish.
-
Creepy Cute: Taylor's costume is still the same as she had in canon, but thanks to having a functional family and Emma not betraying her, Skitter's personality is chipper and cheerful, hence this trope. - Curb-Stomp Battle: Happens offscreen basically any time that Marquis or Skitter fight somebody. Also, a disguised Jack Slash against the Brockton Bay Protectorate.
- Daddy's Little Villain: Annette keeps trying to get Taylor to be this without actually telling her about it, but Taylor seems determined to defy it. And she ends up having secretly been this all along. She's just subtle about it.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Rune refers to Chris as "the Cutie Tinker".
- Dramatic Irony: Invoked by Sarah Pelham when she mentions that if only one of her or Carol's kids had healing powers, Carol would absolutely love her and probably treat her even better than Vicky. In canon, Panacea (Marquis' daughter, who doesn't exist in this timeline) was adopted by Carol and the exact opposite happened.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- When the Empire descends into an argument over which Slaughterhouse Nine member Taylor actually is, Kaiser is actually semi-okay with his gang being afraid of the Nine, as being afraid of the most lethal capes in the world is pretty smart.
- Emma is convinced that there's something in the Hebert's water supply that makes them act crazy. It gets fairly damning when Jack Slash agrees with her and refuses to cook anything with their water. It's really not helped that the water keeps melting Bonesaw's vials.
- Evil All Along: Taylor spends the entire story acting like a slightly terrifying, but heroic person. This is an act so she can gather enough blackmail and intelligence to take over the city in the future. Annette could not be more proud.
- Foreshadowing: In chapter 10, Taylor cuts herself off when she mentions that Carol is fighting Marquis, or "M-Marquis," as Taylor says. The final chapter reveals that Taylor has known all along that her mother is Marquis.
- Fiery Redhead: Red-haired Emma's got a volatile temper.Emma snatched the phone out of her hand. "Now you listen to me you son of a bitch! My name is Emma Barnes let me speak to your supervisor right no-The Youth Guard is the least of your goddamn problems! No! Your problem is a pissed off red head with anger, and Daddy issues as the smallest of her mental problems! Now you listen and you listen we-Don't you put me on hold! Don't you fucking put me on hold! I swear to god you put me on hold and I will reach through this phone, rip out your goddamn eyes and feed them to you! Damn right I'm a Parahuman that can do that! My cape name's 'Choke a Bitch' Nice to fuckin meet ya! Put me on hold. I dare you! I double dare you motherfucker put me on hold so you can see what the inside of your stomach looks like you miserable son of a bi-
- Frame-Up: Sophia does this to the Protectorate ENE's head of PR repeatedly so that he keeps getting stuck in Master/Stranger confinement and can never submit the report he'd been working on to soften Skitter's image.
- Gratuitous French: Larry aka Jack Slash use this to disguise himself and to insult the Protectorate heroes while fighting them...
- Gratuitous Spanish: ...Only for Assault to use this to insult Larry right back.
- Hidden Weapons: Skitter, when just using what is in/on her costume and not drawing from the local bug population, is armed with spiders, wasps, bombardier beetles, bullet ants, scorpions, Japanese killer hornets, wrist dart launchers, mandible dart launchers, claws, a taser, some pepper spray, a collapsible baton, and a set of hairpins.
- Mama Bear: Annette is overjoyed when Taylor triggers, but knowing trigger events, wants to hunt down and brutally slaughter whoever caused her little owl to trigger. Also shown in how she handles certain enemies showing interest in her daughter.
- Mythology Gag: Carol and Sarah have a few between each other that reference Panacea- who doesn't exist in this timeline- such as wondering what it would be like if Carol had a daughter with healing gifts.
- Sarah comments that they can't beat Marquis if they caught him at home, unprepared, unless there was some sort of unknown x-factor. That is exactly how Marquis was taken down in canon, with said x-factor being Amy, who was used as a hostage to get Marquis to surrender.
- Noodle Incident: A certain incident that according to Jack Slash himself "can be summed up with some exotic drinks, a one-legged Taiwanese prostitute, and Manton's temporary and very ill-fated foray into transvestism, culminating in over a dozen new arrest warrants for 'Jacob Bowie' across the Middle East and Asia", From a different perspective: "Zambuki, two friends, a drag queen and a one-legged Taiwanese hooker could get him over twenty-seven arrest warrants in fourteen different countries in the span of twelve hours"
- Only Sane Man: Rune is the only sane member of the Empire. Emma is this to the Hebert family.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: While being chased by Armsmaster, Bakuda rhetorically inquires if demands to stand down have ever actually worked. Armsmaster replies that yes, it had worked three separate times, before Bakuda counters that it was rhetorical (to which Armsmaster replies "That was never specified.").
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Sarah Pelham A.K.A. Lady Photon decides to do this at the end.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Taylor was aware of her family's identities the entire time. She just assumed that they didn't want her involved, so she didn't say anything.
- Shipper on Deck: Emma has decided that Taylor and Chris (A.K.A. Kid Win) will make a good couple. Interfere with their attempts to date at your own peril.
- Supervillain Lair: Averted. Annette goes home to her loving family at the end of the day (though they never seem to have money problems for some reason...)
- The Tell: Emma always knows when Taylor is trying to keep a secret."Skitter. I've known you since we were little girls." She warned. "I know all the signs of you trying to hide something.
"No you do-"
"You're twiddling your thumbs under the table right now."
Hands came up to rest on the table. "N-No!"
"Your leg is shifting up and down."
The near imperceptible noise of Taylor's heel 'Tap-tap-tapping' on the ground ceased.
"Now, since you're not twiddling your thumbs or shifting your leg you're about to run a hand through your hair."
The arm that had been just about to rise stopped and fell back to the table.
"And now you're biting your lip."
"Sh-Shut up!" - Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Annette is proud that her daughter has powers, but is furious that she got them (given that Trigger Events in Worm explicitly are the worst events in your entire life). This is lessened, however, given that Taylor is in this case a second generation cape, who requires far less trauma to Trigger.
- The Unreveal: The readers never do learn what exactly caused Taylor to trigger.
- Unstoppable Rage: Brandish has an epic one when she reaches the end of her fuse, the fuse behind that and came right around to Tranquil Fury at the end. She chases her quarry all the way to South America. On foot.
- We Can Rule Together: Taylor seems to be planning this for her heroic boyfriend in the future.
