Jack, Bonesaw, Mannequin… I found the former two in a parking lot.  My bugs sensed what I judged were Bonesaw’s mechanical spiders, tearing cars apart and converting the components into more spiders.

I suppose that’s her way of “reloading”.

There was a group of people with her, shuffling behind them.

Oh jeez, what has she cooked up this time?

Mannequin was MIA.  That was bothersome.  He was able to detect and avoid my bugs, which meant he was a factor I had to keep in the back of my mind.

Damn. And if he’s taking care to avoid the bugs, he’s probably figured out that Skitter is here now.

Although with the other half of her team here, that’s probably a worthwhile thing for him to assume anyway.

“Found them, except for Mannequin.  Amy?  Be careful.  I don’t know if Jack’s team is going to break the rules they set, but Mannequin could come after you.”

Ah, yeah, he would definitely have a vendetta against Amy because of the whole “helping the sick” thing Amy’s been doing ever since she got her power.

I was so used to dealing with my teammates, people who were experienced in this sort of thing, that I hadn’t expected much more than confirmation.  She looked legitimately scared at the prospect.

Right. This would take a while to get used to for Amy.

“Skitter,”  Tattletale called out, “We should be close enough.  Want to pass them a message?”

Oh yeah! Good idea!

I nodded.  I had six of the relay bugs, and it took only a minute to set them up so they formed a chain, extending my reach for an additional six city blocks in one direction.  Eight and a half in total.

These are really, really good for this kind of thing. Told ya they’d come in handy!

(Not that that’s an amazing prediction. That’s just basic storytelling.)

I swept them outward, and the one at the furthest point lagged behind.  Still, it gave me the opportunity to cover a wide area.  Bugs mobilized throughout, and I began funneling the less offensive ones back toward Amy.  No-see-ums, earthworms, caterpillars and roughly half of the houseflies in the area began filtering back.

Awesome.

I maintained some of the dragonflies and other mobile bugs for the sake of getting a feel for the area.

I could sense Regent’s group, running to cover.  Ballistic was bombarding Crawler, relying on the impacts to drive the brute back.  Crawler was fast -and he was agile, with preternatural reflexes- but Ballistic was unloading on him with projectiles that moved faster than sound.

Niice. That’s gonna pack a punch even if the punch doesn’t deal damage.

Crawler dodged only two in three, and Ballistic followed up on any successful hits with a series of shots to pound Crawler into the nearest available surface and pin him there.  Genesis had formed a body that was winged.  It resembled a pterodactyl with arms, a griffon or something in that vein.

…alright. I don’t think a “pterodactyl with arms” and a griffon would look much alike except having a similar arrangement of limbs, but sure.

Doesn’t sound like a form that’s particularly rideable.

She was making an effort to drop large chunks of rubble onto Crawler.  He was strong enough that it barely slowed him down, but time he spent hauling a section of wall off of himself was time for Ballistic to get his hands on material for another shot.

Teamwork!

Shatterbird offered support with a constant hail of glass to harry Crawler and keep him from finding traction on the pavement.

It seems like there’s a lot of firepower focused on Crawler right now. What’s the status of the other members of the Nine?

“Not thinking straight,” Amy said, “Not enough to go into a situation like this.  Don’t want to get bombed.  Um.”

I get it. They should probably have asked if you wanted to get off before they started moving.

“It’s fine,” I said.  “Still willing to help?”

She nodded.

Remote help – the kind of “send the bugs my way” arrangement Taylor was talking about before?

Or maybe Amy’s going to be their spy and communicate to Taylor by manipulating bugs when the bombing seems to draw near?

“I’m going to send you the bugs I can’t use.  If you want to make more bugs that can relay my signal, that’d be great.  If you can think of something else… I need firepower.”

Right, let’s see if she’s actually willing to do that.

“And we’re going to be short on mobility if we need to make a run for it,” Grue said.  “Too many of us for two dogs that can carry people, unless we’re lucky and Genesis picked a form that works.”

Hmm.

I doubt Amy can make steeds out of bugs given the established limitations, but maybe she could send something else useful their way.

We’d sent Regent’s group out with Shatterbird, Imp and Ballistic, with the idea that Genesis would meet them there.  They’d taken one of Coil’s trucks, since Bastard wasn’t old enough, big enough or trained enough to carry a rider.

“What am I supposed to make?”

Ah, yeah, Bastard’s not gonna be able to carry them. But at least that truck might come in handy, if the Nine haven’t destroyed it.

“Figure it out, Amy.  If you can’t think of anything, the relay bugs are excellent.  Really.”

“Okay.”  She let me help her down.

Again, I appreciate that Taylor is validating her efforts.

In the brief period of silence that followed, while we got ourselves ready, a voice broke through, “Victoria-”

Oh boy, this could be interesting. Is Amy going to side with the Undertravelers regarding this being super fucked up, while Victoria sides with Piggot?

“Don’t,” Glory Girl snapped.  “I didn’t tell anyone what you did, but that’s the last nice thing I’m going to do for you, understand?

Oh, alright. I’m sure the rest of the family knows something’s up between them, though, even worse than it already was.

We’re not teammates.  We’re not sisters.  We’re not friends.”

Ow.

“I’m sorry, Amy,” Tattletale said, “But we’ve got to go.”

“I’ll go with you”? Perhaps more stuttery?

We were moving a minute later, leaving the squad of heroes behind.  Looking over my shoulder, I could see them getting in formation, clustering around Cache, who was regaining consciousness.

Aw, guess not. Fair enough. She’s had enough danger for a day without running straight into a zone that’s about to be bombed to hell and back in order to save some villains she has no reason to care for.

Only Glory Girl stood apart, her arms folded.

Wasn’t quite sure about the story there, but I was getting a sense of it.

Amy did something to Glory Girl and things went to shit between them.

That’s like a quarter of the story at most.

I could feel Amy tapping my arm.

!!

She did go with them!

Hell yes.

“What?” I had to raise my voice to be heard.

“Drop me off,” she spoke into my ear.

Dang it. I knew that might be coming.

I’m getting jerked around here, though…

But yeah, I can’t blame her.

It took a few seconds to get the message to Grue and come to a complete stop.  Tattletale stopped Bentley a hundred feet ahead.  Trickster and Sundancer looked back with mild curiosity.  Their costumes didn’t reveal much about their expressions.

I mean, she’s not quite an Undertraveler. She agreed to help you against Siberian, but this is something entirely different.

I do think the range relays are going to come in handy, though, somehow.

“How sad, that you see monsters where none exist.”

Right back at ya.

“Right.”

“It was nice to finally talk with you, Tattletale.  You should go help your teammates, if you’re going to.”

“Fuck you, Piggot.”

Yeaaah, Jemily has taken a turn for the far less sympathetic since Interlude 13, damn.

On the other hand, she’s also taken a turn for the more interesting, with her… perpendicular motivations and willingness to go really far for her goals.

There was no response, and Battery deemed the conversation over, putting away the phone.

See ya, ya warthog.

…sorry, that’s mean to warthogs.

It’s worth noting that Piggot is still holding back the information that these are fucking Bakuda bombs they’re talking about.

“Absolved of blame,” Grue spoke.  His voice was tight, his body tense.

The Director ignored him.  “The moment I heard you were in the picture, I told my subordinates to change the time.

Because you figured Lisa would know when it was going to happen.

They’ll inform me about the new time of attack as soon as I’ve hung up.  It’s not a perfect solution, but perhaps your actions from this point will reveal something about your power and its limitations.

I will admit that’s a pretty solid way of testing whether Lisa works by reading the mind of people she can hear talking.

But please understand that we just can’t risk that you’ll inform the Slaughterhouse Nine about the scheduled attack.”

Okay, yeah, that one’s a fair point.

“And there’s a chance we’ll be collateral damage, out of the picture and out of your hair after the Nine are gone.”

They’re counting on it.

So who else is going to be in the blast zone? The plan wasn’t meant to attract just the Undertravelers. Has Hookwolf’s contingent shown up?

“I do, and that’s totally the entire reason you’re doing that,” Tattletale said.  She glanced over in the direction of the fighting.  “How long before the area is bombed?”

Time to set the countdown clock.

Also, be sure to use your power to find out how much time you should cut from whatever she says because there’s no way she won’t inflate the number.

“Can’t say.  On the record, as with your teammates, we’re forbidding you from entering the area, but I expect you’re doing so anyways.  Against my recommendation.”

Coddammit. That’d totally work to cover their bases.

It’s like my analogy about Amy’s responsibility and cliffside warning signs from yesterday. The PRT is planning to claim that they – metaphorically speaking – set up warning sings and fences that the Undertravelers rudely barreled past despite how thoroughly the PRT pleaded for them not to!

After that it’s not the PRT’s fault if the Undertravelers happen to get caught in the crossfire…

Piggot may not be a genius, but she has thought this through.

The Director offered a noncommittal ‘mm hmm’ in reply.

“And you’re telling us this because?”

“Because we’ve studied you.  We know what you prioritize, and I believe that you’ll enter the fray to save your teammates.”

I… yeah.

They totally will.

I already took that for granted, actually, which only goes to show how right Piggot is.

“Or we could phone them.”

That’s at least partially a bluff, given that that already failed once.

“Do you want to try?”

Tattletale glanced at me and Grue.  “No point, I guess.  You’re blocking unofficial communications in the area.”

Oh. I guess that might be why they failed to get through last time too.

“Yes.  We have to hamper communication between the Nine if we want to catch them off guard.  You understand.”

Yeah, like fuck that’s why you did that. The Nine don’t seem the type for phones.

Them getting phones would actually be a bit of a logistical issue for them, even. Shatterbird broke the ones in the city, including any the Nine might’ve had with them, and they don’t seem to have access to a provider of satellite phones the way Coil has. I suppose they might have gathered the phones they had outside Shatterbird’s Shattering range, but it seems like a lot of trouble to go to.

…

It’s totally possible that Bonesaw made biological satellite phones inside their heads or some shit like that.