She lifted her foot, Yan unclenched it, and the beetle stabbed down with another pointed forelimb to pin it to the ground.

Another thing that helps show how out of it Taylor is: She’s casually inflicting pain, barely even acknowledging what she’s doing, while carrying an unrelated conversation.

To be fair, she is good at multitasking.

“What are you doing?” Yan asked, a note of desperation in her voice.

It kinda looks like you’re getting crucified. To the floor. Which kind of disqualifies it from being called crucifixion, but still.

At the very least you’re being restrained.

Skitter didn’t respond.  “Sierra?  Charlotte?”

Charlotte didn’t venture a reply, but Sierra managed one.  “Yeah?”

Were it not for the accompanying buzz of the bugs, Sierra suspected she wouldn’t have heard Skitter speak.  “You’ve been working hard.  Thank you.  I didn’t expect to have anything to come back to.”

Oh man, those are some words that say a lot.

We’re getting a really good look at Taylor’s feelings here despite not being in her head. They’re easier to understand than most times this sort of thing happens because we’re used to the way her mind works, but she’s still being incredibly expressive in her lack of expression, if that makes any sense. She’s so mentally exhausted and that’s before you add her concern over being responsible for the world ending sooner.

Which she’s not. But that rarely means she’s not going to beat herself up over it, and that’s exhausting in its own way.

“It’s okay,” Sierra said.  The words were a bit of a non-sequitur, but Skitter seemed to accept them.

The words, perhaps, but not the sentiment. It feels like Sierra picked up on the implicit “I’m sorry I left you to deal with my mess” and responded in kind, even if she doesn’t quite consciously know why.

“Thought you would have left,” Skitter said.

That’s.

Actually a good point.

They both could’ve left, easily, if they thought Skitter wouldn’t return. In theory, Skitter was supposed to be the only thing keeping them here. But they stayed and made the most of it, tried to take care of people and restore the community.

They too have grown to care about this place and its people.

“You mean they won’t attack anytime soon, or-”

“They’re dealt with.  Burnscar’s dead.  Crawler’s dead.  Mannequin’s probably dead.  Cherish and Shatterbird wish they were dead.

Heh.

Found Siberian’s weak point, and it’ll be international news soon, if it isn’t already.  She, Jack and Bonesaw ran.  Tried to pursue, couldn’t track them.  It’ll be a while before they bounce back.”

Good fucking work.

“You took on the Nine and won?”

Skitter ventured toward Yan, then used one foot to hold the girl’s arm down against the ground.

And she just leaves that question hanging, like it’s no big deal. For now, anyway.

Man, she sounds so exhausted.

The beetle pinned it there, pressing the point of one forelimb into her palm with enough pressure that a bead of blood appeared.  Skitter stepped around the girl so the beetle could do the same.

…what are you doing now?

When Yan clenched her fist, Skitter stepped on her fist, crushing it underfoot.

Is this just about restraining them?

She took her time responding.  When she did speak, all she said was, “I didn’t say we won.”

…right. Victory for Skitter would mean wiping the Nine out completely. At the very least Jack, not letting him escape.

Taylor has a history of blaming herself for the actions of antagonists if she fails to stop them. If she does that here, she’s going to be blaming herself for the end of the world coming in two years rather than 15+ (even if I’m right that she never had the opportunity to change that).

Fuck, that’s a heavy burden.

In my defense, I don’t watch horror very often. Doesn’t mean I don’t know what sort of tropes the villains tend to fall into, though.

“I hope the rest of you are okay?”  Skitter asked.

You arrived right in time. A moment later and they wouldn’t all be entirely okay, physically.

Mentally, I don’t think Charlotte’s in a great state.

“Where were you?” Sierra returned the question with one of her own.

She was doing her best to save literally everyone downtown.

“Dealing with the Nine.  They’re not a concern anymore, at least for now.”

I like how matter-of-factly she says that.

It was surreal, hearing the girl talk about dealing with the Slaughterhouse Nine.  They weren’t in the same category as your average villain.

That wasn’t even the part I was talking about, but yeah, the matter-of-factness of that part is great too. Skitter just earned herself some major badass points with Sierra, I think.

They were like monsters from horror films, the killer who always got up at the end of the film, the monster who never died.

Fuck.

That’s been the theme of the group all along! Of course it has! How the hell did I not catch onto that, only applying the connection to that genre to Crawler?

I’ve had plenty of time!

Literally every one of them fits into some sort of horror trope!

I stopped thinking about this, didn’t I. After my first guess for the group’s theme (historical serial killers) didn’t pan out. The only time I’ve taken time to speculate on a wider theme for the group since that, as far as I remember, was when I pointed to most of them having great potential wasted on evil.

Yan pointed the gun at Skitter.  “You’re back, huh?”

I hope this is a fake Skitter and Yan tries to shoot her.

I’m not sure what would be better, the decoy feigning death at the gunshot so that Yan thinks they don’t need to worry about her anymore, or the bullets just going right on through, causing Yan to start worrying when her gun isn’t the all-powerful tool of intimidation she’s been using it as.

Then again, if this is a decoy, then what’s with the glass? Did Taylor decide to pick that up with the bugs to make it look more real?

Because if so, she’s succeeding. It’s not even the only thing that makes this look more real than most of her decoys.

I’m thinking there’s a 20% chance of this being a decoy, maybe.

The villainess didn’t speak.  She pointed to her right instead.

The lack of speaking on “Taylor’s” part is a pretty big indicator that it might be a decoy, though.

Fuck it, let’s say 40%.

Advancing toward the group was a beetle the size of a small pony.  It didn’t use its forelimbs to walk, but held them up so the razor edge was both visible and ready to strike.

Hell yes.

“Call it off or I shoot!”

I’m becoming more and more sure that shooting wouldn’t do much. You’d be better off shooting Atlas, if I’m right.

“Shoot and you die,” Skitter’s voice was distorted, not really resembling a sound from human lips.

Yeah, that’s because she’s not making it with human lips.

Also Skitter is really threatening to kill someone here. I wonder if she means to back it up.

She’s had a bad day at work.

The beetle seemed to offer a deep buzz to accompany the ‘oo’ sounds.  “It won’t be pretty.  Brown recluse venom makes your muscles necrotize.  That means it decays while you’re still alive.

Oh man, going into detail on the gruesome way she’d die. Fantastic for intimidation.

I don’t think Skitter is seriously intending to do this if she doesn’t get her way, but damn if she isn’t going to make Yan and co. think she is.

It takes days, but the only real cure is taking a knife to the area around the bite.  That might be okay if you have one bite, carve out a half-pound of flesh, let the wound drain, stitch it up.  But what if you have three or four bites?  Or ten?”

“Just ask Lung, he knows what it’s like.”

“You’re bullshitting me,” Yan spat the words.

Skitter ignored her.  “It’s excruciatingly painful.  Nothing you experienced during your initiation into the ABB even compares, I can guarantee it.

How much does Skitter know about ABB initiation rituals?

You’re rotting alive, your flesh turning black as it liquefies.  So maybe you shoot me.  Maybe you even kill me, though I doubt it.  Either way, whether I walk away from here alive or not, you get bitten.  They’re already on you.  All three of you.”

Hm. I was going to say I was sure she’s telling the truth, because she can easily do this, but it might actually be more effective to tell them there are spiders on them that they can’t find.

The disconcerting part was the girl’s face, or lack thereof.  Her expression was masked behind a shifting mass of bugs that moved in and out of her hairline.

Hang on. Is any of the suit actually visible beneath the bugs?

Skitter has been known to use decoys, after all.

Sierra couldn’t even tell where the bugs ended and the scalp began, as the small black bodies crawled into and onto the black curls.  There was a hint of something like glass where Skitter’s eyes were, but the bugs ventured far enough over her eyelids and around the frames that nothing was visible in the way of goggles, glasses or skin.

Alright, it looks like it’s really her.

Skitter hadn’t made a sound as she entered.  She hadn’t spoken, and her footsteps had been quiet.

…or is it?

It would make sense for her footsteps to be quiet if she didn’t have any.

But I suppose they’d hear the buzz if the bugs were flying.

Maybe it’s another situation where they’re holding each other up from the bottom?

Skitter, ten minutes later: “Hey, Tattle… you do know Grue and I aren’t naked under our powers, right?”
Grue: *shifts awkwardly*