Then I told them what we’d be trying to do.

Ah, but that is an end-of-chapter-y line.

*scrolls down to confirm*

Hey, three paragraphs and it ended without us learning the plan like I was suggesting. I got the number of paragraphs slightly wrong but I’ll still call that a win.

“Hold on,” Lisa cut in.  “You’re talking about Ballistic and Sundancer using their powers without limits, you want to use Noelle, now explosives?”

“no holds barred” indeed.

“And I’m talking about me using black widows, brown recluses and every nasty bug I have at my disposal.  I’m talking about us packing guns and grenades.  All of us.  No holds barred.”

Brown recluses were the ones that really pissed Lung off, weren’t they?

Trickster rubbed his chin.  “Okay.  They broke the unspoken rules between capes, so there’s no reason to actually follow those rules.  Sure.  But do you actually have a plan?”

Judging by how she was talking earlier, I think she probably does have some ideas. And I don’t think we’re about to hear what they are. End of chapter in 1-2 paragraphs, maybe?

“Yes,” I replied.  “Keep in mind that this could change pretty dramatically depending on where we find them and what they’re up to when we run into them.”

Okay, no, this isn’t an end-of-chapter-y bit like I was expecting.

And yeah, they say no plan survives contact with the enemy. That probably goes double for these enemies.

There were some nods from the others around the room.  My bugs had finished connecting the tattered pieces of fabric.  It wasn’t pretty, but a few tugs to test it showed it was as sturdy as anything I’d made.  I draped it over my lap.  Until my legs healed, I’d be wearing my new costume for my upper body, with the tattered cloth as a skirt to protect my burned legs.

Huh. That’s pretty neat.

Six hours of sleep, with everything I had on my conscience?

“Sure,” I lied.

Pfft, sounds about right.

Workaholic isn’t really the right word. Guiltridden works, but I’m not sure Grue would think of Taylor’s behavior that way, and it’s more descriptive of the reason than the thing I wanted him to be commenting on.

“But we attack first thing in the morning, or as soon as Tattletale pins them down.”

“First chance,” he agreed.

As long as everyone’s gotten that sleep, of course.

“Is there any possibility that we could deploy Noelle?”  I asked Trickster.

“No,” Trickster said.

Nah, that cat needs to stay in her monster-proof bag for a while. Maybe they could take her out against an Endbringer.

“If she’s as powerful as you say-”

“If Noelle used her power in this battle you’re talking about, everyone loses.”

Sheesh.

“It’s not that simple!”

“It really is,” I replied.  “I don’t think we need an answer now, but you need to let us know before we begin.”

Is it? You haven’t killed, Taylor, not directly. You don’t actually know what it’s like.

“What else do you need?” Lisa asked, through the phone.

“We can’t do anything until you find them.  I know the local technology is down, but-”

Is it Imp’s time to shine, informing them of how she’s actually already found them?

I mean I don’t know if she’s even here, but still.

“But the local police and capes brought in emergency communications, just like Coil did for us.  I’ve been listening in on the radio transmissions.  Narrowing it down.  I could pull an all-nighter, listen in, and figure it out.”

Sounds good, I suppose.

I mean, even if Imp tells them, the Nine were talking about torching the place she found and relocating. I don’t think that’s going to be dropped just because they couldn’t find the culprit. It’s still a good idea to do it since they have reason to believe someone knows where they are.

“That’s as good an excuse as any,” Grue said.  “If I’m going to help with this, I need to know that you’re on the ball.  I don’t do this unless everyone that’s going to be on the battlefield gets six hours of sleep before we begin.  By that time, Tattletale will have a location.”

Seems like a reasonable demand.

He faced me square on as he said it.

“I don’t have normal sleep patterns,” Genesis replied, “In fact, I need to be awake to recharge.”

Oh, huh.

That’s kinda neat. Fits with the idea that she truly lives when she’s asleep.

“Exceptions allowed, of course,” Grue said, without turning away from me.

Heh, he’s really challenging Taylor on this. “Sleep for once, you workaholic doof.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“By killing them, you’re saving dozens, even hundreds of people,” I said.

Thousands, potentially.

Hm, that reminds me. If Jack Slash dies, then there won’t be an incentive for Theo to follow through on the deal he struck with Jack, because Jack won’t be around to commit those thousand murders in Theo’s name if Theo were to fail. In other words, even if that deal was going to speed up the future threat like I suspect (the threat may have to do with Theo’s power – it may be later without the deal because Theo might have his trigger event later), Jack still needs to survive.

But then why wouldn’t him dying after leaving Brockton Bay have the same effect as dying before making that deal? Maybe it’d be too late by then, Theo having had his trigger event already?

Silence hung in the air for a few long seconds.

“Yeah,” Ballistic said.  “If it’s monsters like that?  I think I could.”

Sundancer hesitated.  She hugged her arms against her body, lips pursed.

It’s kind of interesting how this works. Like, this natural hesitation to take a life that most people have in them. I absolutely don’t think I could do it – I literally wouldn’t hurt a fly – but at the same time the logical, detached side of me is going “these guys deserve no hesitation, killing them would be a clear benefit to the world”.

By the way, neither of these two would make particularly pretty corpses out of their enemies.

“Mars,” Trickster said, his voice quiet, “You’ve killed before.”

Mars is a neat nickname. It kind of fits with her cape name, considering Mars is a planet, one of the bodies that dance around the sun.

Also, Trickster, might that not be why she’s hesitating?

“Accidentally.”

Exactly.

I thought back to her hesitation to use her power, back when we’d fought Oni Lee and Lung together.

Yeah, I remember she talked about her power causing a lot of collateral damage and being hard not to kill with.

“These guys aren’t bystanders, they’re not people,” Ballistic said.  “They don’t even resemble people.  They’re freaks, monsters.  The worst this planet has to offer.”

On one hand, he ain’t wrong.

On another, he ain’t right. We have seen humanizing traits from a few of the Nine. Mainly Burnscar and Cherish, some from Bonesaw, even a smidgen from Shatterbird. They are people. Extremely fucked up people who should die before they spread more death and suffering, but people.

Grue shook his head a little, as if in response to some thought that crossed his mind. 

What’s in your head? Imp? Is she there and only you’re aware that she’s there and talking to you?

“You will have my assistance,” Coil said, “Jack Slash needs to die, and you’ll have access to all of my resources should you move forward.”

Excellent.

“Alright.  Thanks.  Bitch is on board, I think?”

Bitch nodded.

“Everyone needs to be willing to do this if we’re going to move forward.  I’m not just talking about attacking these guys.  Sundancer, Ballistic, you guys have been holding back for a long time.  I know it’s asking a hell of a lot, but… are you guys prepared to kill?”

Are you?

…yes, I think she is, actually, with these fuckers as the targets. Although we’ll won’t really find out until she gets (what she thinks is) the chance.

At least we know Imp is prepared to kill.