Bad plan anyways.  If we did try to escape under the cover of darkness, Siberian would probably reach us and cut at least some of us down before we got anywhere, even attacking indiscriminately.

True. More so with Cherish pointing out their locations in the darkness.

The darkness blocks a fair few things, but I doubt it blocks emotions. Even if Cherish’s brain does process the emotions as “sound”.

“The same goes for the rest of you, but I’m sure you know that.  One or two of you could kill me right now, I’m sure, but you’d die horribly for your trouble, and I doubt any of you are that suicidal.”

Well.

If anyone else had said this, they’d be almost certainly right. I do think Jack is right, but what I don’t think he knows yet is that whoever did it would be a martyr postponing the apocalypse by a somewhat significant number of years.

Did he know about the role he was going to play in the end of the world?  It might change his stance and self-assuredness.

He might be less sure about this particular statement, but I’m pretty sure he’d love it if he found out.

Jack looked at Cherish and she gave him a small nod.  He turned a winning smile towards us.  “How are our potential recruits doing?”

Plural. The truth is coming out.

“Poetic,” Jack said.  “I take it Skitter is this clever worm?”

“Yup.”

Naturally.

“Skitter.” Jack looked at me.  “You do anything and Siberian attacks.  I’ll attack as well.  Whatever it is you’re thinking of trying, I’m betting the two of us can cut you down before it works.”

Way to cut that potential issue off at the root.

Does “cut you down” count as a pun, coming from Jack? I mean, Jack would literally cut her down, but that doesn’t seem to be Siberian’s M.O., and he’s including her in the statement.

Honestly, I’d love it if he kept making subtle blade/edge puns.

I swallowed, then took a small breath to clear my throat and ensure I wouldn’t stammer or come out sounding even slightly unclear.  “Alright.”

So it seems like the Slaughterhouse members aren’t immediately looking for a fight. At least not with the non-nominees.

Cherish smiled and stared at me, “The little worm found a nugget of self-worth, she just doesn’t want to look too closely at what that nugget is made of.

This does sounds about right, honestly.

If she’s lucky, she’s one of the worms without eyes.  They might be keenly aware of their environment, but they’re happier blind.”

Are there worms with eyes?

I mean, actual worms, not snakes.

Anyway, I quite like this whole analogy. It seems to provide another reason why this story is called Worm, one that reaches way deeper than just “the final boss is a worm monster”.

Of course, being the Worm means Skitter should really watch out for Shatterbird and the Simurgh.

Could we escape under a cover of my bugs and Grue’s darkness?  I didn’t think Siberian would be able to see us, and if we surprised them, ran back the way we came-

Wouldn’t work, Cherish would track you.

“What’s this?” Cherish asked, cutting off my train of thought. “Someone thinks she’s had a clever idea.  A bit of hope and inspiration there.”

Heh, wow.

“Who?” Jack asked.

“When I looked at her with my power, before, I called her the Worm.

Relatable. :p

She spent some time being as low on the food chain as you can get while still being able to move under her own power.  As low as someone can get while still having an identity of their own.

…that’s not really fair, is it?

Hm. Alright, she’s not super high up, but she’s still got people lower than her in the villain power structure. Both literal subordinates and people who are just worse villains, like Über and Leet.

But she’s realized she’s poisonous, dangerous in her own unique way.  She’s useful, like a silkworm we harvest or an earthworm who works our gardens.  She’s even realized she’s not alone, so long as she looks for friends among other dirty… contemptible creatures.

I wonder what Cherish would think if she’d read everything we have. For one thing, the friends are a big part of what brought her into this.

…

Or maybe that’s what she’s saying. Maybe this analogy stretches back a bit further, to when she first became a villain, realizing she had the power to do things and that she was not as lonely when among the villains.

Speaking of which, I forgot to say hi, little brother.”

“Fuck you, Cherie.”

Are we sure Burnscar is the one with the fire powers? Because Cherish is inflicting burns left and right.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.  What options did we have?  Running?  Siberian was bound to be faster than the dogs, and none of them were big.  We’d be dead before Bitch got them to grow.

Yeah, and you’d have to convince Bitch to run.

That was even without considering Jack’s ability to cut us down from where he stood.

That’s oddly comforting, honestly. If he wanted to, he could’ve killed them all already, with the way they’re standing mostly at the same height. At least as long as his blade could cut through their costumes, which might be a problem for him re: Skitter. But there’s a difference between cutting a costume with a knife and slicing at it with what is effectively a greatsword (or even way bigger – it’s not clear to me exactly how far away Jack is right now).

By the way, did any of the Undertravelers put their masks back on before going up here? I don’t remember that being mentioned.

Fight?  Again, Siberian was the biggest problem.  She could take all of us on and win.  I suspected the only people who could really go toe to toe with her would be Scion, Eidolon and the Endbringers, and even then, I wasn’t sure if they would really be able to stop her.

Jeez, her power is so wasted. Imagine the good she could do in an Endbringer situation, but here she is, instead showing up after an Endbringer situation just to make things worse.

Seriously, I’d peg her as more likely to actually be able to kill an Endbringer than even Scion, and even if she couldn’t, she’d make a massive difference.

At best, Scion and Eidolon would survive and keep her from killing any civilians.  The Endbringers would hold their own, but civilians obviously wouldn’t be a concern.

Yeeah, Leviathan versus evil!Siberian would be a mess, and the other two Endbringers probably wouldn’t make things better.