“Offensive?  Dinah said that a direct attack would be suicide.”

“So we go for the indirect attack.  They want to play dirty?  Let’s play dirty back.”

Sounds good to me!

And hey, you know what tactic seems to fit with that? Shogi.

I don’t know, I guess it’s just that that was a really good idea that didn’t go anywhere immediately because of the nomination game. I would like for it to come back into play with this change of tactics.

“Me too.  Though I get that you have more reason to be angry.”

“I just-” I stopped, clenching my fists.  “I don’t-”

Don’t see the point of it all?

I blinked back tears.  Fucking contact lenses.

I’ve already seen one reason not to get contact lenses today, outside the story. This just seems to reinforce that for me.

In any case, I like wearing glasses.

He wrapped his arms around me in a hug.

My face was mashed against his shoulder, his grip was too tight, my back was sore where his hand touched a spot near the burn.  There was also that mess of awkwardness from when I’d confessed my feelings for him, that now seemed so minor and distant compared to everything that was going on.

It’s a hug. Just… appreciate it for what it is and what it means.

“We’ll get through this.”

“No,” I said, pulling away,  “Not like this, we won’t.  We fight them every time they come, we’re going to be worn out, exhausted from always being on our guard, and if these past fights have been any indication, we won’t make it through eight rounds of this.”

She’s right. Maybe they should try to do what they can to end this early.

I think killing Jack would do that and break up the Nine, but I’m not sure if that’s necessarily a good thing. It would leave the remaining psychopaths unchecked in Brockton Bay.

“The way you phrase that, you don’t sound like you did in the shower.”

What?

Am I forgetting something or is this something we haven’t heard of before now? Did… did she sing in the shower without realizing he was there to hear it?

I shook my head.  “No.  Because I’ve realized Jack wants us to focus on each of his people, one by one, because he knows it’s going to play out like it has so far, and that we won’t make it through eight rounds of this.

Okay, I guess not.

Shower…?

Anyway, as for what she’s actually saying, I suppose she has a point. This is all distracting from their original plan, which could still work.

Shogi.

Let’s change that dynamic.  We take out testers before they get their turn.  We go on the offensive.”

I suppose it would give them a bit of an element of surprise.

Also, I think Imp would like this.

Had Jack calculated things so everything would play out the way he wanted, like Mannequin was?

Oh sure, that sounds like something he’d do.

Grue appeared at the top of the stairs.  “Bitch isn’t replying.  We should go look for her.”

Uh-oh.

“Okay.”

“You okay?” Grue asked.

“Pissed.”

“But otherwise okay?”

“I’ll try.  My reserves are low.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stop them.”

It’s okay. You tried.

Grue got his phone out while Genesis retreated back to her bunk.  I made my way upstairs to curl up in the armchair.

The bed strikes me as a much more comfortable place to curl up, but to each their own.

So many dead because I couldn’t save them.  I felt doubly guilty because my reasons for regretting their deaths were partially selfish.  It was a deathblow to my plans to seize my territory, earning Coil’s respect and make inroads into saving Dinah, one way or another.

Things are not going great, no.

I took off my mask and let it drop to the ground.  My costume, I saw, was in tatters where it had burned.

Repairing this ain’t a quick job, either.

Our enemies were good, they were smart.  Mannequin had been toying with us, and we’d taken that advantage and beat him to the ground with it.  But every action was calculated.  Cherish was informing them, Shatterbird was apparently smart in other ways, and Jack was the brains of the operation.

At least it’s looking like Cherish might be down with messing things up for the Nine in some way, depending on the terms of her deal. As the informant, she’s quite important given the “knowledge is power” theme.

Shatterbird is smart, sure, but she’s arrogant. That arrogance is likely to be her downfall.

“What happened?” I asked Genesis, trying not to look at Grue.

She glanced between the two of us.  “Realized Mannequin was using a gas, got a form together to fight that and occupy him, like you recommended, but he wasn’t there when I reformed.  Burnscar was.”

Yeeeah. She kind of took everyone by surprise.

“Mannequin forfeited his turn.  Burnscar went up next,” I explained.

“Ah.”

“You manage to stop her?”  Grue asked.

I doubt it. Chase her away, maybe, but not stop her.

“No.  I wasn’t prepared to fight her, but she couldn’t really hurt me either.  She left.”

Ah, a stalemate.

“Can you get a body together to fight the fires?” I asked, hugging my arms against my chest.

Maybe one that spits large amounts of water?

“Did we wake you?” Grue asked.

“No.  I can’t be woken by anyone except myself if I’m like that.  It’s more like a coma than sleep.  You were watching me?”

Ah, okay, that’s handy, unless there’s a threat to her body.

I suppose I should’ve seen that coming after she slept in a room with around 15 scared kids without waking up.

Grue and I nodded.  He must have felt self-conscious, because he backed off, letting go of me.  I did note that he positioned himself between me and the end of the hallway.

Still doesn’t want her to run off, but he at least doesn’t want to be physically restraining her anymore.

I wouldn’t be able to run for the cellar or the front door without going past him.

It didn’t really matter.  He was right.  Maybe I would have gone on if he hadn’t stopped me, using my anger and frustration to drive myself forward until I got myself killed.

That… sounds about right, yes.

Grue and Genesis had, in their individual ways, interrupted that.  I felt simultaneously angry at him and embarrassed that he’d had to stop me.

It’s okay, Taylor. You just let the situation get to you, and considering what the situation is, that’s 100% understandable.

“You’re so hurt you can barely walk.  If they find you, you won’t be able to run.”

“Sick of running.”

I suppose she has been doing a lot of that in this story, both in and out of deadly situations.

Literally and metaphorically.

He stood and followed me.  He got ahead of me despite the fact that he was probably hurt worse than I was.  I ducked around him, and he pushed me against a wall.  “Don’t do this.  If you want to get revenge on those guys, if you want to help your people, you need to stop, rest, recover and plan.”

Stop. Rest. Recover. That’s really what she’s been needing to do for so long.

I struggled briefly, but the pain in my ribs and the burn on my back made that far more trouble than it was worth, and it was already pretty futile.

Yeah, no, I don’t think you’re going to overpower Grue physically.

Hated this.  Hated feeling weak, even if it was Grue I was comparing myself to.

My bugs alerted me to movement from Genesis.  I didn’t say anything to Grue, and simply waited as she grabbed her wheelchair, unfolded it and transitioned into it, before wheeling out into the hallway.

…alrighty then. Good morning, sleepyhead.

“What do you think you’re going to do?”

“I’m going out there.  They’re just bullies.  They’re powerful, they’ve got every advantage, but that’s all the more reason we can’t let them get away with this.

Bullies. It always comes back to bullies.

She’s right, though, that’s what they are.

I’ll bait them out, or find where they’re hiding.  I can take Burnscar down if I can get the right bugs to bite her, or sting her enough times.  I just have to do something.

Imp may have a couple things to tell you.

I can’t just stay here and let them get away with this.”

Hey, at least you have a really nicely-ranged power. Not as great as Shatterbird’s, but still. You’re one of the few here who could actually do something without putting yourself directly in harm’s way.

“We can’t endure this.  We won’t last.”

Are you talking about the entire nomination game?

“We got unlucky and took the brunt of it.  We’ll get a breather.”

“Will we?  These guys are experts in preying on weakness!  They’re going to target us and come after us until we can’t defend ourselves, they’ll kill us, then they’ll go after Panacea, or Armsmaster, or Hookwolf, or Noelle, and they’ll do the same thing!”

The nomination game kind of works as a countermeasure to this. Since they’re doing it turn by turn, they have to split their attention between the candidates, and can’t all gang up on one group at the same time (though that’s close to what happened here thanks to Burnscar getting tagged in).

However, they’re probably still going to go as close to this tactic as the rules will allow.

“Taylor.”

I pushed myself to a standing position.  “They’re going to do the same thing they’re doing to us, and they’re not just going to win.  They’re going to ruin everything while they do it!”

They’ve made good progress on that already.

So this feeling Taylor had… hopelessness, and perhaps the desire to leave the city entirely?

“Stop!”

I hobbled past him, and he grabbed my wrist.  Between anger and the fact that my sleeve was wet with the water of the shower, I managed to rip my hand from his grip.  “Don’t.  Don’t do that.”

Grue just wants her to calm down and look rationally at it, but this isn’t rational Taylor at the forefront. This is the Taylor who sees this situation as the nearly unwinnable bullshit it is and is reacting to it emotionally.

I’m not so sure she’s wrong to do so, but right now they need to focus on making it through the current situation.